"There are literally millions of animals in shelters and foster care that need homes. Petfinder and similar sites provide a forum for organizations (and the occasional individual) to advertise them to prospective adopters.
But, any such site is only as good as the people who use it. Sadly, our experience has been that the majority of listings are out of date -- the posted pets are already adopted -- OR the advertisers don't bother to respond to inquiries. In the case of the latter, there's no way of knowing what is going on, but ignoring people is always a bad idea.
Yes, I know most of these outfits are run by volunteers and appreciate their efforts. In fact, I used to work with one. I'm disappointed that a lot of them haven't figured out that they could save themselves and potential adopters a lot of time and grief by simply keeping their primary communication tool up to date. What's puzzling is that once someone is logged in to Petfinder, it takes only a few minutes to update one or more postings.
In short, we've found that it's a better bet to network with friends or go to adoption events to make initial contact and not waste time on Petfinder."
"Horrid for the animals. They don't respond. Want you to do APP (PAY THEM) but not telling you if animal available....don't respond to emails. Just pay them. And don't respond. And ..some "fictitious " animal is sitting there. Outside the oven door? "
"It so sad. There are so many pets looking for a home and the agencies you work with have so many restrictions it makes it impossible. I know they have the animal best interest at heart but come on. I had one refuse me because I didn't have a fenced in back yard. I had another all set to let me have the pup but because the dog I have now is not fixed. I asked he why and she told me they are trying to control the dog population. So I guess a fixed male can get a female pregnant... If a dog is going to a loving home that iwill and love the pupss then that's all that should matter. "
"I wanted to get a cat but they scammed me they never gave me a cat
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"The process to adopt a pet from anyone not a shelter is obnoxious. Why have to prove you deserve a pet to people who don't respond and deny you for so many valid reasons. I was denied because I work too much. Don't focus on the fact that the animal will be well cared for, just judge my worth based on your idiotic requirements and insulting questionnaires."
"Im basically have the same complaint as everyone else. I lost my sweet josee 5 weeks ago from bone cancer. I filled out several applications at various shelters. No response. I finally spoke to a young lady at one shelter regarding a dog by the name of kimi. She said the foster mom would contact me in 48-72 hrs. That was 3 wks ago and I still haven't been contacted. No wonder this poor dog has been in foster care for over a year. I finally have up and filled out another application for another dog. That was 3 days ago. I sent a message on line to the shelter to check the status of my application. No reply. I keep reading how the shelters are overcrowded but yet its so difficult to adopt a dog. Very disheartening! And it sounds like im not the only one having this problem!!"
"I applied 2 weeks ago to adopt the pet They needed more information I sent it right away no longer responding to my messages no way to call them either this is rather alarming and disappointing and disappointing just trying to save a dog give a dog you would think I was trying to adopt 5 children
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"so as of June 2022, Petfinder has stopped supporting rescues that rescues horses and other livestock from auction, and they even went as far as to bann the rescues they had already previously allowed to post their adoptable pets.
Shame on you petfinder."
"We wanted to adopt a 10 year old **** Tzu, we’re retired and already have a 7 year old **** Tzu. These people are scammers, Petfinder makes it impossible to actually adopt the dog you picked. They all but want your tax returns and your medical history. Never saw anything like it in my life. Dint expect them to call you"
"I’ve tried to adopt here, they always have a reason that I’m not compatible, I own my own house I have a large fenced yard, I’m am retired so I have all day to be around the dog, but I’m still not a good candidate to adopt a dog"
"My experience is nill. applied for dog several time with no response. If dogs are adopted they should update immediatly.
They should let you know status of application one way or another. Other people I know says they have same problem getting any kind of response and should look elsewhere."
"I have been searching for a fur baby to add to our family. I have found many wonderful dogs on Petfinder. The problem is I have inquired on at least 10 adoptable dogs. I got one response that she was available and then no further communication. My mother even tried calling her to help. No response. I question the validity of the site. Each one of these request was made to a different adoption agency in the state of Colorado. I believe that people are hanging onto the dogs to get everything covered for them, example food and vet bills. They just keep them up for adoption but never respond to anybody. It’s really kind of sad when you think about it. There are so many wonderful fur babies out there that need homes and so many people willing to take them and make them part of their family and when you have a site like this where you do not even get a response back makes me think it’s a scam. They need to be investigated and shut down. "
"I have been going back and forth with ****@****. I have asked for management or corporate to give me a call and discuss an issue we have currently been made aware of. We received an email from Quality stating that we could not charge an application fee from your site per Code of Conduct. So, we changed our application within your site and our Petfinder Pro account. Our business website remains with an application fee of $20. We charge this fee because we were getting inundated with FREE adoption applications (100's) that were frivolous and a waste of our volunteer resources time. We feel within our organization, that the $20 fee reduces the overload to serious inquiries only. Once we receive and application, the applicant is sent an email requesting the needed information and items to complete the application process. When they are not charged a fee, the apps just sit waiting on their needed documents. Once they sit for 2 weeks with no response we have to move them to inactive. We have never had an issue with any other organization because we charge this fee to deter frivolous apps. We also put the $20 app fee towards their adoption fee if they are approved. I am not understanding why if she changed our app for your site, why we would be removed from PetFinder. Thus, the reason I am wanting to discuss with management or a higher up. We have used your service since inception of SRGDRR which has been 8 years and because we are the largest Great Dane Rescue and Rehab in the United States with a huge volume we needed to find a better balance on the amount of apps we were receiving in whole. Again, we have no problem allowing the adoption apps from Petfinder being no charge. We just need to keep it on our business website. Please advise and do not send me back to Quality as they are refusing to discuss or even assist in escalating to management. Thank you and look forward to hearing back from someone. I was told there is no phone number to contact, they prefer to hide behind a keyboard."
"Found a puppy on their site. Went thru all the hoops to be approved for adoption. Had the lady finally tell me to meet her in a walmart parking lot pay her half for the puppy, leave without the dog and shed call me a week later for a meeting to pick up the dog after a vet visit or i could pay her in full online and shed set up a meeting. Scam city right there!
I tried to contact petfinder to say hey you might want to check this out AND NEVER HEARD BACK!"
"There were 2 dogs on the site that I was very interested in, however I never heard back. Also, the application is very hard to find on the site. Seems like they want donations and advertising dollars, but don't want to adopt out pets. I AGREE THAT THE SITE IS LIKELY A SCAM AND JUST GETTING INFORMATION FROM PEOPLE TO SELL. Would be a fantastic idea if the goal was actually to help match people with pets needing homes. Does not seem like that is the case.
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