SPCA using facial recognition

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on July 22, 2020

While there are privacy concerns for many regarding the government’s use of facial recognition software, the Brandywine Valley SPCA is using facial recognition to reunite lost pets with their owners.

In a press release, the BVSPCA said it’s joining other shelters across the country in using the technology to identify lost dogs and cats.

“Every dog and cat that enters a BVSPCA shelter has their photo automatically uploaded from the BVSPCA shelter software to Finding Rover’s database. Finding Rover scans a found pet’s face and compares it to a database of lost pets. If a match is found, the pet’s contact information comes up so the owner can be contacted,” the release said.

To register with the Finding Rover database, pet owners should go to findingrover.com, upload a picture of their dog or cat, and then add their contact information. Once pets are registered, they are protected for life.

The BVSPCA now has links for uploading photos or search pets on its website, Facebook page, and its Lost/Found Pets Facebook pages for Delaware and Chester/Delaware Counties.

Facial recognition for animals is has been used for years, according to several websites. One site — herox.com — said it was successful with identifying chimpanzees in 2011. Slate.com reported on Finding Rover in July of 2019. See https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/dog-facial-recognition-privacy-finding-rover-megvii.html