The problem
After the rescuing, a shelter's hardest job is matching. Someone arrives wanting a cat and leaves without one, because an undifferentiated wall of photos answers none of what they came to ask. And the proof that adoption works — what happened after — sits with the adopters, scattered across their own feeds where nobody looking to adopt will ever see it.
What we built
- The adoption listing — cats browsable and filterable by breed, gender and life stage, each with its own profile — so “find a friend” is a search rather than a scroll.
- Happy Tails — adopters sign in and post what happened next, so the case for adopting is made by people who already did it rather than by the charity asking.
- The rest of the case — the mission and its history, the rescue, sterilisation, TNR and education programmes, and a contact form beside the address, hours and phone number for people who would rather just turn up.
- A database behind it — accounts, listings and stories are stored rather than hard-coded, so the site changes as cats come and go instead of needing a developer and a redeploy each time.
Details worth noting
- Filters cover breed, gender and life stage — kitten, adult and senior — and combine, so a search narrows instead of starting over.
- Posting a story needs an account, so what appears under Happy Tails is attached to a real adopter rather than anonymous.
- Contact runs both ways: a form on the page, plus address, opening hours, phone and email for the people who would rather not use one.
