I learned about how AI (artificial intelligence) helps find lost pets while working on what turned out to be my last-ever article for one of my longtime, national pet magazine clients. Yes, I know about many of the ethical (and environmental) issues around AI. Still, this actually seems like a useful application of it. I included a couple of action items for you.
AI Facial Recognition for Lost Pets
Here’s how it works. Petco Love Lost uses AI facial recognition to help match photos of lost pets and even some online lost-pet posts with found pets that shelters post on their websites. You can also post photos and info on pets you’ve found, and the system will look for matches of registered pets.
If you register your pets with Petco Love Lost (for free), you can mark them as lost if they go missing. Then, if the AI lost pets tool finds a possible match for a pet tagged as missing in their system with a found-pet photo on a shelter’s website, it alerts you, using the contact information you provided when registering your pets.
Shelters also use the AI tool to help identify lost pets who arrive:
- Without collars and ID tags
- Without a microchip
- With an unregistered microchip
- With a microchip that’s linked to outdated / inaccurate contact information
The goal? To increase the shelter redemption rates for lost pets.
Lost Pets & Neighborhood Apps
Petco Love Lost also integrates with popular neighborhood apps, where people often post photos and information about lost pets in their communities. The AI lost pets tool already scans:
- Next Door app (like social media for local communities)
- Neighbors app (for people who use ring doorbell cameras, but you don’t have to have / use one to join your local community group)
Since people often spot pets on their homes’ cameras, they may be able to report sightings of lost pets, if asked / alerted.
When I interviewed Gina Knepp for the magazine article, she predicted that the AI facial recognition for lost pets will soon be scanning lost-pet groups or local community groups on Facebook too.
Like Google of Lost and Found Pets
Knepp, who now works for PetcoLove.org, told me that the more people who register their pets with Petco Love Lost … the more powerful the reach and results will be.
“We’ve been pushing this tool to shelters, and now we need to push it to the consumer market. If we could just get the whole country to do it, it will become the Google of lost and found pets.” – Gina Knepp, PetcoLove.org
Action Item – FREE Petco Love Lost Registration
Because total panic sets in when pets go missing, it’s better to have things set up in advance. Here’s how to register your pets with Petco Love Lost now:
- Go to the Petco Love Lost site.
- Scroll down until you see the Sign Up button & click it.
- Follow the registration prompts, including uploading a total of 4 photos per pet (face / looking directly at camera, full body, any unusual markings, etc.), microchip info, physical and personality description, and your contact information (phone number, email).
- It is FREE!
FYI – The tool seems to require square cropping of images, so I struggled getting full-body images to fit. Here are the photos I included for Clover, as an example. For the one that asks for unusual markings, I took a photo showing that Clover is missing 2 top teeth and that her canines are worn down from playing with her football. I figured those were distinguishing features. She has a lot more gray on her face now, but I have a hard time getting that to show up in photos.
Action Item – Microchip Info on Your Phone
Knepp also recommends putting your pets into your phone as contacts, with the microchip registry phone number and their microchip number in the notes, so that you can call and report them missing, if they get lost.
I recommend using the American Animal Hospital Association Microchip Lookup Tool to find the microchip registry phone number for your pets’ microchips. It’s universal to all microchip types and many of the various microchip registries. For example, it shows these results when I look up Clover’s microchip number. It only shows 2, but I thought I also had her registered with the AKC one too. I’ll have to check that.
So, basically, I would put both of these phone numbers into my phone under Clover’s name, and I would put her full microchip number in the notes too. That way I’m not rushing around trying to find the right phone number if she gets lost.
I also suggest checking your pets’ microchip registries online at least once a year to make sure they remain accurate. Not long ago, one of the major registries shut down and gave their data to another, and somehow in the process, it reverted my contact information to my pets and house from the 1990s. If I hadn’t checked it, I wouldn’t have been able to correct it.
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