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Adopt a Pet is an adoption web service that advocates pet adoption, gathering information from over 15,000 pet shelters in the U.S. and Canada, with a searchable data base.[1][2] The web site promotes spaying and neutering of pets and pet adoption through conventional and social media presence, public service announcements, and interactions with local governments. Since 2015, Adopt a Pet has been offering its visitors manuals for pets.[3]
Adopt a Pet was founded in 2000 by David Meyer, Steve Abbey, Luke Montgomery, Amy Luwis, and Doug McKee as 1-800-Save-a-Pet.com. Initially, 1-800-Save-a-Pet.com was a program designed to end the overpopulation of companion animals in shelters in Los Angeles, California. The program was based on one-year research.[4][5]
1-800-Save-a-Pet.com participated in a pet rescue effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.[6][7]
In September 2008, the company changed its name to Adopt a Pet, In October 2008, Adopt a Pet partnered with Care2 to launch America's Favorite Animal Shelter contest. The winning shelters were awarded a total of $20,000 on December 4, 2008.[8][9] The contest took place again in 2009.[10][11]
In January 2009, Adopt a Pet launched a national ADOPT campaign accompanied by a poster created by Shepard Fairey using a photo by Clay Myers to raise awareness about adoption at the time President Obama was looking for a dog for his family.[12] This poster was on the cover of the Spring 2009 issue of Dog's Life Magazine and was fashioned after Fairey's Obama Hope poster.[13]
In April 2009, Adopt a Pet expanded its search to include, in addition to cats and dogs, rabbits, birds, and small animals (such as hamsters and guinea pigs), farm-type animals, horses, amphibians, reptiles, and fish. In May of the same year, it launched a social media campaign, "Social Petworking", introducing the capability to attach a photo to an email or to a Facebook page.[14]
In June 2010, Adopt a Pet paid tribute to Rue McClanahan, who was known as an actress and a supporter of pet adoption.[15]
In 2011, White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle and his wife Jamie partnered with Adopt a Pet to create a public service billboard campaign to promote pet adoption.[16]
In 2021, Adopt a Pet was acquired by Kinship, a subsidiary of Mars, Inc. [17]
