Connecting rescues with the homes they deserve.

PetAdoptNow is a free, US-focused directory of adoptable dogs and cats, animal shelters, animal hospitals, and pet-care guides. We are an independent informational site. We do not run shelters, we do not facilitate adoptions ourselves, and we are not a veterinary provider. We help potential adopters discover animals and the rescues that have them, then hand off to the rescue’s own adoption process.

Our mission

Across the United States, hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats are waiting in shelters for a home. Most are listed on different shelter-management systems, with different filters and different design conventions, making it hard for first-time adopters to compare options or to find a pet in their state. Our mission is to make that journey simpler: free, fast, well-designed, with one consistent way to browse and a clear path back to the rescue that has each animal.

What we offer

• Adoptable-pet listings— fresh, daily- refreshed dog and cat profiles aggregated from shelters in all 50 states. Each profile links directly back to the source rescue’s own page.
• Shelter directory — searchable index of every US animal shelter we are aware of, organized by state and city, with addresses, phone numbers, and links.
• Animal-hospital directory — a parallel directory for routine vet care, spay/neuter clinics, and emergency hospitals.
• Breed reference — overview pages for AKC- recognized dog breeds and TICA-recognized cat breeds, so you can read up before you adopt.
• Pet-name guides — curated dog and cat names with origin and meaning.
• Pet-care articles — guides on adoption, behavior, feeding, health, and training, written for new and experienced pet parents.

Where our pet listings come from

We aggregate adoptable-pet listings from three third-party shelter-management platforms: 24petconnect (operated by HLP Inc. / Pethealth Services), ShelterLuv, and RescueGroups.org. Each platform covers hundreds to thousands of shelters and rescues across the country. We refresh listings on a daily cycle and run a verification pass over previously-published pets to detect those that have been adopted or removed at the source. Listings flagged as adopted are marked on the Site within 24 hours and removed from search results.

Each pet detail page includes a prominent “Contact [Shelter Name]” link that returns the visitor to the source rescue’s own listing or website, where the actual adoption application happens. We are an index, not a broker.

How we use AI

We use AI assistance to draft each pet’s short description based on the factual information we receive about that pet (such as breed, age, and source-shelter location). The drafting process is constrained so descriptions stay grounded in those facts and don’t invent specific behavioral claims. Every description goes through automated quality checks before publication. See our Editorial Policy for how AI fits into our publishing workflow, and our Disclaimer for the limits of AI-assisted content.

How we make money

PetAdoptNow is free for adopters, free for shelters, and free for site visitors. We cover the cost of operating the Site with display advertising delivered by Google AdSense. We do not charge rescues for being listed; we do not require shelters to sign up or to opt in. We do not sell user data, and we do not run sponsored editorial content. For details, see our Advertising Disclosure.

What we will not do

• Charge adopters or shelters to use the Site;
• Hide ads as editorial, run pay-to-list shelter entries, or publish promotional articles disguised as guides;
• Sell or rent the personal information of our visitors;
• Promote commercial breeders or pet stores that source from breeders;
• Display advertising categories that conflict with a pet- adoption audience (gambling, weight-loss schemes, etc.);
• Substitute for the judgment of a licensed veterinarian or certified animal behaviorist.

How to reach us

We are a small team and we read everything sent to us. The fastest way to reach us is by email:

• General questions and feedback — [email protected]
• Privacy, cookies, and data-rights requests — [email protected]
• Copyright (DMCA), terms, and legal — [email protected]
• Advertising and problem ads — [email protected]
• Accessibility — [email protected]

For the full contact directory, please see our Contact page.