Born and raised in Kedah, Malaysia, Ong is no stranger to animal rescue work. Her parents are active rescuers, and have built their garage to feed and care for injured and abandoned street animals.
“It got me really curious… There are so many street animals out there, but why do I still face the difficulty of adopting one? I talked to many of my pet owner friends, and they told me to buy. But what if I don’t want to buy?” Ong recalled.
STREAMLINING THE ADOPTION PROCESS
Ong soon realised there was no “centralised platform” in the market to help adopters like her find a suitable pet.
“It’s a huge chaos. People were using (non-regulated platforms) such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and phone calls. Adopters that use platforms such as Gumtree and Carousel also run the risk of being scammed, as these platforms do not have an accountability policy,” said Ong.
“To my surprise, no one was touching the digital space,” she added.
As pet ownership remains on the rise in Singapore, due in part to more people working from home amid the pandemic, shelters continue to experience shortage of manpower and resources. The main barriers to adopting a pet, said Ong, include the lack of a systemic and efficient tracking platform.
To address these gaps, Ong launched online app Pawtner in July 2021 to automate the adoption process, allowing users to safely browse animal profiles at their fingertips.
