The loss of a pet is immediately a stressful, heart-wrenching situation for the pet owner. Thankfully, in the age of social media, the search for a lost pet extends far beyond posters plastered around the community. Owners looking for their beloved cat or dog can turn to SeeClickFix, Twitter, and Facebook to increase the number of individuals keeping an eye out for their pet. 

In Southern Connecticut, a partnership between SeeClickFix and the New Haven Central Veterinary Hospital led to the creation of a map widget with categories tailored to lost and found pets. When Enzo and Zipper went missing, their owners filed reports using the hospital's website. Our users residing in areas in without such a partnership, can report lost pets using the SeeClickFix mobile application and website. 

In the event of a lost pet, we think it's important for pet owners to use SeeClickFix and forms of social media to alert their communities. However, it's equally imperative that pet owners call local animal shelters. The individuals who found Ziggy and Zipper took them directly to a shelter, where they waited for their owners to pick them up. Officer Stephani Johnson has made a number of comments on lost pet posts in which she has emphasized  the necessity in calling local shelters when a pet runs off.  Some shelters do not actively monitor SeeClickFix and other social media sites, so it is up to the pet owner to make inquiries with shelters in the search for a lost pet. 

A missing pet is a terrifying situation, but Ziggy, Enzo, Zipper, and countless other pets that have been reunited with their families remind us that happy endings are possible. 

We've been doing monthly roundups of any interesting articles about, connected to, or shoutouts in the SeeClickFix world--to make it easy for you to follow along on the latest happenings. Our Commonwealth Connect partners (with over 50 participating cities and towns in Massachusetts) have been doing so well, and the response so overwhelming, we wanted to share this special edition of great quotes from around the web.

The Lexington Minuteman gave us this great & succinct background on the launch:

When a user first downloads the application it will customize itself based on the user's location - in Lexington the town seal appears as the home screen. From there, a user can report a new issue or view previously reported issues in either a map or list form. 

Not long after, The Somerville News brought in this great quote from Mayor Curtatone:

“This is a tremendous benefit to our residents. Efficient delivery of services and open, transparent governments are two key values in the City of Somerville,” said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “This app helps us accomplish both those goals and connects our residents with City services and information they need. It’s another step toward empowering our residents and engaging them in caring for the neighborhoods that form the heart of our community.” 

Joining all of the awesome other partners as part of Commonwealth Connect, Roger MacDonald from the City of Needham hit the nail on the head when he said:

Beforehand, the process of reporting and tracking an issue was slower and more opaque, said Needham Director of Information Technology Roger MacDonald. “In today’s world, people want to know what’s going on, people want to see what their government is doing,” he said. “We’re trying to revolutionize transparency and adapt to an increasingly mobile world.” 

Check out a few additional articles on Boston.com, and more. And of course, download the app for iPhone and Android!

We've seen a couple of interesting videos from cities around the country showing off, advertising, or explaining how they've implemented SeeClickFix. Today we found a great little tutorial from our partner Albuquerque, New Mexico, showing folks how to use a few basic features of the app.

 

 Have you seen any cool SeeClickFix videos? Please share!

With apps like Instagram, Hipstamatic, the new Flickr, and even Twitter now letting phone photographers apply filters to pictures, it's anything but uncommon. Recently, we've been seeing the same phenomenon happen on SeeClickFix.

Here are just a few of the coolest filtered photos on SeeClickFix recently.

"I used a filter called bleak for this pothole.. it seemed appropriate."

Ingmar Bergman film or dead tree report?

When 1950s filters aren't enough? MS Paint.

Including a picture while reporting an issue is always best practice, but adding a little flair not only makes it more awesome--it makes it more eyecatching, meaning even more neighbors might flock to it.

You reported (or discovered) any issues with pics lately? Share the most interesting!

If you ever want to send a link to your SeeClickFix profile to friends, neighbors, or folks in the local government--or just take a look yourself at your SeeClickFix history--this quick how-to video shows you how.



Just copy the link and post it, email it, or check back to it to count your civic points later.

June was a busy month here at SeeClickFix. We welcomed Berkeley, CA, Hammond, IN, Charleston, IL, and Tontitown, AK as new government partners and saw the official launch of the Commonwealth Connect mobile application. 

Commonwealth Connect, which was inspired by the Citizens Connect app in Boston, will serve 54 cities and towns in Massachusetts. You can read about the launch from press outlets in Springfield, Randolph, Fall River (here and here), Taunton, Whitman, Barnstable and Eastham, Chicopee, Lexington, Westborough (here and here), and Needham. 

In established SeeClickFix cities, residents continue to bring about positive changes in their communities. SeeClickFixers in Saratoga Springs, NY urged the city to reorient a dangerous and confusing intersection. The city has now set aside $175,000 for the project. In Toronto, residents brought broken drinking fountains, dangerous pedestrian spaces, and a hazardous road situation for cyclists to the attention of city departments. The city scheduled fixes for all of the issues.

Finally, take a look at these SeeClickFix shoutouts on greenbiz.com, iRevolution, datascientist.co, and Financial Landscaper.