When you're searching for adoptable pets on Adopt a Pet, you may notice that some animal shelters or rescues have special badges next to their name. They highlight their commitment to transparency, responsiveness, professional customer service, and providing a positive adoption experience for animals and adopters. Most badges you'll see are Silver or Gold, but there are other levels too, including Bronze and Platinum.
Any level of badge is an achievement to be commended!
Bronze Badge
A shelter or rescue with a Bronze Badge has met some basic, yet important, standards to ensure a good experience for adopters. This includes:
- Adding at least 10 adoptable pets a year to Adopt a Pet.
- Having a clear adoption process, including either a direct email or phone contact, or facility address and hours of operation, or an online adoption application.
- Providing complete and up-to-date information about their organization and their pets.
- Responding to most adoption inquiries within 4 days, or offering walk-in hours for adopters to visit in person.
Silver Badge
A Silver Badge means the shelter or rescue has gone a step further, ensuring they are:
- A registered nonprofit or government organization.
- Following Adopt a Pet's "open adoptions" guidelines. Adopt a Pet is committed to fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and respected, regardless of any visible or invisible differences. Open adoptions include being open to adopters regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, veteran status, age or sexual orientation or identity. Each organization defines their own unique open adoptions process, based on what works best for their pets and community.
- Responding to most adoption inquiries within 3 days, or offering walk-in hours for adopters to visit in person.
Gold Badge
A Gold Badge shows that a shelter or rescue is going above and beyond to make adoption easy and safe. They meet all the Silver Badge standards and also:
- Have easy-to-use pet search tools on their own website for their adoptable pets or community pets they’ve referred to Rehome.
- Responding to most adoption inquiries within 2 days, or offering walk-in hours for adopters to visit in person.
Platinum Badge
The Platinum Badge is reserved for a small number of shelters that are part of special research programs with Adopt a Pet. These shelters are helping advance the way we match pets with adopters through innovative programs and studies.