A new doorbell feature could help North East dog owners find missing pets faster.
Doorbell firm Ring has announced Search Party for Dogs, a new tool due to launch in the UK through its Ring Neighbours platform next month.
The feature uses artificial intelligence and participating Ring cameras to help reunite missing dogs with their owners.
Ring SearchParty. (Image: Ring)
For pet owners across County Durham and Teesside - where appeals for missing dogs regularly appear on community Facebook groups - the technology could offer valuable extra support in the race to find a four-legged friend.
If a dog goes missing, owners will be able to create a lost dog report on the platform - including photographs and details about their pet.
Participating outdoor Ring cameras can then scan stored footage for possible matches.
Ring stressed that neighbours do not automatically get access to one another’s camera footage.
Instead, if the company believes a camera may have captured the missing dog, the camera owner receives a notification and can decide whether to share the footage and location details with the dog owner.
Ring doorbells could soon help owners track down lost dogs across the North East. (Image: Ring)
Ring says the feature has already helped return more than one missing dog a day in areas where it operates.
The technology will be available through Ring Neighbours, a free community platform launching in the UK from Wednesday, October 21.
Users will be able to post local updates, community alerts and missing pet appeals, even if they do not own a Ring device.
While many dog owners will welcome another way to reunite lost pets with their families, the announcement has prompted wider questions about privacy and surveillance technology.
The system allows AI to search footage from privately owned cameras across a network for a specific dog.
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Privacy campaigners have raised concerns about similar neighbourhood-camera networks in the United States, where Ring’s Neighbours platform has faced scrutiny over policing and data-sharing features.
However, some of those controversial features will not be available in the UK at launch.
Thousands of dogs go missing across the UK each year, and Ring says Search Party will support searches already organised through social media, posters and local appeals.
It remains to be seen how much of a difference the feature will make, but for anyone who has experienced the panic of a missing pet, a network of cameras keeping an extra eye out could be a welcome development.