Canellas Voice

Submitted to the Palo Alto Hackathon before 2/28/14 5pm PST by @PAHomelessDogs In green is from the Hackathon submission page. In black is what we wrote.
Now, tell us about your awesome app idea... Provide a short and snappy idea name. *
For example: "Click and Fix" or "City Voice"

Canellas Voice
Describe your idea here *
Tell us specifically what it will do and what problem it will solve. This is the most important area. Be sure to be clear and detailed. Canellas Voice is an app that alerts the community to an impending euthanasia at the city owned and operated Palo Alto Animal Services (PAAS) shelter. The app has interfaces to one or more social media channels: Twitter Instagram Pinterest Facebook Email groups The shelter interface, which could be mobile or cloud-based, allows simple selection of the existing information (e.g. name, photo, type, sex, breed, etc.) about the animal at risk from the existing database, addition of the reason that euthanasia is a possible outcome, and the timeframe required for rescue. This information would then be packaged up by the app in a way appropriate for each social media channel, and automatically distributed. There would also be a shelter interface to let the community know of the outcome. People can select to follow/join so that they will be notified, on their social media of choice, when an animal is at risk of euthanasia and take action, if desired, to save the animal. While some euthanasia is immediately necessary (an animal in severe uncontrollable pain or dying), others can be prevented if: Someone is willing to pay the vet bills to restore the animals health, and also nurse that animal back to health in a home environment, thru a foster or adoption Someone is willing to foster or adopt an animal that is terrified of being in the shelter and thus acting out and progressively exhibiting stress behaviors (kennel stress) Animals that are weak, or too young to survive or thrive in the shelter environment

Contact email: paloaltohomelessdogs@gmail.com | phone: 650 215-8406

Canellas Voice
Submitted to the Palo Alto Hackathon before 2/28/14 5pm PST by @PAHomelessDogs
Members of our community have the right and desire to know when companion animals are being euthanized in our city facility with funding provided by us, the residents of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills. We believe that some of the animals being euthanized at PAAS could be saved by local rescue groups and individuals, but only we know the animal is at risk. Some dogs and cats that have been put on the adoptables side of the shelter have been euthanized with no warning to the volunteers that walk or play with them, or the community at large. We believe that some of our cities residents would be willing and able to open their homes and hearts to these animals, if they were aware of the situation. Around the country, other shelters, and concerned individuals that observe shelters, are alerting their community to animals at risk, but as far as we can tell it is all done manually one tweet, email, post, etc. at a time. Our app automates this communication so that never again need an animal, who had a potential rescuer in the community, close by, be euthanized. Our app could be used worldwide to save companion animals that currently have no voice and ability to market themselves. Theres no way to sugar coat the problem and the tragedy -- lets instead implement an app that helps get us all to a better outcome. Notes: Behavior Problems And Long-Term Housing of Shelter Dogs On Maddies Fund website. WORTH READING. http://www.maddiesfund.org/Maddies_Institute/Articles/Behavior_Problems_and_Long_Term_Housing.html These few paragraphs reveal some of the issues that we believe exist at PAAS: It would be difficult to design a more frustrating environment for a dog than a kennel. In most kennels, dogs are kept alone in extremely barren environments virtually around the clock, with some tantalizing visual access to the outside world. This low-stimulation situation is then punctuated by people and other dogs going by they're always visible but they can't be investigated. The dog's urge to meet and investigate is repeatedly frustrated. With repetition, the sight of dogs and/or people becomes associated, through classical conditioning, to the feelings of frustration and agitation. When the dog finally has the opportunity to meet, his behavior is over the top in intensity and may be aggressive. The dog's poor social behavior may then cause the staff to prohibit the dog from further social contact. In addition, defensive responses from the other dogs he encounters or punishment by walkers for unruly or seemingly aggressive behavior may make the dog's behavior even worse. The sight of dogs and/or people may then be associated with a high likelihood of punishment and aggressive responses from other dogs, along with the original frustration. This results in further deterioration of behavior and a cycle develops. Further reading: Curbing Kennel Stress http://www.badrap.org/curbing-kennel-stress
Contact email: paloaltohomelessdogs@gmail.com | phone: 650 215-8406

