Parul: The all-in-one app for pet lovers

Tanisha Ahmed did not expect a rescued kitten named Potol to find a home so quickly. She had rescued the cat from Lalmatia, treated an eye problem and put it up for adoption on “Parul”, a new animal-focused social networking app. Within days, someone in Malibagh agreed to adopt it.

For twelfth-grader Tanisha, the experience was about more than a successful adoption. The app connected her with people who shared her concern for animals, without the abuse and judgement she often encounters when discussing rescue work on mainstream social media.

“The best thing is that I’ve found people who think like me,” she said.

Developed by three Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) graduates, the app brings together lost-and-found notices, adoption listings, a pet blood donor network and animal-focused communities, with veterinary consultations and a dedicated rescue feature planned for the future.

Mahbub Alam Rabin and Kamrul Hasan, both 30, developed the platform with fellow BUET graduate Arifur Rahman. They say they have not found another platform combining the same range of social networking and animal-focused services, although their initial focus is Bangladesh.

Jumbled mess to one app

Parul’s central feature is its location-based lost-and-found service. Users can post details of missing or found animals and select a notification radius of up to 50 kilometres, allowing people within the chosen area to receive alerts.

For co-founder Rabin, the problem was personal. His cat went missing several times, once disappearing for 2–3 days. Despite posting in various Facebook groups, he struggled to reach the people most likely to help: those living nearby.

“I see everything on Facebook in a jumbled mess,” Rabin said, referring to scattered posts about missing animals, adoption and rescue. “So then I thought, why not make a dedicated platform for only animals?”

“If she goes missing, she’ll be somewhere around BUET. So, what’s the point if the post reaches someone in Sylhet but not people in my area?”, he said, explaining why he wanted a system that could alert people in the immediate neighbourhood.

Adoption is another feature already in operation. Users can list cats and dogs needing homes, browse posts and contact rescuers through the app. The founders say they remove posts reported as attempts to buy or sell animals.

The app also has a pet blood donor network, where owners can register their animals as potential donors and those seeking blood can look for registered donors nearby.

Beyond these services, Parul offers individual pet profiles, a personalised feed, direct messaging and community groups organised around location or interests. Guardians can share photographs, maintain medical and vaccination records and receive reminders for routine care. Each pet profile can also have a QR code, which the founders hope owners will eventually attach to collars to help identify animals that go missing.

Its community-based structure resembles Reddit, allowing users to share posts with several relevant groups rather than relying on a single social media feed.

For Tanisha, this community is as important as the practical services. She said discussions about animal rescue on general social media platforms can attract insults and moral policing, including criticism over religion, cleanliness and what women wear while rescuing animals. She hopes Parul will offer a more focused space where people come together around their concern for animals.

‘User-friendly’

Users create an account, choose a username, complete their profiles and join communities relevant to their location or interests.

To report a missing or found animal, they upload a photograph, add details and share the post with relevant communities. Someone who finds a cat in Farmgate, for example, can post in the local community and other relevant lost-and-found groups in Dhaka. Users can also select a notification radius for location-based alerts.

Sajeda Tamanna Hossain, an animal welfare volunteer and English teacher at Uttara University, is using Parul to find the owner of a cat discovered near the Krishibid Institute in Farmgate.

A friend of hers found the orange-and-white cat on October 15. The animal had been neutered, suggesting it might once have had a home, but it was severely underweight and in poor health. Sajeda took it in and waited until its condition stabilised before posting a notice.

She then shared its photograph and details with relevant communities through Parul.

The owner has not yet been found, but the post has prompted responses from people who have seen similar missing-cat notices on other platforms. They have contacted Sajeda with possible leads.

Sajeda described the app as user-friendly, particularly because its community structure helps circulate information among people who may recognise an animal.

The same process applies to adoption: rescuers list animals needing homes, and prospective adopters can contact them through the app. Pet owners can register potential blood donors, while those seeking blood can search for registered donors nearby.

Location-based services require users to grant the relevant permission. Users should also provide accurate information and exercise care when communicating with people they do not know.

Parul is intended to complement, rather than replace, established rescue groups and social media networks. Its value will depend on whether its growing community can turn online posts into real-world assistance.

Tele-vet consultations and rescue services on the horizon

Parul is still in its early stages. Rabin said the idea took shape over roughly a year, followed by nearly 7 months of development. After an initial testing phase, the team saw its user base grow to more than 1,000. The founders also reported more than 400 posts on the platform, though they said it was too early to assess its overall impact.

Co-founder Kamrul Hasan, who handled much of the app’s coding, backend and database development, said the team is fixing bugs and monitoring how users engage with its existing services.

The founders plan to seek follow-up updates approximately 1 month after an adoption to assess outcomes. They also intend to keep lost-and-found notices on the platform until an animal is reported home, making it easier to track reunions.

The next major addition will be tele-veterinary consultation, which is still in development. The proposed service would let pet owners request video consultations with available veterinarians through the app. A vet could accept or decline a request, with accepted consultations taking place through a video-call interface.

The founders see this as a way to make veterinary advice more accessible when a pet becomes ill at night or an owner is unsure where to seek help. Its launch will depend on the platform building a sufficiently large user base.

A dedicated rescue feature is also planned but has not yet launched.

The team hopes to encourage wider use of the QR codes available through pet profiles. If owners attach them to collars, someone finding a missing animal could scan the code and use the linked profile to identify its guardian. For now, wider adoption of this system remains a longer-term goal.

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