PetPace developed a dog collar that aims to predict earthquakes

It’s often been said that animals can sense things that before humans can—disease, a spiritual presence, a natural disaster. A quick Google search reveals all sorts of anecdotal stories of people whose dogs detected cancer or warned them to take shelter before a hurricane. So, what if your pet could help detect an earthquake? PetPace is putting that theory to the test with a campaign created by L&C and Serviceplan Group that uses dog collars to predict seismic activity. Launched in Peru, known as a seismic zone due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Animal Alerts campaign aims to develop the first earthquake warning system in pet collars powered by PetPace technology—which monitors pets’ vitals. According to scientific studies, animals often display anxiety and other abnormal behavior in response to pre-earthquake activity. As a result, through the PetPace smart collar, health data can be collected and analyzed for correlation to earthquakes, with the aim of developing a system to alert residents via different media channels. The campaign comes as earthquake prediction technology still remains unreliable, despite advancements. The decision to launch in Peru comes as the region experiences 90% of all seismic activity around the world. “It’s been shown in many systematic studies that animals often behave differently prior to earthquakes. Dogs are particularly useful models of this phenomenon due to their acute senses and their close proximity to humans,” said Dr. Rachel Grant, behavioral ecologist at London South Bank University. “Animal Alerts allows us, for the first time, to collect reproducible physiological data in real time, which could help with short term earthquake risk forecasting.” While still in early testing, Animal Alerts has been implemented in Lima since February with multiple dogs tracking with the collars. So far, PetPace has received more than 100 signups as well, Gian Carlo Lanfranco, co-founder at L&C, told Ad Age. “It’s still early, but it has been able to detect seismic activity in Lima,” he said. “[Scientists] are constantly evaluating the data while the project continues, but it’s a long-term program.” Designed to ensure comfort for pets, the collar collects vital health data through non-invasive sensors such as pulse, heartrate variability, temperature, respiration, activity and more. The data is recorded sent to the PetPace cloud in real-time, where AI algorithms developed by the PetPace science team determine the dog’s stress level. When multiple dogs in various locations within Lima show an anomalous increase in stress level at the same time, this could be an indication of an impending earthquake. As part of the campaign, the brand and agency have worked with Mediaplus Group and Reset Media to broadcast alerts through geotargeted messages on digital billboards, web, mobile and radio. Retail promotions are also calling for more pet volunteers to join the program. “Growing up in a country like Peru, where seismic activity is a constant, this idea becomes a really valuable tool,” said Rolando Cordova, chief creative officer at L&C. “There is an urgent need for innovative approaches to warn the public before an earthquake, especially since Lima’s infrastructure is extremely vulnerable to seismic activity,” added Carlos G. Brown, disaster risk management expert at TECHO Peru. “Timely alert from Animal Alerts could help save countless lives.” The idea is an interesting one, especially as earthquakes begin to affect other regions and fault lines, such as New York’s 4.8 magnitude quake in early April. And yes, my dog alerted me for that one.

PetPace developed a dog collar that aims to predict earthquakes

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