PetFinder

Be very careful about sending videos to people we are trying right now to get to Papillons from Deborah Smith and she continues to ask us for extra video of the inside of our house it's a little scary and I still can't adopt the Papillons

Petfinder isn't a shelter themselves. They're sort of a catch-all for many shelters. They don't seem to require these shelters to meet any sort of customer standards. More often than not, the shelter hosting the animal you want will require you to go to their site and fill out a lengthy application. Some of these are more in depth than filing taxes; some are quite basic. And some require a "donation" to apply. 9 out of 10 times, an application filed the day the animal shows up on Petfinder is a waste of time because the shelter has already found a home for it by then. The hope being that you'll find something else on their site now that you've been lured in with the cute photo of the one that wasn't available. Nevertheless, the listing lingers on Petfinder; I guess until the shelter finds a new photo to fill that listing slot. You will likely never hear from the shelter again once you apply.

They're good if you want links to lots of shelters, but don't believe that the animal advertised with Petfinder is actually available. It's just bait.

My family recently decided to adopt a dog from petfinder. After weeks of research we found a dog, bought all the necessary supplies and set up a home inspection. Two woman, one who was fostering the dog and another who was higher up in the organization dropped the dog off, approved him to live with us, signed all paperwork and took a check for payment. Not even two hours later after buying a crate and name tag the women were back at our door askin for the dog back. At first they claimed it was "for the safety of our smaller dogs" but soon admitted the foster mother could not give the dog up. We asked that they give us a week with the dog to reconsider our emotions but would not budge. I am simply writing this review to advise anyone who is adopting a dog to look at the history of the foster family. Chances are if this is their first foster they may not be able to part. Only good thing to come out of this is that the woman who fostered the dog will no longer be allowed to foster animals. Be careful before you fall in love!

I see a lot of negative reviews for this site and I'm not sure the site itself is to blame. I looked at this site as being kind of a Craigslist for animals only safer for the animals. Petfinders posts pics and bios of pets for shelters throughout the U.S.A. If you had issues with trying to adopt an animal, I believe it is the shelters who are at fault in having outdated information as to whether or not a pet is still available. In searching for a dog for myself I spent over a year searching on Petfinder.com as well as a similar site and at local shelters in my area. Each shelter promoting adoptions on Petfinder has their own adoption process. Some seemed to be extremely lengthy. Also, so many people have been adopting pets since the pandemic began that going through all the applications takes awhile especially if the shelter is all voluntary. I just wanted to explain this so you don't become discouraged from adopting. I actually was able to adopt my dog from a profiled dog that I found on Petfinders and she is perfect for me and my circumstances. If you are in a hurry to adopt and don't want to take the time to apply, do a meet and greet in your home, and pay sometimes a nominal fee depending on your circumstances, you may instead want to visit your area shelters and find your new pet.

The site is woefully dysfunctional. Search settings are routinely lost, mid-search, so that all of the settings have to be reentered. So-called saved searches aren't immune from this problem either. The dropdown menus get stuck with regularity, so that only the top option displays for checking off. The message "Sorry, no pets available within specified distance" displays for no reason, extremely often. Pets that have already been adopted continue to be listed for many weeks. (I realize this may be more the fault of the individual shelters than petfinder; still, it renders the information much less useful than it should be.) The distance parameters make no sense; why jump from "within 100 miles" to "within 500 miles"? What about 200,300, or 400 miles? In other words, one has to choose between shelters within a couple of hours' drive vs. ones that would take a day or more to reach! I've e-mailed petfinder about the problems I've encountered repeatedly. Replies have ranged from "You don't *have* to use petfinder" (really?) to claims that the problems are "infrequent" even though they are nearly constant. It seems reasonable to wonder whether tech support with more expertise might be able to improve this very user-unfriendly site, which is nevertheless performing an important service and therefore should be MUCH, MUCH better.

I was involved in rescue for years and can say with certainty that the overwhelming majority of organizations on Petfinder are nothing more than scams to solicit donations or individuals who hoard animals and use the listings as "proof" of "rescue" to claim a non-profit status for the tax breaks. With very few exceptions, the only reputable rescues on there are humane societies.

About 17 years ago, we contacted a rescue about a white German Shepherd, speaking to them in detail on the phone. We were led to believe it was all a matter of meeting the dog, then never heard back. Contacted them several times, with no word, until finally they told us the foster home decided to keep the dog. We were devastated, but, unfortunately, did go back to Petfinder over the years. EVERY SINGLE TIME, regardless of which "private rescue" we contacted, it was the same game. Either no response at all, and the dog would remain on the site for months, if not years on end, or we were given the runaround. I thought it might be different for cats, but now that we are looking for a kitten, it's the same old song and dance.

Honestly, Craigslist actually IS more reputable. I have worked with rescuers on there, transporting or fostering dogs, and know many people in my area who actually do rescue and rehome on their own dime placing dogs and cats through them. Just... stay away from Petfinder. It's the Ponzi scheme of the animal world.

