When you're looking for the perfect pet match, why not utilize the same techniques as an online dating website? As luck would have it, these dogs and cats are looking for a lifelong love too.
There's a lot of preconceived notions about animal adoption. Oftentimes, hopeful pet owners are wary of adopting a shelter pet because they're worried those animals were relinquished because of behavioral issues or medical issues. While that is occasionally true, according to the National Council on Pet Population and Study (NCPPS), it's far more common that pets are given up because their family is moving, they have too many pets, or the owners have no time for their animals anymore.
It's rarely the animals' fault that they're being relinquished.
"Certain pets are considered less adoptable because they're not perfect," says The Animal Keeper, a pet shelter and boarding facility. "But as anyone who's ever opened their heart and home to a 'less desirable' pet can attest, these animals are as loving, joyful, and grateful to their adoptive humans as any other pet." As Sarah McLachlan reminds us, we never know what an animal has endured before meeting us, but we can start to judge their character based on their enthusiasm to meet us. Communicating a potential bond like this is the real measure of a pet's adoptability, but it is tough to capture these days without the nuance of comprehensive video content. According to 24PetWatch, a pet microchipping company, the fear of the unknown is the biggest reason prospective adopters are wary of shelter pets, but it's about time we break that perception.
Shallow, like the romantic dating pool, a lot of the pet adoption world has been reduced to a pet's headshot photo, their age, and their weight, which misses a lot of the key subtleties that make potential pets so amazing. However, shelters are working hard to change that stigma and surface level profiling that comes with pet adoption, one in-depth personality profile at a time.
According to Petfinder, an online pet adoption website, approximately 8-12 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year and more than half of those pets may live out the rest of their years in a shelter facility. Oftentimes, animal shelter employees have chosen this career because of their deep love for animals, but in reality, morale can sink when these lovable dogs or cats aren't getting picked for adoption. Unadoptable and second-pick pets need their allies to wield every technique at their disposal so they can be chosen by a loving family, and that's why rescues and shelters started showcasing their pets in a new way.
Similar to Bumble or Hinge, well-known dating apps focused on finding that "forever" type of love, animal shelters are creating dating profile-styled content for their pets with the goal of finding the same thing. Korean Paws Rescue (KPR) social media manager exclusively tells Cheezburger Hot Takes that, "Videos and visuals grab attention fast and help someone imagine the pet in their life, which is often the 'love at first sight' moment, like with Lucy!" Born in a shelter, Lucy spent the majority of her life bouncing from foster to foster, but now KPR is determined to find Lucy the home she deserves, bragging of her affectionate demeanor and trusting personality.
Unlike large-scale adoption marketplaces like Petfinder, Korean Paws focuses on the interpersonal aspect of pet adoption. As a non-profit organization that rescues dogs from the meat industry in South Korea, this rescue is determined to find loving, permanent families for these pets, which is why they flaunt their available dogs with detailed personality profiles. According to KPR, "Videos make a huge difference! People can actually see the dog's personality instead of just reading about it."
When it comes to a long-term commitment to an animal companion, rescues are making an effort to keep their adoptees from simply "swiping right" on a pet based on their breed, their fur-type, or their markings. By creating content that flaunts a pet's quirky spirit, adoptees are more likely to forge a soul-bond with these forlorn animals even before they've met them in person.
No pet is perfect, but neither are we. Despite a rocky start in life, a potentially traumatic upbringing, and societal dismissal, shelter pets are oftentimes the sweetest, most affectionate, and resilient critters out there. Eager to share their infinite affections with a game of fetch, a flickering tail, a slobbery kiss, or a cuddle in your lap, shelter pets can fill the hole in your heart that you never realized was there. Bonding to their new humans, shelter pets have known loss and they've understood abandonment, yet they still yearn for the love of another owner, and hopefully their forever companion.
Similar to the oversaturated pool of shallow, appearance-driven, and unsuitable romantic matches, the pet adoption space has greatly benefited from dating profile-style content for their adoptable pets. Matching the imperfections of a pet to the imperfections of the human, social media content has become an invaluable tool in getting previously "unadoptable" pets to find their ideal counterpart.
The most picture-perfect moment in any pet's adoption journey is the first time they meet their forever human in person, leaping for joy at the idea of going home to a soft, warm bed. This time, for good. Whether a person is seeking the love of their life online, either romantically or in furbaby form, personality profiles paint a more detailed picture of the potential companion on the other side of the phone screen. Shy, goofy, clever, timid, and playful pets all deserve to be loved despite their physical imperfections. Considering the 8-12 million lovable pets out there looking for love, when it comes to animal adoptions, there are always plenty of fish in the sea! You just have to sniff out your kindred spirit.