TEXT 4PETS ~ If you can text and love animals, this is for you. TEXT 4PETS and your email address to 20222 to donate $10".
SHELTER CHALLENGE ~ It's easy to join in. Simply cast your vote (up to one per day) for your favorite shelter or rescue organization. Based on votes from web site visitors, grants will be awarded to shelters and rescue groups for a total of $300,000 in direct funding.
DONATE NOW TO HELP A SHELTER CAT ~ Where cats can go and hide....(Wish I had a box like that from my kids sometimes...)
Shelter life can be scary for cats. Feral cats who are used to being outside, or cats that came from good homes and their owner for whatever reason had to give them up, can become terrified and mean when placed into a shelter cage.
The HIDE PERCH AND GO BOX can be placed in a shelter for the cats security and then the box can be transported with them to their new home when adopted. They can transition from shelter life to an adoptive home with ease and comfort.
SPONSOR A PET ~ Click on the sponsor a pet page, find your state and pick an animal you want to sponsor. Your contribution of $10 will help a pet to receive care until a new loving family comes along.
The impact of this site goes far beyond the number of animals saved.
There are currently more than 262,200 animals listed, mostly dogs and cats, and shelters report that over half their adoptions came from Petfinder.
Euthanasia rates have dropped substantially since the beginning of the site and more than 12 million animals have been adopted.
I started this site to help animals. If I showed one person, saved one animal or made a difference in an animals life, then I did what I wanted to do...HELP ANIMALS!!
There are approximately 77.5 million owned dogs in the United States obtained from HSUS.
Imagine if everyone who owned a dog or a cat donated $1.00 a day to help animals? It all ADDS UP...Just like this site...a couple who loved animals wanted to help and look what they have done....I applaud you!!!!
HOW IT ALL BEGAN:
In 1996 a computer and graphic designer came up with the idea to help homeless animals. Being animal lovers and knowing their way around the "NET", gave them the idea of Petfinder.com. Their goal was to make it easier to match potential pet adopters with pets available for adoption so that no adoptable animal would have to be euthanize d due to lack of a home.
Betsy Banks Saul and Jared Saul built the website around their day jobs and worked on the site at night. The site was initially limited to their home state of New Jersey, however when the idea spread and a few sponsors signed on, Betsy Saul quit her day job to devote herself full-time. In 1998, the site went national, and in 2000, it became an international group with the addition of Canada.
More Then Just Adopting
Commercially they have a television series on Animal Planet and even have their own Blog.
Using the Petfinder Site
You can start a search by looking for a particular animal, breed, gender, size and/or age. The results of your search will be in close proximity to your Zip Code so you can pick up the animal at the center nearest you.
Each shelter and rescue group has its own home page and pet list on the site. The pets have their own home pages, too - with a description and usually a photograph.
Shelter personnel and volunteers keep the lists of pets continuously updated, so check in often.
Here is an example of how to use the site. Let's follow "John Smith" through the process.
