Animals First
Animals First is a cloud-based SaaS shelter management platform serving North American animal shelters, rescues, and municipal animal control teams with integrated adoption, foster, medical, and field services modules.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Animals First does
Animals First is a New York-based cloud SaaS company, founded in 2018, that provides shelter management software to animal welfare organizations across North America. Its core product is an all-in-one platform that handles animal intake and management, medical records, adoptions, foster coordination, field services / animal control, TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Release) programs, lost and found, transport management, donations, and reporting. The company serves three primary customer segments: animal shelters, animal rescue organizations, and municipal animal control / law enforcement teams, with named customers including Blount County Animal Shelter, Maple Grove Police Department, Freedom Service Dogs, Help Humane, and Big Bones Canine Rescue.
The platform is built on Amazon AWS using self-healing, geographically distributed database clusters and is delivered through a responsive web interface plus dedicated iOS and Android applications. Companion consumer-facing Adopter Portal and Foster Portal products extend the product surface to adopters and foster parents, with digital adoption applications, e-signatures, and Stripe-powered mobile checkout. Animals First has assembled a third-party integration ecosystem of roughly 15 partners spanning adoption marketplaces (AdoptaPet, Petfinder), pet recovery services (Petco Love Lost, HomeAgain, AKC Reunite, 24Petwatch, PetLink, SmartTag, BuddyID), pet insurance (Fetch, RainWalk), data reporting (Shelter Animals Count), and pet services (Barkpass, Petcademy). A new DocuPet partnership announced in May 2026 integrates the National Pet Registry directly into the platform.
The business model is subscription-based SaaS billed annually, with all platform features included in a single tier and no add-on purchases required. Stripe-powered adoption and donation transactions provide a secondary, transaction-based revenue stream. Customer acquisition runs through a direct, demo-led sales motion via the company website, while consumer-side portals and marketplace integrations function as self-serve top-of-funnel channels. The company is founder-led (Gerald Owens, Founder and CEO) and privately held as Animals First, LLC, a Florida-jurisdiction LLC with no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or institutional investors in the available data.
Animals First firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Animals First
- Legal name
- Animals First, LLC
- Website
- https://animalsfirst.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Animals First is a cloud-based SaaS shelter management platform serving North American animal shelters, rescues, and municipal animal control teams with integrated adoption, foster, medical, and field services modules.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Animals First industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Animal Shelter Management Software
- NAICS
- Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services (81291), Support Activities for Animal Production (115210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Animal Shelters & Adoption Services (BPAGAIAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Foster & Volunteer Network Programs (BPAGAIAF)
Keywords
Where Animals First is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Animals First business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Shelter Management Software Subscription: Animals First operates as a SaaS platform providing shelter management software to animal welfare organizations. All platform features are included in each plan with no additional purchases required. The platform supports adoption payments and optional donations at checkout through Stripe integration, suggesting transaction-based revenue alongside subscription fees.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Single unified plan with all features included |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels3 records
Animals First product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Animals First offers a cloud-hosted, all-in-one shelter management SaaS platform that helps animal shelters, rescues, and animal control teams streamline adoptions, foster coordination, medical tracking, field services, TNVR programs, transport, donations, lost & found, community support, and reporting. The platform includes separate self-service Adoption Portal and Foster Portal products accessible to consumers, supports digital signatures and Stripe-powered mobile checkout, and is delivered via a responsive web application and native iOS/Android apps with all features included in the plan.
Product overview
Animals First offers a unified shelter management platform consisting of a core shelter management system with integrated Adoption Portal and Foster Portal as key sub-products. The platform includes multiple functional modules for animal management, medical records, field services, reports & statistics, lost & found, TNVR, transport management, and roles & permissions. All features are included in the plan with no additional purchases required. The system is cloud-hosted on Amazon AWS with unlimited storage for animals, adopters, photos, and files.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- AnimalsFirst Adoption Portal: Integrated platform enabling adopters to browse animals, complete applications, digitally sign contracts and pay via desktop or mobile devices.
- AnimalsFirst Foster Portal
Products and services
- Animals First Shelter Management Platform A comprehensive cloud-hosted shelter management SaaS platform for animal shelters, rescues, and animal control teams that consolidates animal intake, adoption processing, foster coordination, medical tracking, field services, TNVR programs, transport, donations, lost & found, rehoming, and reporting into one system. Built on Amazon AWS with self-healing distributed database clusters, unlimited storage for animals, adopters, photos, and files, included data migration from Google Docs, Excel, or other shelter software, and accessible via responsive web interface at app.animalsfirst.com.
- Animals First Adoption Portal A consumer-facing portal (adopt.animalsfirst.com) that enables individual adopters to browse animals, complete adoption applications, digitally sign contracts, and pay via desktop or mobile devices with Stripe-powered checkout, with optional donation requests at checkout. Provides individual adopter profiles with access to pet adoption records and medical history, integrated with the Adoption Approval Processing workflow that includes the shelter and foster parents.
