For more than five years, PetBridge has helped the KC Pet Project in Kansas City connect thousands of pets with adopters. Through features like Pet Alerts, enhanced pet displays, and interactive kiosks, the shelter has streamlined its adoption process while improving the adopter experience.
We spoke with Tori Fugate, Chief Communications Officer for KC Pet Project, to learn why they chose PetBridge, how the system has changed their operations, and what benefits they’ve seen since implementation.
KC Pet Project cares for more than 10,000 pets every year. With such a high intake, the team needed a more effective way to showcase adoptable pets and keep potential adopters engaged.
“We wanted to be able to offer the visitors of our website more than just a standard listing of available pets,” Fugate explained. “We were looking for capabilities including a mobile app and the ability to sort by location, breed, age, etc. We saw the PetBridge platform at another shelter and immediately jumped on the opportunity to learn more.”
Their old system lacked the flexibility and customization that adopters expect today. KC Pet Project needed technology that could do more than just display pets; they wanted tools that could save staff time, enhance the adopter journey, and drive higher adoption rates.
The decision to partner with PetBridge came down to features and scalability
“The Pet Alert System was a huge selling point for us as we were getting inundated with requests to let people know when pets matching their wanted criteria came to our shelter,” said Fugate.
The Pet Alert system allows adopters to sign up for notifications about pets that meet their preferences. Today, KC Pet Project manages more than 12,000 individual requests through PetBridge. That’s 12,000 adopters staying connected to the shelter and ready to act quickly when a match becomes available.
KC Pet Project has seen significant benefits since implementing PetBridge.
PetBridge’s advanced pet displays allow adopters to filter by breed, age, size, and location. This creates a smoother browsing experience and helps adopters find the perfect pet faster.
Since launching PetBridge, the shelter has seen a measurable spike in adoptions. By keeping adopters informed and engaged through Pet Alerts, pets are placed in homes quicker, easing the pressure on staff and resources.
KC Pet Project also uses PetBridge’s interactive kiosk system at its Campus location and Pet Support Center. These kiosks allow adopters to browse adoptable dogs and cats on-site and even check for lost and found pets. This technology has improved accessibility for visitors and created another adoption touchpoint.
In 2019, KC Pet Project redesigned its website with PetBridge’s help. The integration gave the shelter a modern, user-friendly platform that showcases pets beautifully and helps drive more adoptions.
“Being able to work with the PetBridge team to create a new format for our website was wonderful,” Fugate said.
The adoption numbers speak for themselves. With thousands of pets coming through their doors each year, KC Pet Project needed a solution that could keep up with demand. PetBridge delivered.
“When we launched PetBridge and the Pet Alert System, we immediately saw a spike in adoptions. People love the system, and being able to sort by location, age, breed, etc., is a huge bonus for our adopters,” Fugate explained.
With more adopters matched to pets in real time, animals spend less time in the shelter and more time in loving homes.
For other shelters and rescues thinking about using PetBridge, KC Pet Project offers clear advice:
“Do it! We have loved working with PetBridge for many years and will be working on launching their ReHome tool by the end of the year on our website. I feel like many shelters work with a variety of companies to provide resources like an app, adoption tools, and alert systems, and PetBridge consolidates everything into one place. It’s an amazing system that has helped tens of thousands of pets in Kansas City get adopted.”
PetBridge is a leading provider of animal shelter software, offering features like Pet Alerts, interactive kiosks, adoption displays, and more. Designed to simplify adoption workflows, PetBridge empowers shelters to spend less time managing lists and more time caring for animals. Tour our features today.
If your shelter or rescue is looking for a solution that combines adoption tools, alerts, and display systems into one powerful platform, PetBridge can help.
Contact us today to learn how PetBridge can save your team time, improve adopter engagement, and help pets find their forever homes faster.
