This AI Tool Brings Lost Pets Home. Here’s How It Works

A friend recently shared how overwhelming it was to lose (and thankfully find) their pet, with no idea how to reach the nearly 4 million people living in Los Angeles.

This — and the slew of national pet-related days in July — prompted my research into how to maximize communication output for missing pets. Around 10 million are lost annually in the US alone. 

It’s also what led me to wonder how artificial intelligence can help solve this problem for both pets and pet owners. Thankfully, Love Lost — an AI pet recovery platform — also had the same idea.  

What is Love Lost and how does it use AI?

Petco Love/Screenshot by CNET

Love Lost is a free pet recovery platform developed by Petco Love, the nonprofit organization owned by household name Petco that works to support animal adoption, recovery and health care initiatives. 

Its free photo-matching service helps reunite lost dogs and cats with their families, using facial recognition technology that analyzes over 512 pet features — like muzzle, shape, tail and markings — to compare your uploaded photo against a national database of shelters, written posts and community submissions.

This is thanks to partnerships with companies like Nextdoor, which leverages its posts, and integration with over 3,000 shelter systems and community platforms for a wider reach. At time of writing, its database includes over 300,000 lost and found pets, with an average of 1,000 pet reunions/month. 

How to use Love Lost to find and report missing pets 

Navigating and using the Love Lost site is pretty simple — but make sure you have clear photos of the animal you’re submitting ready.

1. Navigate to the Petco Love Lost page. No sign-up is required for its free photo search feature.
2. Grab those well-shot photos and submit your missing or found pet including face, body and distinguishing marks. 
3. Once submitted, AI will use pet facial recognition to scan available pet entries to try and pinpoint your pet. I tried this out using an old event flyer featuring a grey pitbull and was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of animals it retrieved to compare.
4. If no immediate match is found, you can post your pet as Lost or Found and receive SMS or email updates. Love Lost notes that shelters and other humans will be continually checking the database. Once identified, you can connect through the platform to reunite with your pet safely. 

If you haven’t lost a pet, but would like to prepare in case you do, you can register your pet’s photo and details beforehand on Love Lost’s website to expedite the process during an emergency. Love Lost also features Lost & Found Pet Tips on its site for more information. 

You can enter the address, cross streets and photos of any stray pets you find on the Love Lost app.

Petco Love/Screenshot by CNET

Should you use Love Lost?

Love Lost acts as a bridge for pet parents and their communities to report and locate missing dogs and cats. This provides more eyes (and opportunities) to identify stray animals and reunite them with their owners. I also see it as a complementary tool for shelters, community organizers and even your neighbor who needs a way to identify stray animals quickly. 

Petco Love also holds a four-star Charity Navigator rating for transparency and financial accountability and was awarded for its disaster relief grants and innovation in animal welfare in response to the 2025 LA wildfires. 

But while Petco Love states it doesn’t sell your data, language regarding AI data storage and model training is minimal and vague. Its current privacy doesn’t directly address model training, though the organization says it only uses pet images to reunite lost animals and to train its own model for that singular purpose. 

Petco Love also states it does not share user data outside of shelters, and that uploaded pet images are intentionally made public to help recover missing animals. 

So, yes, there is still risk with any public listing, even of your pet, for scraping or misuse. Animals we consider pets or family are an emotionally charged topic, but it’s important to keep in mind where your data goes after the rescue process.

Ultimately, Love Lost is Petco’s national online database for hosting lost animals — but it also brings animal-focused professionals together to reach more people and speed up reunions.