Introducing ForPaws - An AI-driven Lost & Found service for Pets by Mars Petcare

This Lost & Found service helps users find their missing pets with only a photo of the pet.

Users will become part of our incredibly strong community of pet parents, rescues & pet lovers who are all  looking out for each other's pets. 

BENGALURU, India, Nov. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MARS Petcare, the world's leading pet food company, announces the launch of a  new app called ForPaws. The ForPaws app is a free mobile app that uses bespoke facial recognition technology to help a wide network of kind pet lovers (parents and pet rescues in your city) quickly identify, locate, and reunite lost pets with  their families. 

The app uses a recent photo of the pet to create a Smart ID that is unique to them. In the unfortunate instance that a pet goes missing, ForPaws can use the photo to highlight unique facial features and visual characteristics of the pet, helping people in the ForPaws network connect lost pets with their families. The technology is powered by an advanced machine learning algorithm that constantly improves accuracy rate with the addition of more photos to its database.

Every festive season, many pets tend to get frightened and run away due to the bursting of crackers and other loud noises associated with the festivities. With the help of ForPaws, pet owners on the network can rely on the app's artificial  intelligence-based image analysis to find their missing pet. Similarly, individuals who come across a lost pet can take a  photo and find a match on the app if another user is looking for that pet.

The app is initially launching in Bangalore and will be providing this service first for dogs before expanding to more cities and including more pets like cats. 

"With the increase in smartphone penetration & sharp drop in internet data costs, more & more services are leveraging  smart tech to solve consumer pain points. With ForPaws we want to leverage facial recognition technology & a network  of pet lovers to solve a serious problem of tracking missing pets & helping them find their way home."
- Mohit Arora, Global Digital Marketing Lead, MARS Petcare

The pet food and pet services category is one of the fastest-growing in India. Dogs and cats are now considered  members of the family, as confirmed by consumer trends within the pet owner category. A Euromonitor report in 2020  showcased a significant rise in the sale of pet products and forecasted a 68% increase in value growth by 2025. This  can be attributed to the rapid growth in pet ownership in the last 18 months, especially during the lockdown period.

"We are happy to launch the ForPaws app that can reduce the instances of pet owners losing their pets permanently,  through the use of technology and a widespread network of pet lovers. With the rise in the number of pet adoptions in  the past few years, the pet care category has witnessed tremendous growth. In addition, there has been an attitudinal  shift as pets are now increasingly being seen as members of the family. Mars Petcare is a leader in the pet food category  with brands like Pedigree and Whiskas, and making a better world for pets is at the core of our organizational purpose.  We hope people will use this app and help pet parents have the joy of recovering their lost pets."
- Ganesh Ramani, Managing Director, MARS Petcare

MARS Petcare has been leading the category development in the country through its various initiatives and activities,  including the education of pet owners, veterinarians and other stakeholders about the right nutrition and wellness  requirements of pets. Mars Petcare works closely with NGOs on adoption, stray feeding, vaccination and neutering  programs as well as with school children to sensitize them towards pets and responsible pet parenting. Consequently,  MARS Petcare is leveraging its role in the industry to support the use of technology and innovation in petcare, providing  impetus to the growth of the category.

About Mars, Incorporated

For more than a century, Mars, Incorporated has been driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with  how we do business today. This idea is at the center of who we have always been as a global, family-owned business.  Today, Mars is transforming, innovating and evolving in ways that affirm our commitment to making a positive impact  on the world around us. 

Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of confectionery, food, and petcare products and services, we employ  133,000 dedicated Associates who are all moving in the same direction: forward. With $40 billion in annual sales, we  produce some of the world's best-loved brands including DOVE®, EXTRA®, M&M's®, MILKY WAY®, SNICKERS®,  TWIX®, ORBIT®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, SKITTLES®, BEN'S ORIGINAL™, WHISKAS®, COCOAVIA®, and  5™; and take care of half of the world's pets through our pet health services AniCura, Banfield Pet Hospitals™,  BluePearl®, Linnaeus, Pet Partners™, and VCA™.

We know we can only be truly successful if our partners and the communities in which we operate prosper as well. The  Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire our Associates to take action  every day to help create a world tomorrow in which the planet, its people and pets can thrive. 

For more information about Mars, visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. Please follow the QR code for more content:

Guest Speakers 

Ms. Priya Chetty Rajgopal - NGO- CJ Memorial Trust

An impactful businessperson, CXO search consultant & now civic evangelist, Priya Chetty Rajagopal is well known in  business and industry circles. On the Boards of TiE, Bangalore, Akshara Foundation & Civilia, she has been in the  People Consulting space from 2004; her previous assignment was as Board Member & Executive Director- Leadership  & Board Practice, RGF Executive Search. Priya was nominated Femina Woman of the Year 2017, conferred the Indira  Gandhi Priyadarshini Award for Excellence in 1997. 

Priya is the Founder of CJ Memorial Trust is a trust in the memory of a beloved pet CJ, that focuses on promotion of  Community Guardianship, and is strong voice in advocacy of ABC, #AdoptDontShop, animal welfare et al. Runs the  Facebook groups Cubbon Park Canines, The Global Indie, India Pet Grief Support, Dwiddlywinks (Dogs with Disability)  and many more - covering over 15000 members. It has many successes & campaigns to its credit - ##NotWithoutMyDog  #BanOnlinePetSales. The Annual CJ Memorial Community Guardian Award is well known recognition champions in  dog welfare.

Ms Sudha S Narayanan - Charlies Animal Rescue Centre (CARE) 

CARE is headed by Ms Sudha Narayanan, Founder Trustee of CARE who comes with her immense expertise,  knowledge and skills of over two decades. Charlies Animal Rescue Centre – CARE is an animal shelter established in January 2013 with the aim of providing timely medical aid to injured and ill animals of the street in Bangalore city. They aim to provide lifesaving veterinary care on par with private veterinary setups to all animals, irrespective of their ownership status. CARE has a rescue helpline, animal ambulance services and a fully equipped veterinary trauma care unit. No animal left behind is main motto.

CARE strives to provide dignity to animals, who are old, blind, paraplegic & suffering from chronic diseases and allow them to live out their lives at the shelter in a safe & peaceful environment. CARE is home to many dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks, hens, pigs, Guinea pigs, birds & terrpins.

Apart from rescue & shelter services, CARE also provides adoptions, humane education in schools, animal cruelty prevention & control and volunteering opportunities.

Dr. Shiela Rao, Co-Founder Trustee, CUPA 

Shiela Rao is a veterinarian and trustee of CUPA (Compassion Unlimited plus Action), an NGO that she co-founded to  take animal welfare to the next level. She is also a Trustee of WRRC (Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre) and  has done extensive research on Captive Elephants in India. She is a veterinarian and an alumnus of the Bangalore  Veterinary College in Hebbal. In 1991, along with Ms. Crystal Rogers,and Mrs. Suparna Ganguly and under the  guidance and mentorship of Ms. Crystal Rogers, CUPA was started. What started in a single room in Crystal Rogers'  house, has, in 30 years, grown into one of the most well-known animal welfare organisations, not just in Bengaluru and  India, but also in other countries around the world. She is very active in the domain of Animal Welfare at Bangalore.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1690880/Paws_poster_Fridge_magnet.jpg