A "Tinder-fyed" Option for Adoption!
Inspiration
All too often, I seem to hear of friends or family flocking to pet stores or specialized breeders in the hope of finding the exact new pet that they want. When an animal reaches towards the forefront of the pop culture scene, this is especially true. Many new pet owners can adopt for the wrong reasons, and many later become overwhelmed, and we see these pets enter the shelter systems, with a hard chance of getting out.
What it does
PetSwipe is designed to bring the ease and variety of pet stores and pet breeders to local shelter adoption. Users can sign up with a profile and based on the contents of their profile, will be presented with different available pets from local shelters, one at a time. Each animal is presented with their name, sex, age, and their breed if applicable, along with a primary image of the pet. The individual can choose to accept or reject each potential pet. From here, the activity is loaded into a database, where the shelter could pull out the information for the Users' clicking accept on the pet, and email those who's profiles best suit the pet for an in-person meet and greet. The shelters can effectively accept or reject these Users' from their end.
How I built it
A browsable API was built on a remote server with Python, Django, and the Django REST Framework. We built a website, using PHP, javascript, and HTML/CSS with Bootstrap, where users could create an account, configure their preferences, browse and swipe through current pets in their location. These interactions are saved to the databases accessible through our API.
Challenges I ran into
The PetFinder API came with a whole host of unnecessary challenges in its use. From unnecessary MD5 hashing, to location restrictions, this API is actually in Beta and it requires quite a bit of patience to use.
What I learned
Attractive, quick front end website design, paired with a remote server was new for most of the team.
We feel PawSwipe could become a fantastic way to promote the "Adopt, Don't Shop" motto of local rescue agencies. As long as the responsibilities of pet owner ship are conveyed to users, paired with the adoptee vetting performed by the shelters, a lot of lovable pets could find their way back into caring homes!
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