This Animal Haven is Looking for the ‘Purfect’ Fur Parents
An animal shelter in Munich, Germany is trying an innovative new approach to find forever homes for the dogs and cats that are waiting to be adopted. They are turning to a dating app to find the “purfect match”.
The Munich Animal Welfare Association found an advertising agency to shoot professional pictures of 15 of the shelter’s residents including a black and white cat called Captain Kirk and then made profiles for the pets on Tinder according to Reuters. After all, lonely people make matches on Tinder, why not pets?
Since the profiles went up, people have been swiping right on Tinder to set up their first “date”, Jillian Moss from the shelter told Reuters. “The response is insane, it’s exploding everywhere.”
What you won’t find are young adorable puppies or kittens, reported CBS News. Young animals find their forever homes much quicker than adult pets. The shelter is only featuring older dogs and cats on the dating site.
Many of this group of animals were adopted during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic when adoptions and pet fostering soared, but they are sadly being returned to shelters after their owners are going back to work. But the issue of returned fur babies is not unique to Germany according to CBS. Animals are also coming back to shelters in the US to be rehomed.
The staff is really enjoying the new novel approach. “Quite simply, it’s a lot of fun and better than boring newspaper ads,” Moss told CBS.
The hope is that these pets really will find their forever homes this time around according to Benjamin Beiilke who is coordinating the tinder connection for the shelter. “There aren’t only lonely souls among humans, but there are also a lot of lonely souls among animals,” he told Reuters.
Other organizations are trying new ways to help match people and pets. Pets for the Elderly, an organization in the US is helping seniors pay for pet adoption fees , routine veterinary care, as well as pet supplies.
Finding forever homes for older pets isn’t always easy. Using dating sites or social media is a great out-of-the box idea to reach more people to find the purfect match!
