We’re talking about Petfinder today! If you haven’t heard of Petfinder, it’s a search engine for adoptable pets in North America. Many rescues and shelters regularly upload available pet profiles to Petfinder as well as their own website or Facebook page. Petfinder then categorizes these pets so you can easily use specific search criteria such as breed, age, size and gender to find compatible matches. 

A very common question amongst Googlers right now is “Is Petfinder a scam?” 

Petfinder is a great resource for pet adopters BUT it's not foolproof.

 I myself have used this tool to find my own rescue pets and to assist in my search for clients. It's not all encompassing so I also use a spreadsheet of 50+ rescues to make sure I see as many available pets as possible.

Some basic tips on how to use Petfinder:

Start specific: Use the filters on Petfinder to narrow your search and get the most compatible results off of the bat. Remove certain filters as needed to broaden your search, when necessary.

Use the desktop version: The mobile app is not great for filtering or loading many profiles at once so I find it much more efficient to use Petfinder on my desktop or tablet.

Be flexible with your location: It can be frustrating doing a search on Petfinder in Southern Ontario because we’re located so close to the border that we end up getting a lot of U.S. matches. I have yet to find a way to filter out matches from other countries on Petfinder so adjusting the location to be more northern can help reduce how soon you see those matches. Also, if you’re in a rural area you may want to choose a closest urban location to get better more results.

Avoid out-of-town or out-of-country dogs: I’ll be sharing more about this later but for now just trust that this is a good rule of thumb for first time dog adopters.

Petfinder has made pet adoption much more accessible and this is both good and bad. Good because it shows pet adopters a wider range of adoptable animals and increases your likelihood of finding a good match. Bad because it has made it easy for everyone and anyone to upload adoptable pet profiles. Unfortunately, that means scammers and less-than-reputable rescues are making use of this resource.

What do I mean when I say less-than-reputable rescues? These are organizations that are focused on profit rather than the animals’ well-being and are cutting corners with care (veterinary or otherwise) or even providing false information such as the source/breed/age/behaviour of their adoptable animals.

So Get Smart With Petfinder And Consider These 4 Questions Every Time You Use This Tool:

1. Does the rescue or shelter have a quality website or a long-standing Facebook page with an active following?

An established rescue organization should have an online ‘home’ that looks professional and is easy to navigate and understand. If they only have a Facebook page you should peruse their posts to see what kind of pets they've had available and scroll down to the “Page Transparency” column on the left of their page to check when the page was started. Hint: if they regularly have puppies available assess why that is, most rescues get a litter here and there but would not have constant access to pups - this could be a puppy broker (seller of puppy mill puppies) and not a rescue at all. If they just have a Petfinder profile I'd look elsewhere!

2. Is the rescue or shelter a registered charity or have not-for-profit status?

This shows they've taken professional steps for their organization, provides a sense of permanence and adds legitimacy to their organization.

3. What is the rescue or shelter’s process?

Most rescues and shelters follow this format:

Application

Phone/Video Interview

Reference Check/Home Check

+/- Follow-Up Foster/Rescue Interview with details on adoptable pet

Meet & Greet

Contractual Agreement

If the process does not follow this general format and is as simple as inquiring or sending in an application this is not likely a quality establishment to adopt a pet from.

4. Is the animal currently in your country?

Lots of 'out-of-town' pets are posted on Petfinder and many of them require adoption and payment sight-unseen with no foster-to-adopt policy/agreement (FTA). This is the perfect scenario for puppy mills, brokers or illegitimate rescues to operate under. I highly recommend not engaging in this type of adoption.

Here’s a friendly reminder for you, if it seems too good to be true it probably is!

I hope this information has been helpful, I’ve had a few people tell me about unfortunate experiences with Petfinder scams or illegitimate rescues lately and I want to save others from facing these hardships too. Employ these 4 questions with every search to ensure you’re using the tool and it’s not using you!

Have you found some questionable rescues on Petfinder? Message me @pawdoptionguide on Instagram or Facebook to tell me more. 

Of course you can’t start your search unless you’ve narrowed down what you’re looking for! Grab my FREE Are You Ready to Get a Dog? checklist today and be prepared to start your dog adoption search tomorrow.