Frequently asked questions

Shelterluv is an all-in-one animal shelter management platform that helps animal welfare organizations manage a wide range of programs and daily operations, including:

• Shelter & Rescue Operations – Animal intake, outcomes, transfers, and record management
• Adoptions – Adoption applications, contracts, payments, and digital paperwork
• Foster Programs – Foster placement, communication, and animal care tracking
• Volunteer Programs – Volunteer scheduling, shift management, and hour tracking
• Medical and Veterinary Care – Medical records, vaccinations, treatments, medications, and internal scheduling
• Animal Control and Field Services – Incident tracking, dispatch, and field operations
• Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR/TNVR) – Tracking community cats, medical care, and program outcomes
• Lost and Found Pets – Posting lost and found animals online and managing stray animals
• Pet Retention Programs – Managing resources and assistance that help pets stay with their families, like pet food pantries
• Spay and Neuter Programs – Tracking services, procedures, and program participation
• Microchips and Registration – Microchip tracking, registration, and pet identification
• Fundraising and Donations – Collecting donations, processing payments, and managing campaigns
• Reporting and Analytics – Tracking shelter statistics, program activity, and organizational performance
• Online Forms and Applications – Collecting information digitally and reducing manual data entry
• Behavior and Enrichment Programs – Tracking animal behavior, daily observations, and enrichment activities
• Rescue Partnerships and Transfers – Managing animal transfers and records
• Adopter Support – A free tool for adopters to access paperwork you’ve shared, view upcoming due vaccinations, update microchip registration, and more.
• Integrations – API for integrations with other tools and websites

By bringing these programs together in one system, Shelterluv helps organizations reduce administrative work, keep information connected, and spend more time helping animals and people.

Shelterluv is designed for animal welfare organizations of all types and sizes, including animal shelters, field services, and foster-based rescues.

Whether you're a small, volunteer-run rescue or a high-volume municipal shelter with multiple departments and complex workflows, Shelterluv offers flexible tools to support your organization's unique needs.

Trusted by over 2,500 animal welfare organizations, Shelterluv is designed to be easy to learn, use, and transition to.

We know every organization operates differently, so Shelterluv isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. You can customize your account to fit your organization's unique needs and workflows.

Software development is our primary focus. We're constantly releasing new features and improvements based on customer feedback and industry trends, ensuring Shelterluv grows alongside the organizations we serve.

And behind it all is a team that genuinely loves what we do. We're a bunch of software experts, animal welfare veterans, volunteers, and rescue parents who are all doing our dream jobs, building better tools for the people and animals who need them.

• Core software: $2.00 USD/adoption (billed monthly)
• Always free: Data import, support, all non-adoption outcomes, and unlimited users
• Optional add-on: Volunteer module: $1 USD/adoption (cap $300/month)

Our customers use our integrated payments processor, which powers Shelterpay Mobile Checkout. Through it, 71% of adopters donate an average of $20, so most of our customers make money using Shelterluv.

Shelterluv’s onboarding team has guided thousands of customers through the setup process, and they’ll help make sure the process goes as smoothly as possible. Shelterluv regularly helps organizations transition from other systems, including PetPoint, Chameleon, Excel, and other shelter management platforms and tools.

We'll help you create a plan that works for your organization so you can feel confident about making the switch and can import data at no cost.

Shelterluv is designed to be intuitive for staff and volunteers, but we still provide world-class support at no cost to all of our customers.

With a Shelterluv account, you’ll receive onboarding guidance and ongoing customer support to help your organization get the most out of the platform. Customers have given our Customer Solutions team a Customer Satisfaction Score of 96% vs. an industry average of 77%!

Tools like Luv University (self-paced lessons with quizzes) and the Help Center (articles that include videos and step-by-step instructions) make it easy for staff and volunteers to learn Shelterluv at their own pace, onboard new team members, and find answers whenever they need them.

Yes! Shelterluv combines many common animal welfare workflows into one platform, helping organizations reduce the number of separate systems they need.

Instead of managing animal records, medical information, applications, foster programs, volunteer schedules, contracts, fundraising, field services, and microchips & registry across multiple tools, your team can manage these activities within Shelterluv.

That means fewer logins and vendors to deal with, less duplicate data entry, and more connected information across your organization.

Shelterluv makes fundraising easier with built-in tools that help organizations collect more donations without adding extra work for staff.

Through Shelterpay, our integrated payment processing solution, organizations can accept one-time and recurring donations.

With Mobile Checkout, adopters can pay adoption fees, sign the contract & disclaimers, and donate in one quick process. On average, 71% of adopters donate an average of $20 through Mobile Checkout.

Organizations can also collect donations through Text-to-Donate and an online Donation Boost Widget as well as create fundraising campaigns for specific needs or goals.

Yes! Shelterluv integrates with popular animal welfare platforms, including Petfinder and Adopt a Pet, making it easier to share information about adoptable animals.

Shelterluv also offers connections with many other tools and services, including microchip registries and website integrations, to help organizations keep information up to date and reduce manual work. Each account can generate API keys that can be used to set up custom integrations.

Adopterluv Microchips are affordable, high-quality, ISO-compliant microchips that integrate seamlessly with Shelterluv. The Adopterluv Microchip Registry is completely free for both organizations and pet owners, accepts all microchip brands, and provides lifetime registration with no hidden fees.

Unlike traditional registries, Adopterluv offers instant, automatic registration and real-time visibility into registration status, so organizations can confirm a pet’s microchip is registered before it leaves their care. Shelters and rescues also remain connected to the pets they've placed, helping lost pets reunite with their families faster.

Yes! Shelterluv's Field Services tools help animal control officers and field teams manage their work while staying connected to shelter operations.

With mobile-friendly access, teams can manage service requests, track incidents, view locations on a map, coordinate field activities, and keep important records up to date.

This helps animal services organizations improve communication between field officers and shelter staff while reducing duplicate data entry.

Yes! Shelterluv makes it easy to manage foster programs. Organizations can track animals in foster care, get foster contracts digitally signed, manage foster applications, and email relevant available fosters to streamline foster placements.

Depending on individualized permissions, fosters can upload photos and videos, update medical records, and share updates directly with your team—all without needing full access to Shelterluv.

Yes! Shelterluv's Volunteerluv tools help organizations simplify volunteer coordination. Organizations can accept volunteer applications, schedule shifts, track volunteer hours, and manage volunteer information in one place.

Volunteers get their own dedicated login where they can:

• View schedules
• Manage shifts
• Complete trainings
• Log hours
• Enter daily observations (depending on permissions)

By bringing volunteer management into Shelterluv, organizations can reduce administrative work and keep volunteer activities connected to their daily operations.

Yes! Shelterluv is a cloud-based platform hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), with security measures including encryption, automated backups, two-factor authentication, and configurable user permissions to help protect your organization's information.

Your organization can access its records and export data through Shelterluv's reporting tools, including downloading reports into Excel.

Because Shelterluv is cloud-based, there's no software to install or servers for your organization to maintain, and authorized team members can access the platform online.