Adopt a Pet at Petfinder.com

Petfinder.com is a great website to help people find and adopt a pet. My family and I have always adopted dogs through dog pounds and rescue centers and I have always found the dogs so grateful. I don't understand why people would pay $800 or more to go to a breeder and get what they consider the perfect breed of purebred dogs when there are many purebred and almost purebred dogs at dog pounds and rescue centers. many of these dogs can be found on Petfinder.com.

Ten years ago, after the untimely death of my family's Golden Retriever, I was determined to find a new Golden Retriever to bring into the family. I found our dog Buddy within a three-week period on Petfinder.com, and it was an easy and wonderful experience.

How to Navigate the Website

Petfinder has more than just the average dog and cat adoption listings. There are many other types of animals available as well. To make the best use of Petfinder.com to adopt a pet, go to the website www.petfinder.com There will be a listing up to the left which allows a potential adopter to choose the type of animal that he/she is interested in adopting. The choices are:

* Dog

* Cat

* Rabbit

* Small and Furry ( this includes hamsters, mice, rats, guinea pigs, chinchillas, and ferrets. As of this writing, it also included a hedgehog and a prairie dog!)

* Bird

* Scales and fins ( this includes snakes, water dragons, turtles, tortoise, Iguanas, frogs, geckos, and lizards).

The next choice is breed, such as in a dog or cat. The next item to fill in is the zip code of the town the potential adopter lives in. If a potential adopter would like to make a refined search, to weed out animals they would not be interested in, there are even more categories to fill out that include gender of the animal, age, and size. Once those categories are filled in with choices, there is a search button to click. A listing will appear of all the available pets in the chosen categories. The list starts with those geographically closest to the potential adopter appearing first. The listings show a picture of the animal if available, the animal's name, and some information such as the color, age, temperament, whether or not it's housebroken, spayed/neutered, what types of animals and people the pet gets along with. Sometimes there will even be some background information on the pet including where it was found or why it was surrendered.

Background

Many of the animals were in abusive or neglectful situations. Some had families that relinquished them because they could not afford to take care of them due to economic circumstances. The animals listed are from pounds, animal rescue centers, and Humane Societies all across the country. Some of the shelters require that the interested adopter fills out an application before any more information being exchanged. Some just list a phone number and address of the shelter for the adopter to contact. There is also a link to search for nearby shelters if someone isn't all that picky about the type of dog or cat they get and would prefer to adopt from a nearby shelter. The fee for the adopted animals is different for each shelter or dog pound that the animal is adopted from. The site exists to be a clearinghouse for available animals.

One of the more interesting links on the site is a link to help your family decide what breed of dog would be best. Once the link is clicked on, it brings the searcher to an alphabetical list of dog breeds, complete with descriptions and temperament. This list is extremely useful for families who aren't quite sure what type of dog would fit into their family best.

Update on Buddy

Buddy has been a part of my family for 9 1/2 years now. He was being abused by his original owner, and someone rescued him from that family, and he was put on Petfinder.com to find a forever home. On his first visit to the vet after being adopted, we were told he was 10 - 15 pounds underweight. I am sure you can tell by the pictures accompanying this article that this is not the case now! He has been a wonderful dog and a great companion to my children. I wrote this article to help other families find the perfect pet for their situation. And I hope that in doing so, some of these animals can find their forever home in loving families, so they will not have had to suffer in vain.

Hoping You can Find Your Perfect Pet With Petfinder.com

I hope this article and the video will help you to find your perfect pet. I find it is always better to rescue adopt a dog, cat, etc. because not only is it less expensive, but in some cases, you are helping to save a life. And in the case of a dog, in my personal experience, they are always grateful and show their appreciation to their rescuers. Good luck and please let me know in the comments below if you have rescued a pet, or used Petfinder to find your furrever friend!