Inspiration
FindMyPet was born from a personal experience: losing a cat and realizing how ineffective existing platforms like websites and Facebook groups are for spreading urgent information. The idea was simple - what if nearby people could be instantly alerted about a lost pet?
What it does
FindMyPet is a Telegram bot built with Python and the Telegram API.
It lets users share their pet’s photo and location, instantly notifying people nearby and posting in a dedicated channel for wider visibility.
Unlike other platforms, it avoids spam and ads, focusing only on relevant lost-and-found pet updates.
Telegram username @find_mypetbot.
How we built it
The bot was developed using Python and Telegram’s API.
One of the biggest challenges was hosting the bot for free. To solve this, we set it up on an old phone running Ubuntu through a Linux emulator, keeping it active 24/7 without costly cloud servers.
Challenges we ran into
- Free and reliable hosting
- Making the bot efficient while keeping notifications relevant
- First-time experience working with the Telegram API
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Turning a personal frustration into a working solution that can help pet owners
- Building a bot that runs continuously without paid hosting
What we learned
- How to build and deploy a Telegram bot from scratch
- Hands-on experience with APIs, hosting, and problem-solving
- The importance of user-focused design to keep the platform helpful and clutter-free
What's next for FindMyPet
- Expanding awareness to grow the user base globally
- Moving to a stronger server infrastructure once usage increases
- Helping more people reunite with their pets, faster
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