On our first wedding anniversary, we were on our way to an Austrian restaurant. We'd gotten married in Austria a year before, that was the whole plan. Afterward we were supposed to go to an open-air cinema, we already had the tickets.
Then we saw a small pink something in the grass. And a few meters away, a gardener with a strimmer, slowly coming closer.
We named it Sandro, without knowing whether that even fit, and took him home. The restaurant and the cinema didn't happen that day.
Every three hours
Sandro was a baby, and babies that size need feeding every three hours, day and night. We fed him for a week. The first few days looked good. He was taking food, he was moving, and we started making plans.
After a week
He was too young. The mother had probably left him behind for a reason — animals often know these things before we do. After a week of care, Sandro died.
The Found Animal Assistant
Sandro was the third of four animals we've tried to help. Before him, a hare and a pigeon; after him, a swift. Every time a different species, every time a different authority responsible, and every time we sat there with an animal in our hands and a phone in front of us, not knowing who to call.
So I built a found-animal assistant app that answers exactly that question: what do I do now, and who nearby can help? I'd like to launch it together with animal welfare associations in Berlin and Brandenburg.
We see our wedding anniversary differently now. We made it to the restaurant eventually; the cinema tickets expired.
The assistant wouldn't have saved Sandro. It would only have spared us the three hours we spent not knowing who to ask.
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