Phoenix animal shelter using facial recognition to reunite owners with lost pets

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - It's as simple as uploading a picture.

A website that uses facial recognition to help pet owners find their four-legged friends, called "Finding Rover," is both easy and convenient to use, animal care specialists say.

"Basically, if it sees a dog that looks similar to yours, it's going to pull up that picture and it may be the answer people are looking for with their lost pets," said Jose Santiago of Maricopa County Animal Care and Control. "They can easily say, 'oh my God, that looks just like my dog.' It's at the west shelter facility, they can drive down here, we can point them in the direction of that dog and if it's a match, that dog goes home."

The online service is free and right now, MCACC is the only shelter in the Phoenix-metro area that the animal facial recognition service is working with.

"Everyday, we get in anywhere from 80 to 100 lost or stray animals, so having something like this in place is vital for us because it's going to help clear up that kennel space that we need and potentially find animals their homes again," Santiago said.

Finding Rover
https://findingrover.com/