Using More than 500 Visual Markers, Petco Love Lost Reunites Lost Pets with AI Tech This July 4th
SAN ANTONIO, June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Kamala was devastated when her dog, Max, got out after a landscaper left a gate open. She could recognize his face in any photo, but Petco Love Lost could see what she couldn’t. His unique features and a photo-match on the free nationwide database led to their reunion.
Petco Love Lost uses AI photo-matching technology to reunite lost pets with their families by recognizing physical traits that stay with pets wherever they go – traits often unseen by the human eye but immediately spotted by the platform’s advanced technology. This National Lost Pet Prevention Month, national nonprofit Petco Love encourages pet parents to register their pets and upload multiple photos while they’re safe at home, enabling a one-click search if they go missing. This is especially important during the summer when more pets are lost than any other time of year.
Using more than 500 visual markers, Petco Love Lost helps reunite lost pets, sometimes within hours. When Max went missing, Kamala created a lost pet profile. “Miraculously, within 20 minutes I got a possible match. It was a picture of my Max looking back at me. I was overcome,” she said. Neighbors who found Max created a found pet profile, allowing the pair to reunite hours after he went missing, thanks to Max’s individual features.
“Collars break, tags can fall off, and microchip scanners aren’t always immediately accessible,” said Petco Love President Chelsea Staley. “Petco Love Lost offers an additional layer of protection by using AI to recognize distinctive physical features that stay with pets wherever they go. You know your pet is one of a kind, and so does Petco Love Lost.”
Reunions start with safe-at-home registration, which ensures critical information and photos are already in place if a pet goes missing. After Cora’s cat, Mango, disappeared, she marked him as lost using his existing profile. “Updating Mango’s status was as simple as a switch from safe at home to lost.” She was then contacted on Petco Love Lost by a neighbor who found Mango, leading to their happy reunion.
Petco Love Lost has reunited more than 250,000 pets with their families, with a reunion every four minutes. Its AI technology searches nationwide shelter and community reports, including platforms like Nextdoor and Neighbors by Ring, using just one uploaded photo. Register today. Reunite tomorrow.
About Petco Love
Petco Love is a life-changing nonprofit organization that makes communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since 1999, we’ve empowered more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us – investing nearly $441 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for more than 7.1 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide. Our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating Petco Love Lost to reunite lost pets with their families. Visit Petco Love and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
Contact: Crystal Bugary, media@petcolove.org
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SOURCE Petco Love
