Petco helps find lost pets with facial recognition

A non-profit run by Petco Health & Wellness Company is taking a high-tech approach to reuniting lost dogs and cats with their owners.

National animal welfare non-profit Petco Love, formerly known as Petco Foundation, is working with approximately 1,000 shelters and rescues in both cities and rural areas across the U.S. to adopt its searchable database that uses facial recognition technology to help reunite lost pets with their owners.

Throughout the coming months, Petco Love will continue to enhance its search algorithms and fine-tune the AI technology of the “Petco Love Lost” platform as additional partners sign on and more pets - along with their information - are added into the system. 

The user-friendly tool will be easily accessible by pet owners, as well as any person who finds a lost dog or cat. Uploaded photos of a missing pet are immediately scanned to determine whether there is a match at a participating shelter or neighbor in the community, providing initial results in less than a minute.

"The fact that one in three pets will go missing in their lifetime is simply too many and the only way to bring them home is by coming together on a single platform that connects shelters, pet parents and good neighbors together," said Petco Love president Susanne Kogut. "We know the solution requires a national infrastructure and we're launching today with more than 1,000 animal welfare organizations and pet industry partners already signed-up. We encourage others to join us and pet parents to register their own pets should the unthinkable happen."

Early adopters agreeing to drive awareness of Petco Love Lost include Petco, the American Pet Products Association, the North American Veterinarian Community, BOBS from Skechers, Blue Buffalo, Hills Pet Nutrition, the Human Animal Bond Research Institute, ASPCA, 24PetWatch, Nationwide, and State Farm.