Zoomap.am — Interactive Urban Animal Welfare and Care Platform of Armenia
Zoomap.am is a specialized project developed by the environmental public organization Ecoparsec NGO. Functioning as a dedicated urban ecosystem platform, Zoomap.am is an interactive geoinformation system (GIS) focused entirely on cities and urban areas across Armenia. The platform maps critical animal care infrastructure, tracks stray animal populations, and provides community tools for pet owners and animal welfare volunteers to foster safe, compassionate, and well-managed urban environments.
Mission and Project Goals
- Urban Animal Infrastructure Accessibility: Providing citizens and rescue volunteers with an easy-to-use digital directory of vital veterinary and care services in Armenian cities.
- Humane Stray Population Management: Supporting cities in tracking stray animal populations (dogs and cats) to ensure effective monitoring of vaccination, sterilization, and tagging efforts.
- Community-Driven Pet Care: Creating digital tools that aid urban residents in responsible pet ownership, data-sharing, and community mutual aid.
Key Modules and Platform Functionality
The zoomap.am platform integrates several critical areas of urban animal welfare and city infrastructure mapping:
| Direction / Category | Description and Functional Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Veterinary & Care Infrastructure | A comprehensive interactive map of veterinary clinics, animal hospitals, pharmacies, pet shops, and grooming salons across Yerevan and other major cities. It helps pet owners quickly find nearby professional care. |
| Shelters & Rescue Hubs | Mapping of animal shelters, temporary foster networks, and public sterilization/vaccination centers. This module serves as a primary tool for activists and volunteers handling animal emergencies. |
| Stray Animal Monitoring (City Level) | A localized tracking system for neighborhood stray animals. Volunteers can log and map stray dogs and cats that have already been neutered, vaccinated, and ear-tagged, helping communities prevent overpopulation humanely. |
| Pet-Friendly Urban Spaces | Mapping of pet-friendly cafes, restaurants, public parks, and specialized dog agility training grounds, promoting a welcoming urban culture for pet owners. |
Community Engagement & Live Crowdsourcing
The platform relies on the active participation of city residents and animal lovers. Currently, the core interaction tool allows users to co-create the map:
- Urban Points Crowdsourcing: Users can instantly add new pet-friendly spots, veterinary clinics, or update the status of existing city animal infrastructure. All submissions go live after verification by the Ecoparsec moderation team.
Upcoming Features & Future Roadmap
We are actively working on expanding the platform's social features to provide even more support for urban animals and pet owners. The following modules are currently in development and planned for future releases:
- Lost & Found Pet Network (In Development): A map-based emergency alert system allowing owners to pin the exact location where a pet went missing, mobilizing nearby community members and app users for a faster, coordinated search.
- Adoption & Foster Hub (Planned): A digital notice board directly integrated into the map, helping local animal shelters and independent rescuers find permanent homes or temporary foster families for rescued urban animals.
Research & Urban Ecology Partnerships
Managing stray populations and urban animal health requires data-driven strategies. Zoomap.am serves as an open-data collection tool for veterinary scientists, urban ecologists, and municipal planning groups.
We actively invite veterinary universities, animal welfare NGOs, and local municipalities to collaborate. By analyzing spatial data on stray populations, shelter capacities, and incident hotspots within cities, we can co-create smarter, more humane municipal animal management programs. For collaboration and data sharing, please contact [email protected].
Technical Features & Map Embedding
Built using advanced, open-source mapping technologies (OpenFreeMap and OpenStreetMap), Zoomap.am ensures independent, high-performance operation and strict user privacy.
The platform supports widget embedding, allowing local veterinary networks, pet blogs, animal shelters, and city news portals to embed customized, responsive map fragments directly into their own websites.
How to Support the Project?
Maintaining the urban map, expanding its features, and keeping city infrastructure data up to date requires a collaborative community effort. You can support urban animal welfare in Armenia:
- Update City Data: Add missing veterinary clinics, animal shelters, or pet-friendly spaces that you know of in your city or neighborhood.
- Help Track Stray Dynamics: Help us log vaccinated and tagged animals in your district to keep municipal data accurate.
- Donate: Support the project financially via the Donate module. Funds are directly used to support GIS servers and fund local community stray animal sterilization initiatives.
- Join as an Urban Volunteer: We welcome city data moderators, future lost-and-found coordinators, and tech volunteers (developers/designers) to help us build upcoming features. Reach out to us at [email protected].