Managing animal profiles and adoption applications in spreadsheets with no way to match adopters to animals based on lifestyle compatibility?
Foster network tracking placements in email threads with no visibility into which animals are in care and when they are ready to be listed?
Pet Adoption Platform Development
Custom adoption platforms for shelters, rescues, and breed networks -- animal profiles with photos and behavioral assessments, adopter applications, matching workflows, foster management, and outcome tracking in one place.
Spreadsheets and email threads are how most shelters track adoptions and fosters today. They work at low volume. At scale, staff lose visibility into which animals are available, which applications are waiting, and which fosters are ready to list.
Animal profiles with photos, health records, and behavioral assessments
RaftLabs builds custom pet adoption platforms for shelters, rescues, and breed networks -- animal profiles with photos and behavioral assessments, adopter applications with screening workflows, lifestyle compatibility matching, foster placement management, and outcome tracking. A custom platform replaces spreadsheets and email threads with a single system that gives staff visibility into every animal, every application, and every foster placement at once. Projects typically deliver in 10-14 weeks at a fixed cost.
100+Software products shipped
·FixedCost delivery
·10-14Week delivery cycles
·24+Industries served
A pet adoption platform built for the operational reality of running a shelter or rescue
A basic animal listing is not an adoption platform. Listing sites show photos and a description. An adoption platform manages the full lifecycle of an animal from intake to outcome -- behavioral assessment, medical history, availability status, the queue of applications, the matching and screening process, foster placement while the animal waits, and the outcome record when the placement is confirmed or the animal is transferred to another organisation.
For foster-based rescues, the operational challenge is different again. Animals move between foster homes, medical status changes, and readiness to be listed changes with it. Without a system that tracks current placement, medical status, and behavioral notes in one place, the rescue coordinator is stitching together information from emails, text messages, and memory. A custom adoption platform gives coordinators a single view of every animal in care so they can manage the rescue's capacity without dropping an animal through the cracks.
What we build
Animal profile and photo management
Full animal profile for each intake -- species, breed, age, sex, weight, microchip number, and intake date. Multiple photos with a primary listing image and a gallery view. Health record covering vaccinations, spay and neuter status, known medical conditions, and current medications. Behavioral assessment fields covering energy level, household compatibility with children, other dogs, and cats, and any known triggers or handling notes. Availability status managed by staff -- not yet available, available, application pending, adopted, transferred, or deceased. Profile status visible to staff in the management interface and reflected on the public listing in real time as status changes.
Adopter application and screening
Public application form configured around the information your screening process requires -- household composition, living situation, experience with pets, work schedule, and references. Application linked to the animal profile the applicant expressed interest in, or submitted as a general interest application for the organisation to match. Staff review interface showing all applications in a queue with status tracking: received, under review, approved, declined, or waitlisted. Application notes and communication log attached to each application record so multiple staff members can follow the status without asking each other. Reference check workflow with template messages and response recording. Decision notification to the applicant by email with the outcome and next steps.
Matching and compatibility workflow
Matching logic built around the behavioral and household data collected in the animal profile and the adopter application. Staff review a shortlist of animals that fit the applicant's household profile rather than reviewing all available animals for every application. Compatibility flags surface potential concerns -- a high-energy dog matched to an applicant without outdoor space, a cat requiring a quiet home matched to an applicant with young children -- for staff to review before progressing the application. Breed network matching for rescues that manage waiting lists of pre-approved adopters for specific breeds -- an approved applicant is notified automatically when an animal matching their criteria becomes available. Match history recorded against both the animal and the adopter record.
Foster placement management
Foster network management with a profile for each approved foster carer -- capacity, current placements, species and age preferences, and availability. Placement record for each foster assignment -- animal, foster carer, placement date, expected duration, and any medical or behavioral notes relevant to the placement. Foster coordinator view showing all active placements, animals approaching the end of a placement, and foster capacity across the network. Medical update workflow so foster carers can log observations and the rescue coordinator is notified of any changes in status. Foster-to-adoption conversion tracked against the placement record when a foster carer applies to adopt the animal in their care. Placement history maintained against both the animal and the foster carer profiles.
Outcome and transfer tracking
Outcome recorded for every animal -- adopted, returned, transferred to a partner organisation, deceased, or still in care. Transfer workflow for animals moved to a partner shelter or breed network rescue, with the animal record and medical history exportable or transferred to the receiving organisation's system. Return tracking with the reason recorded and the animal's profile updated to reflect any new behavioral or medical notes arising from the return. Outcome data accessible by animal type, intake period, and outcome category for reporting to funders, boards, or local authority contracts. Time-in-care tracked from intake to outcome for each animal. Return rate and adoption rate visible in the reporting dashboard alongside total intake volume and current capacity.
Shelter reporting and analytics
Operational dashboard showing live intake volume, animals available by species, open applications awaiting review, active foster placements, and animals approaching the end of a placement period. Historical reporting by period -- month, quarter, year -- covering intake, outcomes, adoption rate, average time in care, and return rate. Funder and board reports generated from live data rather than compiled manually from spreadsheets. Capacity planning view showing intake versus adoption rate and foster network utilisation. Data exportable in standard formats for submission to local authority contracts or national reporting bodies. Custom report builder for organisations that need to slice data by intake source, species, breed, or geographic catchment area.
Frequently asked questions
A listing shows photos and a description. A platform manages the full operational workflow -- intake recording, behavioral assessment, medical history, application receipt and screening, matching and decision-making, foster placement management, and outcome tracking. For a shelter or rescue processing more than a few dozen animals a month, the listing is the smallest part of the problem. The real overhead is in managing applications, communicating with applicants and foster carers, tracking where every animal is in the process, and producing outcome reports for funders and boards. A platform designed around those workflows reduces coordinator time spent on administration and gives the whole team visibility into the current status of every animal without asking each other.
Compatibility matching works from data collected in two places: the animal's behavioral assessment and the adopter's application. The animal profile captures energy level, household compatibility with children, other dogs, cats, and age preferences. The adopter application captures household composition, living situation, outdoor space, working hours, and experience with pets. The matching logic filters available animals by compatibility with the applicant's household profile and surfaces the animals most likely to be a good fit for staff review. Staff make the final decision -- the matching logic narrows the field and flags potential concerns, it does not replace the coordinator's judgment. The specific compatibility criteria are configured during the build to match the assessment framework your organisation already uses.
Yes. Multi-organisation architecture is a primary design case for breed networks and regional rescue federations. Each member shelter or rescue has its own intake, foster network, and application queue. Animals can be transferred between member organisations with the record and medical history moving with the animal. A network-level view shows capacity and intake across all member organisations so the network coordinator can direct transfers to where capacity exists. Adopter applications can be visible across the network so an applicant pre-approved by one member can be matched to an animal at another. Access permissions are configurable -- network coordinators see across all members, individual shelter staff see only their own organisation's records.
A focused build covering animal profiles, adopter applications, a screening workflow, and outcome tracking for a single shelter typically runs $20,000--$35,000 and delivers in 10-12 weeks. Adding foster placement management, compatibility matching, multi-organisation network architecture, and a reporting dashboard brings the total to $35,000--$60,000, with a delivery timeline of 12-16 weeks. If a public-facing mobile app is included alongside the web platform, the cost increases by $15,000--$25,000 depending on scope. The main cost drivers are multi-organisation complexity, the depth of the matching logic, and whether a mobile app is in scope from the start. Cost is fixed and agreed before development begins.
Talk to us about your pet adoption platform project.
Tell us your animal mix, your intake volume, and the workflows your team is currently managing in spreadsheets or email. We will scope a platform built around how your shelter or rescue actually operates.
