Dog and cat owners can now locate their lost pets with help from facial recognition technology.

Finding Rover is a website and mobile app that reunites lost and found pets with their humans through facial recognition software. Users of Finding Rover can register their cat or dog for free on the site by selecting “Register Your Pets” and uploading the pet’s photo along with a few details about the pet and contact information for the pet’s owner. Once registered, the pet is in the system. In the event that the pet goes missing, the pet’s owner can go to the Finding Rover site and report them missing. With several shelters and humane societies already connected to the site, should the lost dog or cat show up at one, a match could be determined almost instantly and Finding Rover would alert the user.

People who have found a lost dog or cat can also upload photos to the site by selecting “I Found a Pet.” Once submitted, the system will look for matches with dogs or cats already reported missing in the database. Users have reported that the system of facial recognition is fairly accurate as most of the potential matches sent to users resemble the dogs or cats in question.

According to a testimonial on the Finding Rover site:

"After Roxy, our Shiba Inu was spooked by thunder and lightning, she escaped and ran into the neighborhood. We placed posters and canvased the neighborhood for 4 days with no luck. Our 10 year daughter created the Finding Rover account and uploaded a recent picture. Because of this uploaded photo, on Day 5, Roxy was identified by the County of San Diego Dept of Animal Services after arriving to the shelter. Within 4 hrs of arrival to the shelter, we were there to pick her up!"

Additionally, the app lets users create lost pet posters that they can share with others to spread the word digitally. The site also serves to match those looking to adopt a pet with pets available at nearby shelters or humane societies.

As demonstrated with Finding Rover, facial recognition technology isn’t for man alone. The technology is also being used to locate chimpanzees captured for illegal trade and to follow pigs through the food supply chain.