App uses facial recognition to help reunite owners with pets lost during Harvey

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston SPCA is reuniting owners with their pets, and an app improvement is making things a bit easier.

"We're getting calls in for water rescues for people who unfortunately had to leave their pets behind because it was an emergency," said Julie Kuenstle, Director of Communications for the Houston SPCA.

Kuenstle says many times in the aftermath of a storm reuniting pets and owners isn't easy.

FindingRover.com has been around for a few years. But Petco Foundation has added a tool to specifically help pets lost during Hurricane Harvey.

"They've created this wonderful section on their website," Kuenstle explained. We just click on Texas."

There you can upload a photo of your lost pet or of a pet you found.

The technology uses facial recognition and your information to find a match throughout its national database.

"I can actually scroll through and see all the animals that have been found," Kuenstle said.

Among all of the boxes and stacks of donated pet supplies pouring into their adoption center, the SPCA hopes this new addition to Finding Rover is just one more way they can help create happy endings during this chaotic time.

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