Petco promotes image recognition for lost pets with animated series

A non-profit run by Petco Health & Wellness Company is using animation to help spread the word about its lost and found database for pets.

Nonprofit organization Petco Love is rolling out a new campaign called "My Ruff Day" that aims to increase usage of its free national lost and found platform for pets, Love Lost. 

Initially launched in April 2021, the artificial intelligence-based Love Lost platform uses image recognition technology to help families reunite with their missing pets via one photo. The user-friendly tool is designed to 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 with AI image recognition technology 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 ”My Ruff Day” animated series follows lost pets as they try to find their way back home, told from the dog or cat's point of view. The first episode follows dog "Boomer" on moving day as he seeks to find his family's missing toy, only to find himself lost and alone in his new neighborhood. 

Good Samaritans step in and by using Love Lost are able to reunite him quickly with his frantically searching family. According to Petco Love data:

• One out of three pets become lost at some point in their lifetime.
• Nearly 10 million pets go missing each year.
• Many owned dogs and cats end up in crowded shelters, especially in the summer months.

Many participating animal shelters in the U.S. use Love Lost to help reunite the pets in their care. Love Lost can also help reunite pets across multiple platforms including the Ring/Neighbors app, Nextdoor, and Facebook. 

Other Petco Love Lost partners include 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.

"Not every lost pet is as lucky as Boomer,” said Petco Love president Susanne Kogut. “With Love Lost, we aim to change that by uniting communities and organizations with one goal in mind, keep pets and families together for a lifetime of love. Using our database with image recognition technology as the national billboard to report all lost and found pets, we can unite to reunite and send all pets, like Boomer, back into the arms of the families who love them."

"As an animal lover and pet parent, I know the fear of having one of them go missing,” said actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who provides the voice of Boomer in the “My Ruff Day” campaign. “I'm proud to be a part of the Petco Love and Love Lost family and hope that My Ruff Day brings awareness to this incredible platform that reunites pets with their families."

Based in San Diego, Petco operates more than 1,500 stores across the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico.