The Washington County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals partners with an organization that helps lost animals find their home. Washington County SPCA Executive Director Tonya Pete says they have partnered with Finding Rover that uses facial recognition technology through their app to help reunite lost pets with their families.

Tonya explains that the Find Rover app is needed because the WCSPCA shelter takes in approximately 2,500 animals a year. According to Tonya, less than 10-percent of those animals are reclaimed.

When people adopt from WCSPCA, Tonya says they put a microchip on the pets. Sometimes the new owners forget to register their pet's microchip and they forget to update their information. That makes it difficult to return lost pets to their home.

Tonya says the Finding Rover app will act as a secondary device apart from the microchip. Her goal for the app is that the community will become the number one user of the app so pets can return home safely.

To participate with the Finding Rover app, simply download the app or visit findingrover.com/registermypet. Upload a piture of your animal, enter your pet's name, age and breed, then enter your name, email address and zip code. If you lose your pet, click the 'I Lost a Pet' button then upload the picture of your animal. Finding Rover will search all photos uploaded of found animals, including animals at the WCSPCA. Through the partnership with Finding Rover, animals brought to the WCSPCA shelter will be automatically added to the shelter's Finding Rover page.

If you are someone who has found a lost animal, click 'I Found a Pet,' snap a picture of the animal  on your phone, and follow the downloading steps. From there, Finding Rover will use facial recognition to technology to match the photo with photos of pets that have been reported missing.

Tonya says the Finding Rover app works when everyone uses it.