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Besides papering the neighborhood in fliers when your pet goes missing, you might also consider a new app that claims to help people find their furry friends with a few clicks of a button.

The new app called PiP, which stands for "Positive Identification of Pet," uses facial recognition software to help track down lost pets, according to its developer. Owners simply upload a few photos of their pet, in addition to a few other details, and the app then sends out an alert to all other PiP subscribers in the area, as well as local shelters and veterinary offices.

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Any photos of found pets will be cross-referenced with the picture of missing Fido. It would be a bit like a child Amber Alerts, but for pets.

The idea for the app came to PiP CEO Philip Rooyakkers when he was working with a dog that was adopted by a new family only 48 hours after arriving in a shelter, giving the dog's original owners little time to find him.

"It struck me that this dog was grieving, that he was missing 'his true owners,' and I knew that somewhere out there his true owners were also grieving," Rooyakkers said in a statement. "The unfairness of this situation struck a chord with me and I knew there had to be a better way to reunite lost pets with their rightful owners."

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About 9 million companion animals are admitted to shelters each year, according to a study by the American Humane Society. Additionally, a cat or dog lost without a microchip or ID tag has a slim chance of being found; only 15 percent of dogs are found and 2 percent of cats.