NORFOLK, Va. — New facial recognition technology at the Norfolk Animal Care and Adoption Center will be used to help lost dogs, and adoptable ones, find their way home.
The new technology comes from a partnership with Finding Rover.
Every dog and cat that enters NACC will become registered on Finding Rover. Users of Finding Rover can search the shelter and surrounding areas right from their smartphone or computer to help find their missing pet, a neighbor’s missing pet, or the family of a found pet.
“NACC is the first stop for those seeking lost pets in Norfolk, and we help reunite more than 1,000 animals with their owners each year,” said Jake Roos, Operations Manager at NACC. “We are thrilled to have this new tool to help get those furry family members to their homes.”
The program will also allow families looking for a new family member to search for adoptable pets available at the shelter.
Finding Rover’s mission is to reunite all lost dogs and cats with their families.
Here’s how it works: NACC will add photos and profiles of all dogs and cats in its care into Finding Rover. The human owners of lost pets can upload a photo and Finding Rover’s facial recognition technology will search for a match with any of the animals in the shelter at NACC or those in Finding Rover’s registry of found animals. Also, any animals adopted from NACC will go to their families with a Finding Rover profile.
Every dog and cat that leaves NACC, through a reunion or an adoption, can remain protected when the pet parent registers on Finding Rover with the same email address that the shelter has on file. If that dog or cat ever gets lost, their record will already be in the system, and identifying that pet will be a snap.
Registration for Finding Rover is free.
“We want to do everything we can to safeguard our pets from being lost forever,” said John Polimeno, CEO and Founder of Finding Rover. “Registering on Finding Rover is another step all pet parents should take.”