550 animal shelters in Germany. Most of them still operate with paper records, Excel spreadsheets or software from the 1990s. At the same time, they're more overcrowded than ever — pandemic pets are being returned and the promised €20 million per year in government funding never materialised. In this situation, technology can genuinely help — if it's free and simple.
The problem: no time, no budget, no IT
Shelter staff spend a significant part of their day on admin rather than with animals. Phone calls with finders, handwritten intake forms, photos sent back and forth via WhatsApp, Excel lists to update. On top of that, most shelters have zero IT budget and no IT department.
- Digital animal registration (with photo and chip scan)
- Automatic matching against missing-pet reports
- Simple communication with finders and searchers
- Statistics for funding applications
What they can afford: €0.
The solution: MCP Server + Claude as a workstation
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard that allows AI assistants like Claude to communicate directly with external services. TierFinder is available as an MCP Server. This means: a shelter worker installs Claude Desktop (free), adds TierFinder, and can get started immediately.
Example conversation:
Staff member: "We've just taken in a brown mixed-breed, medium-sized, male, no chip. Found at Marienplatz."
Claude: automatically creates a found-animal report, searches for matches against missing pets, and reports the result.
No dashboard. No training. No login. Just talk.
What MCP can do for shelters
- Found animal registration in natural language
- Automatic AI matching against missing-pet reports
- Geo-based search ("Are there any missing dogs within 20 km?")
- Document sightings
- Retrieve statistics
- Auto-generate adoption profiles ("Write an adoption profile for Max")
- Create fundraising appeals and social media posts
- Inventory management
- Generate weekly reports
Why is it free?
TierFinder is built by StudioMeyer, an AI agency. We earn our living from AI projects for businesses. This project is social impact — we apply the same expertise we use for paying clients every day. Shelters have enough problems. Software costs shouldn't be one of them.
Getting started
- Install Claude Desktop (claude.ai/download — free)
- Add the TierFinder MCP Server
- Say: "We've found an animal..."
- Done.
Questions? Email us: [email protected]