Transferring Your Pet to a New Owner

If your pet is going to a new owner, the microchip registration has to move with them, or the chip continues pointing at you instead of them.

Transferring the registration is the step people most often forget when rehoming, and it is the one that matters if the pet is ever lost afterward.

How to transfer ownership

Self-service transfer (recommended)

You can transfer the microchip registration yourself through your Adopterluv account:

1. Go to your animal's record in the registry.

2. Click the Transfer Registration button.

3. Select Person.

4. Fill out the Transfer to Person form with the new owner's full name, email address, phone number, and physical address.

5. Click the green Transfer Registration button.

The new owner will receive an email with instructions to activate their free Adopterluv account.

If you adopted from a shelter or rescue organization

Ownership changes are made by the organization you adopted from, not from inside your account. Contact them directly and tell them the pet has a new owner. Once they process it, the change is reflected in Adopterluv.

If the original organization is unresponsive or no longer operating, contact support and request escalation to the Customer Solutions Team for assistance with the transfer.

If you are rehoming privately to another individual

For private rehoming situations, where the transfer is directly from one person to another and not through a shelter or rescue, contact support with the new owner's first name, last name, and email address. Support will transfer the registration, and the new owner will receive an account invitation.

If you received your pet informally from someone rehoming

If you adopted directly from a previous owner rather than through an organization, contact support to process the transfer. Support will need to reach out to the previous owner for consent. Provide the previous owner's email address and/or phone number so they can be added to the email thread to approve the transfer.

If you cannot reach the original organization that adopted out the pet, contact support for escalation assistance.

Alternative methods

You can also contact Adopterluv support directly with the new owner's first name, last name, and email address to have them process the transfer.

There is no fee to transfer ownership.

If you are not sure the chip is registered with us, check your pet's registration status first.

Supporting documentation

If you need additional documentation to verify ownership, veterinary records showing the microchip number and your information can help support the transfer request. Papers showing the chip number are also acceptable.

If the new owner needs to claim the registration from a shelter or rescue, they will need to provide proof of adoption, such as an adoption contract, to support the request.

Privacy during transfers

Your personal information will not transfer to the new owner's account. The new owner will only receive information stored on file with the shelter or organization. Photos you uploaded to your account will not be visible to the new owner unless they are also stored in the shelter's records.

If you want to delete your account, support can do this at any time upon request. However, if you are transferring a pet, the new owner will not receive their account until the organization processes the transfer. You can choose to have your account deleted before or after the transfer is completed.

Before the pet leaves

• Pass on the microchip number and the name of the registry it is held with.

• Pass on the pet's vaccination records and any documents. You can download them from your account.

• Tell the new owner to register their own contact details against the chip as soon as the transfer is processed.

• If the new owner needs to claim the registration from a shelter or rescue, remind them that they will need to provide proof of adoption, such as an adoption contract, to support the request.

• Inform the new owner that after the transfer is processed, they will receive an invitation email to create their Adopterluv account. They should add any additional contact information to their profile and opt in to alerts so they can be reached if the pet is found.

See viewing and uploading your pet's documents for where to find the records.

If you are returning the pet to the shelter instead

Contact the shelter or rescue you adopted from. They will process the return in their own system and the pet will come off your account once they do. Managing pet ownership, returns and refunds covers refunds.

What happens if you do nothing

The chip keeps pointing at you. If the pet is found and scanned, the vet or shelter calls your number, and the new owner has no way of being reached through the registry. That is a solvable problem right up until the day it matters.