KARACHI: Amid increasing incidents of theft and snatching of sacrificial animals in the city, two young software engineers have developed a unique application which will enable registration and identification of pets and sacrificial animals.

The app — Animal Passport — developed by Syed Umaid Ahmed and Mohammad Hasan Khan, the two engineers doing research at FAST National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, will be helpful in keeping sacrificial animals safe, especially during Eidul Azha.

Speaking to Dawn, Umaid and Hasan said that with the app it would be easy to find lost or stolen animals through a biometric system based on the physical attributes of an animal.

Hasan, a master’s researcher, said the app they developed was easy to use. “The first step is registration and then verification. For registration of an animal, its owner has to take a photograph of an animal’s muzzle and upload it to the app.”

Like biometrics, a system based on unique muzzle features will help spot a pet or sacrificial animal

Just like the fingerprint of humans, every animal’s muzzle has special and different features, he added.

He said the image was registered in the app with details of its owner and in case the animal was stolen and being sold somewhere and an unsuspecting buyer could find it out in the app and verify its image with the app, upon which complete details of its original owner would appear on his mobile screen.

Umaid, a PhD candidate, said he got the idea of the app after his own animal had got stolen, after which their professor further guided them on its development.

They have tested almost 5,000 animal muzzle prints with their application and the results are 99.9 per cent accurate, they claimed.

Umaid also mentioned the insurance claim feature of the app, which would help find and identify any dead animal registered with the app. He said that the app works through an artificial intelligence algorithm.

It took the two students 11 months to develop the app in which seven months were spent in its testing.

He said with the help of verification, an owner could claim their animal, if they were found to be stolen or lost. A lost or stolen complaint is to be registered with the app.

Umaid said that this application would soon be available on Play Store. And it will be free of charge for the people of Pakistan until Eidul Azha.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2023