Youve lost your dog. Youve been out all night, canvassing the neighbourhood, but theres still no sign of Fluffy.

If only youd been able to use facial-recognition technology to upload a photo of the dog to a digital cloud before it disappeared.

Wait, theres an app? For that?

Philip Rooyakkers, co-founder of a Vancouver dog shop, has developed an application he hopes will make it easier for Canadian pet owners to reunite with the estimated one million animals that go missing in this country every year.

In Pictures: Pooches have a spa day at Dogtopia

Move over tags, tattoos and microchips. Hello, iTunes.

I was sitting having my lunch one day, with my Boston terrier in my office and his brother happened to also be in my office, Mr. Rooyakkers recalled in an interview. Both are sitting there staring at me while Im eating. Im looking at them and it occurred to me that, Oh my gosh, their faces, even though theyre brothers they have different patterns on their faces. And I thought, Why dont we use facial recognition to [put together] a pet list?

That October, 2011 lunch started Mr. Rooyakkers on a two-year journey that, this past November, saw his team make its submission to Apple, for inclusion to the iTunes store.

PiP for Positive Identification of Pets became available for download earlier this month.

Mr. Rooyakkers knows all too well the worry that can come with losing a pet. His Yorkshire terrier once scampered out an open door, triggering a desperate search. The owner was fortunate enough to find the dog the next day, at a nearby shelter.

Go here to see the original:

Canadian-developed pet app gives peace of mind