Who to Contact: Adopterluv vs. Your Shelter or Rescue

Your shelter or rescue handled the adoption and knows your pet, and Adopterluv is the microchip registry where all of your pet's records are kept.

Fair. Let's clear it up: asking the right group first saves you a couple of days of bouncing around.

The short version

Your shelter or rescue knows your pet. They handled the adoption, have the vet records, and set the fees and return policy.

Adopterluv is the microchip registry and the account where your pet's records live. We keep your contact information attached to your pet's chip so you can be found if your pet is.

We're the filing cabinet. They're the people who know your dog.

One more name you might see: Shelterluv. That's the software your shelter or rescue uses to run their operations, and it's made by the same company as Adopterluv. If you get an email mentioning Shelterluv or the terms "Houndtowne, Inc.", that's still us. Same company, different products.

Ask your shelter or rescue about

• Your adoption application, its status, or whether you've been approved

• Adoption fees, refunds, and payments

• Returning your pet, or surrendering a pet

• Vaccination records, rabies certificates, and medical history that are missing or wrong - though you can find the rabies certificate you already have yourself

• Spay and neuter appointments, vouchers, and rebates

• Transferring your pet's microchip to a new owner, including if you are rehoming

• Anything about your pet's history or behavior

• Foster arrangements

Notice how much of that list is made up of records. We display your pet's documents, but the shelter creates them, and only they can correct or add to them. If a rabies certificate is missing or a date looks wrong, they're your fix.

Ask Adopterluv about

• Getting into your account, activating it, or resetting your password

• The invitation email that never arrived

• Updating your contact details and emergency contacts on the microchip, including after you move house or change your phone number

• Checking whether your pet's chip is registered and to whom

• The "already registered" message

• Adding another pet to your account, or inviting a caretaker

• Marking a pet as deceased if your pet has died, deleting a pet, or closing your account

• Reporting a pet lost, and what to do if you found a stray

• Donations you made through Adopterluv, including how to cancel a monthly gift

• Anything that looks like a bug on our site

Ask a veterinarian about

We get messages from worried adopters about vomiting, appetite, parvo results, fleas, and dosing. We understand the impulse. A new pet isn't feeling well, and you want help from whoever answers the fastest.

We're not able to give medical advice, and guessing would be worse than useless. Please take your pet to a vet or an emergency clinic if it can't wait. If cost is the obstacle, your shelter or rescue often knows local low-cost options.

Why microchip transfers go to the shelter

This one catches nearly everyone. You adopted the pet, so it seems like the chip should be yours to move.

Registration changes are made by the organization that processed the adoption. That's a deliberate safeguard: it means nobody can reassign a pet's chip just by claiming ownership. There's no fee for it, ever.

So if you need the chip put in your name, or moved to someone you're rehoming to, go back to the organization you adopted from and ask them to update ownership.

If they've closed, or you truly can't reach them, tell us here, and we'll work out what we can do.

When you're not sure

Ask us anyway. Send the details here, and we'll either answer it or tell you exactly who can. We'd rather point you in the right direction than have you wait on a reply from someone who was never going to have the answer.

We answer within one business day.