Cats see 25% increase in adoption rates in the first month 😻
We started Adoptimize by automating great photos of dogs because we knew cats would present an even bigger challenge - not just because they're cats - but because their fluffier nature makes transparency hard to master with background removal. In fact, background removal with fine hair is so difficult that even the Hollywood pros avoid it. If you rewatch a Marvel movie action scene (which are usually filmed against green screens) you'll notice that women superheroes usually have their hair tied back for this very reason.
Well, we finally did it! In October we launched our cat algorithm that automatically edits the kennel out of the cat photo in just 15 seconds. Here's just some of the impact shelters saw:
Cats at Espanola Humane in New Mexico saw a 22% higher adoption rate and left the shelter 4 days faster
Cats at Palm Valley Animal Society in Texas saw a 25% higher adoption rate and left the shelter 1.9 days faster
We've proven time and time again that great photos save lives and money for shelters. We also know that better, clearer photos reunite more dogs with their owners. Cats, however, need more help: only about 2% of cats are ever returned to their owners from the shelter. It's a frustrating statistic, but over the next couple months as we roll out Adoptimize in more shelters, we're hoping to start seeing an increase the number of cats that are reunited with their owners. Stay tuned.