Pam Kinnett’s 11-year-old cat Grayson slipped out of her Plano garage while she was unloading groceries. The family searched, posted flyers, and eventually gave up hope. Then, after 103 days, Pam got a call: “I think we have your cat.”
This unlikely Christmas gift happened because Pam had uploaded Grayson’s photo to Petco Love Lost, a free platform that uses AI-powered facial recognition to match lost pets with found ones. The technology analyzes up to 512 data points, including fur patterns, color, age, and size. A Good Samaritan named Missy spotted a thin cat in a nearby alley and uploaded his photo. The AI matched them instantly.
According to Petco Love’s Chief Technology Officer Shannon Cronin, the platform now averages 2,000 to 2,500 direct pet reunions per week. They do this by centralizing data from more than 3,000 animal shelters, Nextdoor, Neighbors by Ring, and individual reports.
The American Veterinary Medical Association says only about 22% of lost dogs and less than 2% of lost cats who end up in shelters without microchips ever make it back to their families. Petco Love Lost changed those odds. While Grayson had lost 10 pounds after surviving alone for more than three months in an area filled with coyotes and bobcats, he’s now safely indoors for the holidays, starting what Kinnett called “a new chapter.”
H/T to CBS News Texas (KTVT-TV) for bringing this story to my attention. ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude may be grabbing the headlines, but there is real AI magic hiding in plain sight.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it. This work was created with the assistance of various generative AI models.