Looking at these reviews and my family's experience on petfinder I am a bit concerned these agencies aren't really trying to get animals adopted and are using the website to just collect information on people. My mother inquired about an animal at a supposed rescue and was immediately rejected. What was concerning is that the response used information of our late cat that was only available on her private Facebook page as reasoning. Her page was also accessed from a foreign location during this time and again from a different location a few days later. I am worried that people on this website present as shelters in order to received your names, emails, and numbers to sell to marketers, spammers, and possibly hackers. It IS possible that there are rescues who are very strict and think they know best for the animals in their care, but considering what happened with us I would be cautious about presenting your information through petfinder. Your local shelters are probably your best bet at adopting.

Ridiculous I also had an experience with Karen my daughter and I really wanted this dog repeatedly sent emails 5 days later she responds tells me he is on home visit check back next week I told her my frustration I really wanted this dog I feel like if she had responded quicker maybe it would be us adopting him she replied that she works 50plus hours and could always use help being sarcastic anyway it took her 3 minutes to respond to my complaint why 5 days to respond to an adoption?

I spent hours and hours looking for a dog on Petfinder.com. Even after narrowing the search down, there were over 1500 dogs to choose from. So the website could be changed so that you could narrow the searches even further. And if that happened, maybe the site would not crash as much. Two weeks ago, I found a dog that was a good match. So far, the rescue group hasn't even checked my references. I have filled out several applications, but I have not even met one of the rescue/foster dogs yet. I think maybe there should be only one application to be filled out that gets the Petfinder "Seal of Approval." Then you should be able to adopt from any group that advertises on the site. Lastly, I think that we should be able to give feedback concerning the individual rescue groups we deal with. At this point, I would give all the rescue groups I have dealt with a negative rating. The local shelters have been great to work with, but the small rescue groups have been all but impossible to work with.

They don't want to find these babies a home. I showed interest in a few babies and all I got was thank you for your interest. Bull $#*! and shame on them!

Pet finder does not respond to applications or communications of any type. I had to go elsewhere to find a dog to adopt. Do not waste your time!

I have been sending in inquires for several dogs/pet to have a forever home. On October 03,2021 I emailed as to why I have gotten no answers/replies. This person named Beth sent me a reply to "she ONLY see 1 inquirer" so, where did the inquires go; seeing as when I sent them I got a reply that states "inquire sent" to each and ALL I sent my inquires for a dog. These people seem to not do what is BEST for the pet, but what is BEST they see FOR THEM in the PERSON(S) wanting to adopt (hint, hint). I do NOT trust adopting anymore, I will PAY for (BUY) a pet/dog before being done like this, when they need money they accept all, but when adopting that rule doesn't seem to apply! Thank YOU! Tried to upload the email conversation(s) between me and them but it would not allow it for the type of file it is saved as in folder.

Just like many reviews on this site, I sought their service after losing my precious Jack-Chi after 16yrs of love & care. For days they wouldn't respond to my inquiries. Finally some anonymous lady responded "you're on schedule for a call back". I got a call from "unknown", I receive a lot of spam calls for donations & surveys so I don't answer them. She left a vm "this is in response to your inquiry about Buddy and I can't leave you a phone#. She also emailed that she tried to contact me and to let her know when's the best time. So I responded to her email to call anytime and I'll answer though I don't answer calls from unknown sources. Mind you this is after a whole week & several emails she/they responded. She called a few hours later, I thanked her for the call, she asked if I had other dogs, I told her my story how I lost my dog after 16yrs and looking for a good companion. She coldly said that I'm not a good fit since I've no other dog. This woman has never seen me, doesn't know me and telling me right off the bat I'm not a good fit! Thanked her for her time & hung up asap. Don't waste your time with these unlovely "dog" lovers. Purina aught to be ashamed of itself for sponsoring these idiots.

Years ago I looked on Petfinder and was able to connect with the Rescue Organization and adopted the dog I saw on their website, but now in Year 2021 to 2022 I have filled in numerous applications for a dog and sometimes there's been no reply, and other times they claim the dog has already been adopted and another time one organization said they could give me some other dog that wasn't even the type of dog I was looking for. So in essence you are constantly strung along in hopes of getting a dog but you don't get one because there are 100 applications for the same dog.
A lot of it is just False Advertising and Bait & Switch methods which are actually illegal and PetFinder is obviously NOT doing anything about it. I have thrown in the towel and QUIT their bogus service for it only leads to CONTINUAL DISSAPOINTMENT!

Horrible and the worst place to place an ad. Can't believe the number of messages from crazy ends of the earth and request for six digit codes to see if I'm real.

I submitted an application to adopt a Basenji called Maeve and I never heard back from them sounds like a scam I really am never going to do this again I got everything ready and blew all my money on dog supplies and puppy supplies it's just a waste of time and I really don't like what they did to me its a waste of time and money and not good