PetFinder Pet Listing Site Review – 2025

When you decide to buy a dog, you’re adding a lovable new friend to the family. It’s an important decision that you’ve most likely discussed with every party involved. Finally, you research which breed is best for the family and settle on one or two dog breeds. You visit your local pet stores and shelters, but they don’t have the right breeds. That’s where a pet listing site like PetFinder comes into play.

Pet classified sites are online pet marketplaces where you can browse profiles of pets and buy one from a breeder or shelter located around the country. We’re going to explore PetFinder, and all the ins and outs of its website along with what they have to offer. Our Pet Finder review will help you learn more about the website and decide if it’s the right place for you to buy an animal.

Background and History

PetFinder was founded in 1996 by Betsy Banks Saul and Jared Saul. They soon expanded to what they are today, and they are now affiliated with Purina, the dog food company. Their mission was to provide pets with loving homes. That’s why they tout adoption over breeders. They believe that every pet — cat, dog, and any animal — deserves a loving home with a loving family. Purina is also the main sponsor for the PetFinder Foundation, which raises money to fund animal welfare causes and ensure the ethical treatment of animals.

Today, PetFinder operates the largest pet adoption website in the entire continent of North America (although it only serves the United States and parts of Canada).

Special Features

PetFinder has special features that make it stand out from other pet listing websites. These features have to do with their dog, cat, and other animal listings, their educational resources, and other things. Let’s take a look at them.

• They offer educational resources about adopting pets, as well as other valuable resources once you have a pet including training, breed information, pet health, and more.
• The site provides you with a comprehensive list of all the adoption agencies on PetFinder — where you browse the hundreds of profiles of cats, dogs, and other animals until you find the right one for you.
• The listings provide you with all the information available and easy to find addresses.

Safeguards Against Scams

Like all pet classified sites, PetFinder strives to warn people to not fall for scams. But the question you may ask yourself is, “Does PetFinder have safeguards in place to prevent scams from happening?” Let’s find out, shall we?

Unfortunately, PetFinder does not have many safeguards that protect potential buyers from scams. This is different from other pet classified sites out there. They offer two important notes on the subject of fraudsters luring buyers into giving them money.

1. Shelter outreach staff that works for PetFinder and Purina conduct screening and vetting of all adoption groups prior to confirming their placement on PetFinder’s listing. If approved, it means they are legitimate pet adoption groups.
2. They offer a caveat for potential buyers when looking for pets online (outside of PetFinder’s website). This caveat warns people to not fall prey to scammers and to look for red flags. An article on their website lists the possible red flags and more information on what scammers do to steal your money.

PetFinder Review: Pros and Cons

Every online pet marketplace has pros and cons. Some have more pros than others. However when it comes to PetFinder, the verdict on the reviews is in and they are quite decent. Here are some of the pros and cons of PetFinder that you might think are useful.

Pros

• PetFinder screens adoption groups by shelter outreach staff, which means that they are vetted and legitimate adoption groups.
• The website itself when it comes to browsing for pets is easy to use and seamless.
• PetFinder touts adoption as opposed to just having listings from breeders. This focus on adoption is paramount because it means animal welfare is a great concern for them.
• They provide you with many educational resources that you can take advantage of, including training resources, breed information and more.
• It outlines the entire process of adopting a pet.
• You are able to adopt both dogs, cats, and other animals, something not possible in many pet classified sites.

Cons

• They sometimes don’t thoroughly screen adoption groups, as several customers have complained about certain adoption groups as being not legitimate.
• They do not provide enough safeguards to protect potential pet parents from scams.
• PetFinder deletes complaints from the Pet Adoption FAQ page (under complaints), as they only allow complaints via email.
• TrustPilot has several dozens of reviews from past customers and has given PetFinder an overall score of 1.4 out of 5 stars.
• This site touts the adoption process instead of breeders, which means that if you are looking for purebred dogs, this may not be the site for you.

Bottom Line

And there you have it, that’s our PetFinder review with all the information you need on the pet listing website. PetFinder, powered by Purina, is a reputable pet classified site where you can browse through many listings of dogs and cats until you find the one you would like. The special features it has are amazing and easy to use, too, specially the fact you can buy cats, dogs, and other animals.

However, it is important to note that PetFinder doesn’t provide you with a myriad of safeguards. It does screen adoption groups prior to them being listed on PetFinder and it provides you with caveats and a complaint page. One important part is that PetFinder strives for animal welfare, something that is an honorable thing as we want all pets treated with loving care. These reasons make PetFinder a good online pet marketplace. And if you need any pet shipping from an out-of-state breeder, trust in CitizenShipper, which is the safest and most affordable way to transport a pet.