- Animals First Foster Portal A self-service portal (foster.animalsfirst.com) that enables foster parents to manage animals in their care, update animal information and medical info, upload animal photos, and participate in the adoption screening and approval workflow. Customizable foster privileges and seamless integration with the Animals First shelter management software.
- Animals First Mobile Applications Native iOS and Android companion applications for the Animals First platform providing mobile access to the Adopter Portal (including mobile checkout) and Foster Portal (e.g., the AF Foster App on the App Store and Google Play), enabling adopters and foster parents to manage adoption and foster activities from mobile devices.
Quantifiable outcome
- Saves customers tens of thousands of dollars yearly (as reported by Big Bones Canine Rescue)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Animals First
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Animals First technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration15 records
Feature10 records
Animals First partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- DocuPetcoreDocuPet announced a strategic partnership with AnimalsFirst to integrate its National Pet Registry directly into AnimalsFirst's shelter management software platform, enabling shelters to register adopters and their pets seamlessly. The integration targets approximately 120 animal welfare organizations using AnimalsFirst and is part of DocuPet's broader goal to expand pet registration across North America through its National Animal Shelter Network. This collaboration aims to improve reunification rates for lost pets by increasing enrollment in official pet identification and licensing programs.
- AdoptaPetcoreIntegration partner providing pet adoption marketplace listing synchronization with AnimalsFirst shelter management platform.
- PetfindercoreIntegration partner providing pet adoption marketplace listing synchronization with AnimalsFirst shelter management platform.
- Amazon AWScoreCloud hosting infrastructure provider. AnimalsFirst is cloud-hosted on Amazon's AWS Cloud Computing Services with self-healing clusters made up of geographically distributed database instances.
- StripecorePayment processing provider for adoption fees and optional donations via mobile checkout in the Adopter Portal.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Animals First competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Petstablished: Adoption management and online application software for shelters and rescues, focused on adopter screening, digital applications, and pet profile listings. Directly comparable feature set to AnimalsFirst's Adopter Portal.
- RescueGroups.org: Animal rescue and shelter management software that combines CMS, adoption listings, and donor tools. Comparable to AnimalsFirst in serving small-to-mid rescues with an integrated web presence and adoption workflow.
- PetPoint (Pethealth Inc.): One of the longest-standing animal shelter management platforms, used by thousands of shelters and rescues for intake, adoptions, medical records, and licensing. Represents the established incumbent AnimalsFirst is positioned against.
- Chameleon Software: Shelter and rescue management software platform with animal records, adoption processing, and reporting modules. Competes in the same vertical SaaS niche as AnimalsFirst, particularly in animal control and municipal shelter segments.
- Shelterluv: Cloud-based shelter and rescue management software offering animal intake, medical, adoption, and foster workflows. Closest direct competitor to AnimalsFirst, targeting the same municipal shelter and nonprofit rescue segments.
Others
- DocuPet: National pet registry and licensing platform and active integration partner of AnimalsFirst. Not a direct shelter-software competitor but a closely coupled ecosystem participant whose 2026 partnership materially extends AnimalsFirst's reach to ~120 shelters.
- Petfinder: Major pet adoption marketplace operated by Purina and a foundational listing-distribution integration for AnimalsFirst. Provides top-of-funnel traffic for shelter customers rather than competing as shelter software.
- AdoptaPet: Largest North American pet adoption marketplace and a core listing-distribution integration for AnimalsFirst. Functions as an indirect channel partner rather than a direct shelter software competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Customer concentration
Animals First social profiles
Digital presenceAnimals First financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Animals First leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Animals First funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Animals First M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Animals First
What does Animals First do?
Animals First offers a cloud-hosted, all-in-one shelter management SaaS platform that helps animal shelters, rescues, and animal control teams streamline adoptions, foster coordination, medical tracking, field services, TNVR programs, transport, donations, lost & found, community support, and reporting. The platform includes separate self-service Adoption Portal and Foster Portal products accessible to consumers, supports digital signatures and Stripe-powered mobile checkout, and is delivered via a responsive web application and native iOS/Android apps with all features included in the plan.
Is Animals First a public or private company?
Animals First is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Animals First founded?
Animals First was founded in 2018. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Animals First based?
Animals First is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Animals First make money?
One revenue line is on record: shelter Management Software Subscription.
Who are Animals First's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Petstablished, RescueGroups.org, PetPoint (Pethealth Inc.), Chameleon Software and Shelterluv. Others are DocuPet, Petfinder and AdoptaPet.
Does Animals First have an API?
No public API is recorded for Animals First.
What industry is Animals First in?
Animals First's product category is Animal Shelter Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAIAA, Animal Shelters & Adoption Services, with a secondary code of BPAGAIAF, Foster & Volunteer Network Programs. Its NAICS code is 81291 and its SIC code is 7372.