Communities Using Tech to Help Find Missing Pets
One of the biggest fears of any pet owner is having our fur-kid turn up missing. It’s heart wrenching. We then turn to neighbors and family and friends to help put up fliers and post/share on social media. We call the shelters and even the police to see if they picked up our pet.
A new partnership in Texas has shelters teaming up with a tech company that uses facial recognition software to help find pets. Here’s how it works:
Owners sign up for the subscription service through “Finding Rover”. With Finding Rover, owners upload their pet’s photo and other information to the service and can use the website or app if their pet is missing. The shelter uploads a photo of each stray that’s brought in, and the owner is notified if their pet identified.
“This is an area where technology’s never really been focused,” said Mark Marrello, Finding Rover’s chief operating officer. “There’s usually not a lot of tech in the shelter. So for them, they’re very excited to see a tech company from Silicon Valley really focusing on them and trying to provide them with a service, which is great.”
There are over 600 community partners that are now working with Finding Rover. A cursory search showed that the Cleveland APL and Cleveland Animal Care and Control are partners in our area. You can do a search for your city here.
Residents can add their pets to the system either on the app or through Finding Rover’s website. Downloading the app and registering a pet is free, according to findingrover.com.
You can read about the Dallas community that has embraced this technology partnership in the article linked below:
