When Michael Bown left New York City for a family gathering at Jersey Shore, he never imagined himself returning to a nightmare.
His beloved adopted dog, Millie, is only one year old, slips out of her collar while walking in East Village and disappears into the night.
With it comes a madness, emotion and ultimately heart-warming journey that highlights the power of community, technology and a little bit of luck.
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Michael Bown and his reunited dog Millie (Pet love)
Michael's story begins with a simple act of trust that allows Millie to take care of a close friend. But as Michael recalls “She was a little surprised when she walked with him and slipped out of her collar.
His friend chased Millie to get the hurdle, desperately trying to catch up, and even tried to mark the bikers and passers-by. But Millie is a fast and firm bullfighting mixture that disappears.
“He called me and it was just, you know, kind of like gasping and frightening and saying, ‘Hey.
Michael immediately turned around and drove straight back to New York. He and his family searched the city until 2 a.m., visited the police station and fire brigade, and posted it in Facebook groups and lost the pet website.
"It's like looking for needles in haystacks, especially in New York," he said.
Michael Bown and his reunited dog Millie (Pet love)
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The next morning, Michael's mother uploaded Millie's photos and Microchip information to Petco Love is lostThis is a free and innovative platform that reunites family with AI-powered photo matching. Within minutes, Michael received two alerts, one with image matching and the other with microchip matching. Both sides pointed him to the emergency veterinary clinic in Params, New Jersey.
"It's great. I've never heard of a technology like this. It couldn't work better," Michael shared. "From the moment she disappeared to the time I found her, I thought it was thirteen, fourteen hours. So, yes, I mean, I mean less than a whole day, or from her, you know, leave the belt and reunite me with her."
Photos of Millie's Lost and Reunion (Pet love)
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Millie's adventures are as painful as miracles. After nearly ten miles from East Village to Harlem, she was hit by a car. A good Samaritan stopped traffic, scalded her and took her to an emergency vet in New Jersey.
Staff treated her abrasions, cuttings and leg injuries and uploaded her photos and microchip information to Petco Love Lost, the system's AI matched Michael's report.
“The technology is great. All we have to do is upload her photo and then we can match her with that photo, just like the AI technology she becomes matched, the veterinary team uploaded her photo. So yeah, I mean, these days are crazy technology and people know that people can reunite with their pets. ” Michael said.
Michael Bown and his reunited dog Millie (Pet love)
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Aaron Klein, Product Director at Petco Love Lost, explains the magic behind the platform.
"Petco Love Lost uses photo matching technology to immediately scan and compare photos of lost or found pets with our vast, centralized pet database," Klein said. "This includes photos from most animal shelters in North America, as well as direct posts from platforms and community members such as Ring's Nextdoor Nextters. It used to take hours to manually search for shelter sites, scroll through social media and piece together information, and now it's done in less than a minute.
"Petco Love Lost System automatically matches pets based on up to 512 data points, and once you report them, we continue to monitor all incoming pets," Klein added. "If we find possible matches, you will get new matching alerts immediately through text and email, so you will never miss the clue. This real-time, automated approach makes reunion faster, more accurate, and less stressful, for pet parents."
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Michael Bown and his reunited dog Millie (Pet love)
Reunite pets with family can be a huge challenge, especially in a city as large as New York. "The hardest part of reuniting a pet is twofold: First, throw all the pet data into a central location, and second, let everyone, whether they are lost or find a pet, really look at that place."
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When pets are lost, only 22% of pet parents go to shelter, but 80% of online searches (usually on just one platform), there is a big gap in the search process. Petco Love Lost solves this problem by connecting data sources to a searchable platform including over 3,000 shelters and major social media networks, and plans to expand further.
Michael Bown, Dog Millie and Heather Smallt (Pet love)
When Michael finally saw Millie at the vet, it was a moment of sheer relief and joy.
"It's a very exciting person for me," he said. "I mean, I think good things, like we're getting so quickly reunited. But, the whole night she disappeared, I'm not sure where she was, like one of the tough nights I've had in a while.
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Millie reunites with her master and home (Pet love)
Michael’s story proves the power of community, technology and hope. Thanks to Petco Love Lost's innovative platform and the kindness of strangers, Millie took it home. As Michael said, "Lost Love helped me find Milly. It was amazing."
For pet parents everywhere, platforms like Petco Love Love are changing the game to make it faster than ever and easier to bring home lost pets.
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