Online Pet Adoption

Web Resources Help Connect Pets to Loving Homes

Looking for a pet? Search no further than your computer.

Online pet adoption is a growing trend, allowing potential owners the convenience of searching for their new fluffy friends from the comfort of their homes.

Do Your Research

Going to a pet shelter to look for your next canine or feline companion can be overwhelming with all the options available to you. Doing research ahead of time can help you narrow down your search and make the pet adoption process easier and more manageable.

Online Adoption Resources

PetFinder.com is an online, searchable database of pets that need homes. The site contains a directory of over 10,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations across the United States, Canada and Mexico. Organizations maintain their own home pages and available pet database. The site is also updated daily, giving prospective pet owners a current inventory of animals that need loving homes.

Another online resource for potential pet owners is 1-800-Save-A-Pet.com. They’re a non-profit pet adoption charity that helps shelters, humane societies, Society’s for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, pet rescue groups, and pet adoption agencies advertise their homeless pets without a fee.

Another source for fuzzy friends in need of adoption is Pets911.com. This Web site consolidates adoption, lost and found, veterinarian/emergency clinic, fostering, volunteer, shelter/clinic, and health and training information as an educational resource for the public in hopes it will decrease pet euthanasia. They offer an online searchable database of pets you can find in your local community.

Purebreds Need To Be Adopted, Too

If you’re looking for a purebred cat or dog, there are a number of national organizations you can inquire with, such as the American Kennel Club, the registry of purebred dogs in the United States, or the Cat Fanciers’ Association, the world’s largest registry of pedigreed cats.

In fact, the American Kennel Club (AKC) offers an online breeder classified section, which provides contact information for breeders who currently have AKC-registered puppies available for sale. Like the AKC, the Cat Fanciers’ Association offers a cat breeder referral service on their Web site, allowing prospective cat owners the ability to search for cats worldwide or by breed.

Meet In-Person

When you adopt a pet, you’re committing to that animal for his/her lifetime. It’s important for people searching the Web for a pet to realize that online browsing only helps you identify the physical characteristics you may be searching for. You need to actually meet the pet and make sure it’s the right one for you. Pets, like people, have different personalities, energy levels and possibly even health issues that you can only determine in person.

Return to the VPI Pet HealthZone

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