Pet Facial Recognition App Helps Reunite Owners With Lost Dog

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Thanks to a pet facial recognition app, five people have been reunited with lost pets.

"Finding Rover," an app that uses facial recognition to help owners find their lost pooch, launched in March of this year. Miami-Dade Animal Services was the first shelter in the state to have dogs registered on the free app.

Since March, Animal Services' database of dogs have been automatically uploaded and integrated into the mobile app.

The first owner to be reunited with her pet, "Pink," downloaded the app after a family member told her about it when her dog went missing. She created a profile with a photo of her dog and soon after, the app found that "Pink" was at the shelter, Animal Services said. There have been four other owner-pet reunions since.

"Ensuring the quick and safe return of any dog that may go missing in Miami-Dade County through the use of this important technology is exactly what we were hoping for when we decided to partner with the Finding Rover app company," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez. "I'm very happy to hear that it is working as another layer of protection against someone losing their beloved pets."

Finding Rover features a lost and found dog notification system that sends a push notification and social feed photo alert if a dog is lost or found within a 10 mile radius. If a user spots a lost dog, he/she can take a photo either within the app, or upload a photo from a device's photo album. Once a dog has been found and identified through Finding Rover's facial recognition software, the finder will receive information on how to notify the owner.

Finding Rover can be found online and works on iPhone, Android or the web. For more information, click here.