Pet Adoption Software From Application to Signature

The Whole Adoption in One Place

Most adoption problems aren't animal problems — they're paperwork problems. Applications in one inbox, reference notes in another, the contract in a filing cabinet, and the Petfinder listing still live three days after the dog went home. Pet Friend processes the adoption on the same record the animal has carried since intake, so every application, note, signature, and fee is attached to the animal it belongs to.

What's Included

• Adoption applications — Share applications with potential adopters remotely and keep every submission attached to the animal
• Screening notes — Record reference checks, home-visit outcomes, and approvals where the next volunteer can find them
• E-signature contracts — Adoption contracts signed electronically on any device, stored on the record
• Remote adoption finalization — Send adopters a link to review and sign from their own phone
• Adoption fees — Track the fee for each animal as part of the adoption
• Returns handled correctly — Processing a return makes the animal adoptable again automatically, history intact
• Petfinder auto-sync — Adoptable animals publish to Petfinder automatically and come down when adopted
• Reports — Adoption and outcome reports for boards, grants, and annual summaries

Remote Adoption: Sign From the Adopter's Phone

Foster-to-adopt conversions, out-of-area adopters, and busy offsite events all hit the same wall: getting a legal signature without dragging everyone to a desk. Pet Friend's remote adoption finalization sends the adopter a link to review the contract and sign from their own device — the executed contract lands on the animal's record like any other.

E-Signatures Built In

No third-party signature subscription, no printing. Contracts are signed on a tablet at the front desk, a laptop at an event, or the adopter's phone at home — and stored with the adoption.

Screening Without the Inbox

The riskiest part of an adoption isn't the paperwork — it's the judgment call, and judgment needs the whole picture in one place. When applications arrive by email, the picture lives in somebody's inbox, and it leaves when they do. In Pet Friend, every application lands on the animal's record next to the screening that follows it: reference-call notes, landlord confirmation, home-visit outcomes, and the approval itself. Anyone picking up the adoption sees exactly where it stands.

On the Shelter plan and up, the application form itself is yours to design: build structured questions — yes/no, date, number, email, phone — in the form builder, mark the ones that matter as required, and the public application renders them as real fields instead of one free-text box. Structured answers make screening comparable across applicants instead of a re-reading exercise.

Collect the Fee Without Forcing It BETA

When the approval is done, the money shouldn't create a second errand. With Payments connected (Stripe, Square, or PayPal — currently in beta), the remote finalization link lets the adopter review the contract, sign, and pay the adoption fee in one sitting from their own phone, through hosted, PCI-compliant checkout — no card data ever touches your organization. At the counter, a paired card reader takes tap and chip payments tied straight to the record.

And it's never forced: a fee can be $0, waived, or settled in cash or by check. Pet Friend keeps the record straight either way — there are no per-adoption fees, so processing more adoptions never raises your software bill.

Foster-to-Adopt Without Re-Keying

For foster-based rescues, the best adopter is often the foster the animal already lives with. Converting a foster placement to an adoption is one step, not a close-and-recreate: the animal's medical history, the foster notes, and the new contract all stay on the same record. The foster side of that workflow has its own page.

Listings That Keep Themselves Honest

Every adoptable animal publishes to Petfinder and Adopt-a-Pet automatically, and comes down the moment the adoption is processed — no more inquiries about a dog that went home on Tuesday. Your own website stays current the same way: a public adoptable-pets listing and an embeddable widget pull straight from your live records, so the site, the listing services, and the kennel sheet can never disagree.

Measure What the Board Asks About

Because applications, outcomes, and dates all live on the record, the numbers build themselves: adoptions by month, outcome summaries for grant applications, length-of-stay, and your live release rate. If the numbers say adoptions are slowing, our guide to increasing adoption rates covers the levers that actually move them.

Pet Adoption Software FAQs

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