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Global Ads Spotlight: How dogs became Lima's earthquake early warning system
In a city where the ground could rumble at any moment, a clever campaign swapped satellite sensors for wagging tails. Read and watch in our Global Ads Spotlight column.
If you think disaster preparedness is all about steel-reinforced buildings and seismographs, Lima, Peru, just proved you wrong - and delightfully so.
In March 2024, the city rolled out Animal Alerts, the world's first earthquake early-warning system powered by pet health data. The idea was simple but brilliant: dogs can sense tremors before humans can do, so why not use that superpower to save lives?
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The campaign stemmed from a sobering statistic - in 2023 alone, 66,900 people died in earthquakes, many in areas along the Pacific Ring of Fire, where Lima sits. While high-tech sensors still can't reliably predict quakes, scientific evidence has long hinted that animals can.
Past attempts to track this phenomenon failed, largely because the tech was either clunky, invasive, or stuck in the last decade.
Enter PetPace, a smart collar brand best known for monitoring canine health, comfort, and mood.
Partnering with local authorities, the team turned its non-invasive, electrode-free sensors into seismic sleuths. Volunteer pet owners across Lima signed up their dogs, whose physiological and behavioural data were monitored in real time.
When multiple dogs showed simultaneous spikes in anxiety, environmental factors like weather were ruled out before triggering an earthquake alert.
The warning system wasn't confined to a small app notification - it blasted through geo-targeted mobile alerts, digital billboards, and even radio spots, giving people precious minutes to grab essentials and evacuate.
The reach was impressive: over nine million residents in one of the world's most earthquake-prone capitals.
The execution had a certain scrappy charm too. Partnerships with local pet stores drew in participants, while media space was secured for free. It felt less like a corporate campaign and more like a citywide pact between humans and their four-legged friends.
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By April 2024, just one month after launch, Animal Alerts had detected 18 seismic events, each time giving residents a critical head start.
It wasn't just a PR win for PetPace as it entered the South American market; it was a proof-of-concept for a safety system that could soon roll out to other quake zones like Turkey and Japan.
Awards and Recognition
- Cannes Lions: The Animal Alerts campaign received 2 Cannes Lions Awards in 2025 and 4 in 2024. - Eurobest: Animal Alerts earned 4 Eurobest Awards in 2024 and 1 in 2024. - The One Club for Creativity: The campaign was recognized by The One Show. - Other Recognition: The campaign also received recognition from WARC and The Clios.
The takeaway?
While AI, satellites, and sensors are dazzling, sometimes the ultimate early-warning tech is right there on your couch, chewing a toy. Lima's campaign reminded the world that innovation doesn't always have to reinvent the wheel - sometimes it just needs to walk on four paws.
SPOTLIGHT
For Puneet Chandok, leadership is as much about the inner journey as it is about external results.
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