Canellas Voice
Submitted to the Palo Alto Hackathon before 2/28/14 5pm PST by @PAHomelessDogs
Transition and Stress http://centerforshelterdogs.org/Home/DogWelfare/TransitionandStress.aspx How to Provide Enrichment for Shelter Dogs Toolkit http://bestfriends.org/Resources/No-Kill-Resources/Pit-bull-initiatives/For-Rescue-Groups-andShelters/How-to-Provide-Enrichment-for-Shelter-Dogs-Toolkit/ No-Kill Equation http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/shelter-reform/no-kill-equation/

Tell us why you think this is an original idea. *

For example: Describe why you believe you are solving a problem in a unique manner.

As animal advocates we are already following various Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, email, etc. accounts where individuals and organizations are alerting their communities about animals that are at risk for euthanasia. These efforts appear to be having some success, but they are unstructured and unautomated. Our system would make it easy to alert the community, and provide the most accurate information, and quickly and systematically to achieve the best possible outcome for the animals. Because our shelter is owned and run by our city, we would be able to get their full cooperation. Together we can lead the rest of the countrys government owned shelters in saving animals lives. A few examples of efforts in other areas: UrgentPart2: Advocating for NYC Homeless shelter dogs. Working with rescues to find fosters and adopters. Twitter: http://twitter.com/UrgentPart2 (7,200 followers) website:
http://t.co/B9SNFTln4c

UrgentOhio: Saving One Life At A Time~ Please help us help them by networking these precious souls OFF of death row and into a forever home! Twitter: http://twitter.com/UrgentOhio (8,800
followers) website: https://www.facebook.com/UrgentOhioDogs

We have a fabulous opportunity given the wealth of the citys residents, the technology prowess of the residents and city IT staff, our leadership by the Palo Alto CIO, and the high visibility of tech companies like Google (that are dog friendly), and animal-loving tech entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg (read about his famous dog Beast) to help not only our own shelter, but those around the country, even the world. Lets become not just the Most Digital City in America, but also use that digital prowess to become the Most Humane City in America.

If your idea will require data, tell us what type of data.

For example: City demographics, permit information, event listings etc. Leave this item blank if you don't know or it's not relevant to your idea. Animal data from the PAAS Chameleon Beach Software database.
Contact email: paloaltohomelessdogs@gmail.com | phone: 650 215-8406

Canellas Voice
Submitted to the Palo Alto Hackathon before 2/28/14 5pm PST by @PAHomelessDogs

Finally, some important miscellaneous items...

If you are selected as a finalist, tell us how you will go about creating a prototype * For example: Will you write the code yourself? Do you have access to developers? We are a small team of people with a variety of skills including software development (internet, SaaS, mobile), project management, cloud/web product management, business analysis, photography, design, social media, animal welfare, and marketing. One of us is a very experienced developer in mobile and web-based apps, another of us currently works as a software engineering manager in a startup. If we are selected as a finalist we may reach out to the open source community (via GitHub for example) to find additional programmers. We believe many techies are animal lovers and that we can quickly bring a few more additional developers on board if needed.

Anything else?
Use this space to include anything additional that you would like to share with the judges or competition administrators We are continuing to gather information about the shelter operations and use it to refine our thinking and app proposal(s). We appreciate OpenGov/OpenData means we have access to important documents/data about the shelter such as license compliance, revenue sources and amounts, euthanasia rates and reasons, etc. This link is to a document folder on Dropbox
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wcfxdydvnflqqh6/cPFq9APuc2

where we have placed the information that we have. We are eager to increase our knowledge of PAAS operations, financials, etc. so that we can work together to have better successful outcomes for our homeless companion animals.

Contact email: paloaltohomelessdogs@gmail.com | phone: 650 215-8406