Animal Welfare Professionals

 View Only
Back to discussions
Expand all | Collapse all

Where are the adopters?

  • 1.  Where are the adopters?

    Posted 2 days ago

    Hello.

    My rescue focuses on kittens & cats. TNR, and foster adopt if we come across friendly cats in our work. In our area we have more cats than we do families looking for new pets. Our foster families are getting fatigued with long term placements and no where for kittens and cats to go. How do you find homes for the cats in your programs?

    Many thanks,

    Rebecca


    #AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms

    ------------------------------
    Rebecca McCathern
    Founder & Managing Director
    Helena's Community Cats of SOWEGA
    GA
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 2 days ago

    Having the same issue here, in CT... We have cats of looks and personalities available but we are lucky if applications are trickling in... We are a very small rescue but use to get at least 5 apps a week. I think I have gotten 2 in the past 2 months... We advertise on FB, Insta, TikTok, Petfinder, Adopt-a-pet. Super discouraging. 



    ------------------------------
    Carley Thompson
    Founder
    Despurate House Cats
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 2 days ago

    HI Carley,

    I work at a public shelter in South Florida and we frequently send cats and kittens up north under the premise that there isn't an abundance there like here. I see you are in Connecticut. Are you guys overflowed with cats and kittens as well up there?



    ------------------------------
    ADRIANA DELGADO
    Animal Care Coordinator
    Palm Beach County Animal care and Control
    FL
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 2 days ago

    Speaking for my own rescue, this is the worst year we've had in a while. Adoptions are incredibly slow and request come in everyday that we have to decline due to space. We only take stray cats here and lately there is an abundance and most of them are friendly and most likely dumped unfortunately. I could not fathom importing right now.



    ------------------------------
    Carley Thompson
    Founder
    Despurate House Cats
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 2 days ago

    It is definitely been the year of the cat. Our cat adoptions are higher. We do take transports up once a month from the All About the Cats Rescue which is tri-county with fosters in Miami, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The kittens last about 1-2 days only. Many of them come from your shelter and MDAS and BACC via the rescue. I lived in Florida for 36 years before moving here 2 years ago so I understand kitten season. We do get adopters from the tri-state area here along with vacationers.



    ------------------------------
    Stephanie DeThomas
    Volunteer Manager
    Potter League for Animals
    Middletown, RI
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 2 days ago

    Hi Adriana,

    Thank you for asking this question to Carley. I work with a rescue in the Hudson Valley, NY, and wanted to share a perspective from our end. There's a widespread belief that Northern states have solved cat overpopulation, but the reality is that our local shelters and rescues are in an ongoing, nearly year-round crisis and remain constantly overwhelmed with cats and kittens.

    While out-of-state transport programs come from a place of deep compassion, high transport volumes create a bottleneck locally. When Northern shelters fill their adoption floors with incoming transfers, local grassroots TNR groups are left with far more limited placement options and a much lesser chance at adoption. In essence, our local community cats are competing with out-of-state cats for a finite number of responsible homes-and without local intake slots, many of these vulnerable street cats tragically end up dying outside.

    We truly appreciate how much you care about saving lives! Spreading awareness about the ongoing Northern capacity crisis helps all of us work toward solutions that protect both local and out-of-state cats.



    ------------------------------
    Ann LaGoy
    Administrative Assistant
    PANT
    NY
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 2 days ago

    Hi Rebecca,

    Some good news for you: I checked and the 20 cats listed on our Adopt a Pet website within 35 miles of Albany GA are getting seen in search results 50 to 200 times per week, so there are some potential adopters in your area right now. I invite you to open a free rescue account on Adopt a Pet at https://www.adoptapet.com/shelter/signup <-- Since what you type into the signup form will be visible adopters, here's tips for optimizing that: https://adoptapetcom.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/23207113040027-Optimize-what-adopters-see-on-your-pet-listings  

    For your rescue's website: Our website design expert created free downloadable resources to help you optimize your own website for adoptions too. They include a Website Strategy Toolkit, Shelter & Rescue Website Audit Checklist, Monday Morning To-Do List, and High-Impact Projects guide and are available here  https://adoptapetcom.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/49189056307483-Resources-from-Don-t-Make-Me-Dig-Making-Your-Website-Easy-to-Find-and-Use

    Carley (and anyone else using Adopt a Pet!) - If you're already doing all the things and would like fresh eyes to take a look at your Adopt a Pet listings for possible suggestions, you're welcome to email me at jennifer@adoptapet.com 

    Best wishes,
    Jennifer



  • 8.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 2 days ago

    Thank you Jennifer, I signed up on the website. It had it yet occurred to me to get my adoptable cats posted online, other than my social media pages. I'll also use the guide to upgrade my website, it's not great so all the tips will help improve it. 



    ------------------------------
    Rebecca McCathern
    Founder & Managing Director
    Helena's Community Cats of SOWEGA
    GA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 11 hours ago

    We've partnered with Petco to have adoptable cats up at their habitats, and it's really increased adoptions and exposure for us!  



    ------------------------------
    Olivia Wertz
    Executive Director
    Catty Corner
    PA
    ------------------------------



  • 10.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 9 hours ago

    Hi Rebecca! Unfortunately, I think a lot of cat rescues are facing the same challenge right now, especially during kitten season. Intake continues to outpace adoptions in many communities, which puts a lot of strain on foster homes. A few things we've seen work well with organizations using PawPlacer are, listing every adoptable cat everywhere possible (Petfinder, Adopt-a-Pet, GetBuddy, Wagtopia, your own website, and social media) to maximize visibility. Posting individual cats consistently with great photos and short videos rather than large album posts. Cats with a story or personality tend to get much more engagement. Following up with previous adopters and applicants. Many rescues are surprised by how many repeat adopters and referrals come from people already in their database.mMaking the adoption process as simple as possible so interested adopters don't lose momentum before submitting an application.

    We built PawPlacer to help rescues manage all of that in one place, from applications and communications to publishing pets across multiple adoption platforms, because we saw how much time teams were spending bouncing between different systems.

    I'm curious, where do you feel the biggest bottleneck is right now? Are you not getting enough applications, or are the cats simply staying available for longer than they used to?

    Wishing you and your fosters the best. I know how tough foster fatigue can be, and I hope things start turning around soon.



    ------------------------------
    Kyle Leighton
    Founder
    PawPlacer
    NY
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: Where are the adopters?

    Posted 8 hours ago

    Hi Rebecca,

    I am not sure what your current set up is like, but here are some things I felt have worked for us. I'd recommend making the process to adoption as simple and streamlined as possible.  On your website I would make the steps and expectations to adoption very clear, so that folks have a good idea of what's going to happen and how long it might take them to take home their new family member. If people are unsure what to expect, sometimes they tend to give up and go to a different shelter or rescue where they can see what they are in for or know the process will happen sooner because they are so excited. In addition to posting the adoptable cats on your social media pages, be sure to remind viewers in the posts where to go to start the process if they are interested. Photos, names, and adoption bios can also make a big difference in adoption decisions. We have found that having a funny name for the cat or a funny or entertaining bio can be the thing that makes people choose to meet that particular cat. 

    Good luck! I hope you see an increase in adoptions soon. 



    ------------------------------
    Dalton Roadruck
    Executive Director
    Madison Cat Project
    WI
    ------------------------------



Related Content