12/19/2025
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DCJVZ4goc/?mibextid=wwXIfr
A brief PSA to the pet-adopting public. Petfinder is the juggernaut in the dog adoption world. That site dwarfs all others and rescues rely on it to be able to get their animals before the animal-adopting public.
Petfinder has always been a problematic website and in my opinion, it designed itself into a box from which it could not escape.. It has always been buggy with tons of glitches., but it has been the go to for so long that rescues just don't have a lot of options. On December 2, Petfinder launched what they termed improvements to the website. In reality, this has been the 'New Coke' of website launches and it has been an abject disaster. The mobile site has not been functional, logging in for rescues has been intermittent to non-existent, and adding and removing pets from Petfinder remains a task of immensely frustrating proportions.
If you are out there looking for a new pet, and you reach out for one and you get crickets in response, be kind to the rescue and look for an alternate way to find the rescue and contact them that way. They aren't ignoring you.
If you happen to be a philanthropic tech person with mad skills, cash, and time at your disposal and you are reading this, do the animals a solid and create an alternate site with actual modern features that function. The rescue world will love you.
To my fellow rescuers, we feel your pain and we send you the very best wishes in finding homes for all of the animals in your care. It is wildly unfortunate they did this during the biggest adoption season of the year, but this too shall pass. I salute all of you and remind you that boxed wine exists for a reason. Until then, pull the blankets back over your head and come up with Plan 27 for all the animals in your care.
Jean from Big Fluffy Dog Rescue