New “Petco Love Lost” Database Uses Breakthrough Facial Recognition Technology to Find Missing Cats and Dogs Across South Carolina
76 South Carolina Animal Shelters Partner with Petco Love to Reunite Lost Pets with Families
This Friday, April 23, on National Lost Dog and Cat Awareness Day, more than 70 animal shelters and rescue organizations across South Carolina are proudly joining forces with Petco Love – formerly known as the Petco Foundation, a national non-profit working to lead and inspire change for animals and animal welfare groups across the country – on a shared mission to help reunite lost pets with their families should they ever go missing. According to industry statistics, sadly, one in every three pets will go missing in their lifetime.
No Kill South Carolina, a program of Charleston Animal Society, is helping to coordinate the rollout of Petco Love Lost around the state. Petco Love Lost is a new, searchable national database that uses patented facial recognition technology to make finding lost pets quicker and easier. Beginning today, this simple-to-use tool will be easily accessible to participating animal welfare organizations nationwide, as well as any pet parent or person who finds a lost pet. Uploaded photos of a missing dog or cat are immediately scanned to determine whether the lost pet is being housed at a participating shelter or with a neighbor in the community.
“We see firsthand how quickly a pet can go missing, whether they were curious, following a scent, wandered through an open gate or became scared during a storm,” said No Kill South Carolina Project Director Abigail Appleton, CAWA. “Shelters around South Carolina work tirelessly to care for pets and there is nothing more rewarding than reuniting families with their
beloved pets. With Petco Love Lost, we’re confident it can lead to many more happy reunions, across the Palmetto State.”
“We know that one in three pets goes missing in their lifetime, an estimated 10 million pets each year, and we’re not ok with that,” said President of Petco Love, Susanne Kogut. “That gives us 10 million reasons why we created Petco Love Lost, because we believe nothing is more important than keeping people and pets together for a lifetime of love. Together with shelters across South Carolina, our goal is to keep pets where they belong – at home, with you.”
Contact the shelter in your community to learn more. If you’ve lost or found a pet, Petco Love Lost is here to help get them home. Visit www.petcolovelost.org or join the conversation @PetcoLoveLost on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via hashtags #PetcoLoveLost and #LoveandFound.
About Petco Love (Formerly Petco Foundation)
Petco Love is a nonprofit changing lives by making communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we’ve empowered animal welfare organizations by investing nearly $300 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 6.5 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide. Today, our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Is love calling you? Join us. Visit petcolove.org or follow at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we’re leading every day.
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