About Paaw
Every shelter pet deserves to be chosen.
Paaw is a movement to make adoption the first choice, not the fallback. We bring together animals from shelters and rescues across the United States and Europe. We help you find the one who fits your life, then connect you directly with the people who've been caring for them.
The movement so far
Since2022120,000 pets found their person
4,000 shelters and rescues standing with us
4 countries
Countries: United States · France · Spain · Belgium
Who we are
We're a small team in Paris and San Francisco, with one obsession: getting more animals out of shelters and into homes. Paaw is led by founder and CEO Chloé Fabiani. The company behind it, PAAW SAS, is registered in France.
Chloe Fabiani
Founder & CEO
Danielle DeFazio
Head of Customer Success
Cosette Leahy
Marketing & Onboarding
We're small, but we're not doing this alone. Every shelter that lists a pet and every person who shares a profile or brings an animal home is part of the team.
What it costs
FreeFree, because every animal deserves a chance
- Shelters and rescues list their pets on Paaw for free.
- Contacting a shelter about an adult or senior pet is always free. They're often the ones waiting longest, and we want nothing standing between them and you.
A small fee for puppies and kittens
Contacting a shelter about a puppy or kitten has a small fee. It keeps Paaw running, helps us reach more shelters and save more animals, and lets us keep improving the adoption experience. It doesn't include the shelter's own adoption fee.
How adoption works on Paaw
- 1
Find your match
Browse dogs and cats from shelters and rescues near you by city, breed or age. You can also take the quiz and let us help you find the pet who fits your life, not just the one with the best photo.
- 2
Reach out to the shelter
Send a message from the pet's page. It goes straight to the shelter, and they'll get back to you directly. They know this animal better than anyone.
- 3
Adopt with the shelter
The shelter runs the adoption: its application, your first meeting and its adoption fee. We're here to make the introduction.
Where the pets come from. Every pet on Paaw is listed by a shelter or rescue, never by a breeder. Some shelters post their pets on Paaw directly. In the United States, some pets come from listing services many rescues use, and update when the shelter updates its own list.
You're part of this
Paaw is more than a website. It's thousands of people deciding that shelter pets are worth choosing.
You don't have to adopt today to be part of it. Share a profile, because their person might be in your feed. Tell your rescue story, because it might inspire the next adoption. And when you're ready, we'll be here.
Thank you for being part of this mission with us 💜
Get in touch
A real human reads every message. Write to us at [email protected] or use the contact form. Answers to common questions are in the FAQ.