The adoption process
What happens from the moment you find an animal to the moment its record becomes yours.
Finding an animal
Search is location-first, and filters describe what an individual animal is actually like rather than what its breed is supposed to be. Where an owner or rescue has recorded observations about that specific animal, those take priority over breed averages everywhere on this site.
Only a coarse location is ever published. You will see a city and a distance band, never an address.
Applying
The application is a structured form. It asks about your household, your housing, your experience, how long the animal would be alone, and your care plan. That is what an owner needs to decide, and we do not ask for anything beyond it.
Submitting opens a private conversation between you and the owner or rescue, attached to that application. Contact details are never published; share them yourself, in that conversation, when you are ready.
The decision
The owner can mark your application as reviewing, shortlist it, accept it or decline it, and you can withdraw at any point. Only one application can complete an adoption.
The transfer
Completing an adoption is a real transfer of the pet record, not just a status change. Ownership moves to you, the listing closes, and the other applications are explicitly archived rather than left hanging.
The previous owner chooses what travels with the animal — health history, pedigree, photos. Private identity and fraud data never transfers. The ownership history itself is preserved, so the record shows the animal changed hands.