4 Online Tools to Help You Adopt the Pet of Your Dreams

Animals teach us about patience, unconditional love and the true meaning of giving. Living with a pet is a life-enhancer, and in most cases, animals become true members of the family.

READ THIS: 5 Life Lessons We Can Learn From Animals

There are so many adorable, kindhearted and loving pets that are looking for a place to call home. Adopting a pet in need is a win-win situation, giving you a best friend for life and providing a home for an animal that could sure use it. If the idea of having a dog or cat has crossed your mind, check out these four stellar apps and websites that facilitate the search for your dream pet.

1. THE ONLINE DATING SITE FOR PET ADOPTION

WHAT: AllPaws
AVAILABLE ON: iPhone 
Choosing a pet is similar to online dating; you scope their photo, set up a time to meet and see if there is chemistry. This is the premise behind AllPaws, a free search engine that matches pets with prospective owners. AllPaws shares the same style and interface as an online dating site, including advance search tools for browsing creatively written pet profiles and pictures and direct messaging. There are 200,000 pets available for adoption including: dogs, cats, reptiles, horses, pigs, birds and rabbits.

2. THE SOCIAL NETWORK FOR FINDING DOGS AND CATS A HOME

WHAT: ShelterMe.Com
This social network has one mission – to help shelter animals get adopted and find a loving home. Users or animal care facilities can create profiles of shelter pets with photos, videos and detailed descriptions. The online service is available only for the Los Angeles City and County animal shelters. Since its inception in 2003, Shelter Me has hosted more than 10,000 shelter pet profiles, with a success rate of 85% of those adopted or moved into an animal rescue location.

3. THE TINDER FOR DOGS

WHAT: Barkbuddy
AVAILABLE ON: iPhone
Mirrored after the dating app Tinder, users can become dog parents by swiping through a listing of pup profiles in their area. The app gains precision the more users swipe as BarkBuddy gathers stats to deduce dog breed preferences. The app also lets users create an adopter profile which can then be sent to prospective animal rescue shelters, expediting the adoption process and showing real commitment to giving a canine a loving home.

4. THE 24-HOUR NEWS REEL OF ADOPTABLE PETS

WHAT: Petango
The website is one of the first adoptable search services that offers real-time updates of loving pets looking for their forever home. Petango has partnered with thousands of animal welfare locations all across the vast North America and makes it easy to find them with their simple search engine.