WILCO using facial recognition to reunite pets with owners
Technology that’s used to screen passengers at airports and even to help identify terrorist is now being used at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter.
A system called finding rover went on line this month.
A chip scanning is part of the routine for every animal that has brought into the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter. Those without a chip get one.
The devices help reunite lost pets with their owners, but they’re not fool proof according to shelter spokesperson Misty Valenta. “So as many tools as we can use to get animals back home we are going to do it.”
A website called finding rover is the latest tool available. Animals brought into the shelter are registered onto the site. “I think it’s brilliant and i’m so excited to be part of it,” said valenta.
It works by using facial recognition technology.
Pets brought to the shelter get their picture taken. Those pictures are then uploaded into the website. “By doing it this way, it’s fantastic because once i upload the photo here she is going to appear on our website and she is also going to appear on finding rover,” Sid Valenta.
Identifying pets already in the system is also easy.
Images go through a scanning process which van take a minute or two.
The scan provides a list of possible matches to look at. A positive id links to the owner profile so contact can be made. “It kind of opens the eyes wide open, to where you are not just area or one shelter you can not scare multiple areas quite easily,” said Valenta.
More than 200 dogs and cats at the Williamson County shelter have so far been entered into website. The shelter is one of 117 in Texas using the app. The Austin Animal Center is also a partner.
There are about 400 shelters nationwide.
The service is not limited to shelters, anyone can sign up. You can register, upload pictures, on your home computer or smart phone. And it’s all free. Pet owner Brandi Adkins got her dog, Riley, two years. She git her first look at the Finding Rover site Wednesday morning.
“I think this is amazing and i think everyone needs to know about this,” said Adkins.
Now that she now knows about the app, Riley’s image is among the pets logged in. “And I’m also going to post it on Facebook and encourage all of my friends and family to register their pets as well,” said Adkins. The system is also an electronic version of a lost and found poster.
Those who find a pet roaming in their neighborhood can use the system to locate the owner.
Managers with Finding Rover tell FOX 7 Austin that since the app’s launch it has helped make 13,000 reunions possible.