The City of Meridian Animal Shelter is one of only 25 shelters nationwide chosen to participate in a new pilot program aimed at reuniting lost pets with their families before they ever reach a shelter.
The initiative, known as Network Neighbors, was launched this week by Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters. The pilot is supported by Petco Love Lost, a free online tool that uses facial recognition and artificial intelligence to help connect found pets with their owners.
Nearly 10 million pets go missing each year in the United States, and many are never returned home. According to Best Friends, lost or stray pets make up the largest share of animals entering shelters, and programs like Network Neighbors are designed to address that challenge by empowering local communities.
As part of the project, volunteers in Meridian are distributing bilingual yard signs in neighborhoods identified as high-risk areas for lost pets. The signs feature QR codes that link directly to Petco Love Lost, enabling people who find lost animals to access an easy-to-use platform for locating owners.
Data from the City of Meridian Animal Shelter shows that about 70% of lost dogs are found within a mile of their home. The targeted placement of the signs is based on the shelter’s intake data from the past 12 months.
The effort is designed to reduce the number of animals entering the shelter and to increase reunification rates. Over the next several months, the pilot will track outcomes for dogs, which have more detailed intake location data, though the goal is to ultimately benefit both dogs and cats.
Network Neighbors could expand nationally if the pilot proves successful. Nearly 2,000 organizations were considered for participation. Meridian was selected for its detailed lost dog data and demonstrated commitment to innovative community solutions.
Best Friends reports that 509,000 dogs were returned to their owners nationwide in 2024 — a 2.5% increase over the previous year — but the overall return-to-home rate has yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels.
The program is part of Best Friends’ broader goal to make the country no-kill by 2025. The organization partners with more than 5,100 shelters and animal welfare groups nationwide and operates the largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals in the country.
For more information on Network Neighbors or to view national shelter data, visit bestfriends.org or petcolove.org.
