How to Keep Your Shelter's Pet Listings Current With No Extra Work

Why does an accurate pet listing matter so much?

An adopter's first look at a pet is almost always online. They're scrolling at lunch or late at night, looking for a dog who's good with kids or a cat who won't mind a small apartment. If the listing in front of them is current, they can make a real decision and reach out to you with real questions.

If it isn't, everyone loses time. A family falls for a pet who went home last week. Someone on your staff takes the call and shares the disappointing news. That family may not come back. Accurate pet adoption listings protect the match before it even starts.

How do I get my shelter's pets listed on more adoption sites?

Most shelters know they should be listing shelter pets on adoption sites beyond their own website. The hard part is time. Posting every animal by hand on several sites, then remembering to update or remove each one, is a part-time job nobody has room for.

And honestly, you shouldn't have to do it. Your pets' information already lives in your shelter software. It should be able to travel from there on its own.

Can WeRescue connect to the shelter software I already use?

Yes. WeRescue connects to software that shelters and rescues already rely on: ShelterLuv, PetPoint, Chameleon, RescueGroups and Adopt-a-Pet. Here's what that looks like for your team:

• You connect once.
• Your available pets appear on werescue.pet and in the WeRescue iOS and Android apps.
• Listings update automatically as things change in your own system.
• When a pet is adopted, the listing comes down without anyone touching it.

That means no new system to learn, no double entry and no stale listings sending families after a pet who has already gone home. You keep working the way you already work, and your pets reach more people.

WeRescue lists pets from over 4,000 shelters and rescues nationwide, and we've been part of more than 1.4 million animal placements. Adopters who find a pet on WeRescue always contact the listing shelter or rescue directly, so your adoption process and your relationships stay yours.

How can my shelter get ready for Clear The Shelters?

Every summer, NBCU Local's Clear The Shelters brings the busiest adoption push of the year. WeRescue has been the technology partner behind Clear The Shelters for eight consecutive years, so we know what that rush feels like.

Connected shelters are ready before it starts. Their pets are already live and current when families come looking. There's no scramble to upload profiles the week before, and no wondering whether last month's adoptions are still showing up in search.

What depends on current pet adoption listings?

Pretty much everything. Search only works if the pets in the results are actually available. Scout, WeRescue's adoption guide, helps families figure out what kind of pet fits their life and follows up with personalized emails about pets who might be a good fit. Those emails only help when the pets in them are still waiting for a home.

Then there are the questions adopters bring to you. When a family calls or emails, you want them asking about a pet you can actually introduce them to. Current listings make every one of those moments better, for adopters and for your team.

How do I connect my shelter software to WeRescue?

Getting connected starts in your WeRescue Hub profile, where you choose the software your shelter or rescue uses. From there, it depends a little on your platform:

• ShelterLuv integration: Choose ShelterLuv as your software in your Hub profile to get started.
• PetPoint integration: Choose PetPoint in your Hub profile, and your available pets can start flowing to WeRescue from the system you already manage them in.
• Chameleon shelter software: Chameleon needs a quick authorization request to Chameleon's support team first. Once that's in place, choose Chameleon in your Hub profile.
• RescueGroups: If your rescue already keeps its pets in RescueGroups, choose it in your Hub profile.
• Adopt-a-Pet: If Adopt-a-Pet is where your pets live today, choose it in your Hub profile.

Not sure which option fits, or want a hand? Reach out and we'll help you sort it out.