Save a Life! Adopt a Pet-Directory.Com
Helping to unite loving families with homeless animals.

Guidelines for entering new organizations into the Adoptapet-Directory.com Database

For those volunteers entering new organizations into the Adoptapet-Directory.com database;

We at Adoptapet-Directory.com wish to create and maintain the most comprehensive and useful worldwide directory of animal shelters and animal advocacy organizations. To do this, it is imperative that the entry for each organization be as detailed as possible. Sometimes this involves some careful sleuthing and searching. This includes;

• The properly spelled and punctuated organization name

  • If the name begins with "The" or "A" or "An", leave that off

• Determine the TYPE of organization and select the appropriate "Type of Organization" selection(s). Only select the default (shelter) if the organization actually operates a physical shelter.

• The full *physical* address of the organization (if they have one; if NOT, then the mailing address/PO Box)

• The phone AND fax numbers

• Please don't enter all zeros (0000) in any field on "NONE" or "N/A" - simply leave fields blank if you don't know the answer

• The list of states that the organization serves (select multiple states if applicable; select ALL states if nationwide)

• The URL of the organization's website (verified to be sure it's live and valid)

• An email address for the organization (preferably one for a contact that deals with adoptions or a shelter manager)

• A short description of the organization (preferably something unique to the organization; cut and paste from their website is usually sufficient)

• Determine if the organization actually owns/operates a physical facility; select the "Yes" box ("Does the organization operate an actual facility") ONLY if you are reasonably sure they do

• If you can determine that the facility actually has a veterinarian ON SITE, select YES for the Veterinarian services checkbox

• Select the 501(c)3 box only if you determine the organization is 501(c)3, or if they specify that donations are "tax deductible"

• If you determine that the facility is state, city, or county owned or operated, select YES for the "...government run facility..." checkbox

• Check the "No Kill" box only if the organization states they are a No Kill facility (give them the benefit of the doubt with the varying definitions some apply)

• If the organization includes a link to a mapquest/yahoo/etc map or directions page, copy that into the "Map Link URL" box

• If the site lists specific links to Cats and Dogs, copy each of those links into the appropriate boxes. If they provide only a single link for all types of animals, then copy that link into the "All animals" box.

• If the organization has a link to "Network for Good", examine the link and copy the organization's tax-id number (including the hyphen-- i.e. '12-3456789') into the Network for Good box.

• If the organization website includes links to donate via Paypal, then locate the email address used in the paypal link and copy it into the paypal email address box. **Note; the easiest way to locate this is to "View Source" for their webpage with the paypal link and find "paypal" in the file. You will either see a paypal-encrypted block (if you do, skip it- you can't get the email; or you will see a field labeled as name=business - and the value= parameter is the paypal email address. For example:

  • <input type="hidden" name="business" value="humanesociety@yahoo.com">

• If the site lists another URL to make direct donations, copy that link into the "Other Donate URL" box

• Finally, you will have usually have too examine examples of the animals each organization accepts, as very few organizations list anything other than dogs or cats on their websites - though many do accept rabbits, ferrets, rodents and even birds. Select the animal types you can CONFIRM are accepted; and change to "No" any you can CONFIRM are NOT accepted. If you cannot be sure on some types, leave them at the default "Don't know" selection.

Please take the time to double check the name, address, phone numbers, and email addresses in particular. These are the key means that people are going to use to try and contact the organization (s).

As each entry is submitted, the webmasters at Adoptapet-Directory.com are notified via email. Entries will be reviewed ASAP (usually within 24 hours) and if applicable will be approved - at which point they are immediately visible in the directory.

Please also assure that only animal shelters and animal advocacy organizations are entered. We do not accept any links for commercial organizations (i.e. pet shops, breeders, trainers, pet-sitters, veterinarians, etc.); nor do we list sites that are simply lists of other organizations or lists of links to other sites. We also take care to avoid the spam ware pages that are popping up frequently, designed to LOOK like valid content, but are actually only computer generated content gathered from other sites interspersed with ads. If it's not an actual animal shelter or rescue then it doesn't belong in our directory.

If you have any questions, you can always email us at webmaster@adoptapet-directory.com

To go to the form where you can add a shelter - click on -> submit a shelter

To see the list of current volunteers and how much they've earned so far - click on -> Web Volunteers

Thanks!

   Chris n Catherine (Webmasters)
   Norton n Oscar (mascots)

Page Updated: Monday March 07, 2011