(AUSTIN, TX) October 15, 2024–Human Animal Support Services (HASS), an international project revolutionizing the animal welfare industry by uniting human and animal welfare, launched the pet support services platform pets.findhelp.com two years ago. A first-of-its-kind search engine, the site connects users in need of free and low-cost pet support services such as veterinary care, food banks or crisis sheltering with local service providers. In the past year alone, pets.findhelp saw more than 195,000 searches–a new record of human and animal services identified through an all-in-one program.

“When we launched pets.findhelp.com, we aimed to create a resource that helps pet owners access care while aligning with national economic trends,” said Dr. Ellen Jefferson, Co-Founder of HASS & CEO of Austin Pets Alive!. “We’re thrilled to see both individuals and service organizations engaging with the platform, adding programs, and increasing access to care for their communities.”

In the U.S., nearly 87 million households include at least one pet. Ongoing, we’ve seen economic hardships directly impacting not only the people in these households but the animals as well. For the second year in a row for example, social services related to housing crisis and access to health/veterinary services were the most common searches on the pets.findhelp platform. Additionally, pets.findhelp saw the highest number of searches related to pet food pantry access and general pet supplies. With these searches directly aligned with that of economic trends, findhelp.org data and HASS research, this only amplifies the idea that pet problems are directly related to people problems and the solution is to address these issues equally.

Pets.findhelp continues to grow in the number of service providers added to the site in addition to its users. The key to setting up a robust network of support services in communities is to first ensure that direct and indirect services are reflected and easily accessible. Human and animal welfare organizations are encouraged to create an account and add their free and low-cost community programs for free. To do so, simply access pets.findhelp.com or utilize the HASS-developed comprehensive pets.findhelp guide which includes step-by-step instructions and additional features. 

Further benefits to adding human and animal resources to pets.findhelp include the ability to track service and support data. This data, directly linked to your organization’s pets.findhelp account, allows organizations to see what services their communities are searching for or accessing the most, thus helping inform future programming development and can be used to garner municipal funding for a specific area of need.

For more information, see the instructional video below.

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About Human Animal Support Services (HASS):

The Human Animal Support Services (HASS) project is a movement seeking to revolutionize the animal welfare industry by leading with and embracing a community support model. By providing both private and municipal animal shelters with equitable access to data-driven resources, education, and implementation tools, HASS aims to create pathways toward unified support systems for pets and their people in every community. Separated into three main pillars education, data, and policy, HASS encompasses a network of more than 1,500 animal and human welfare professionals. A project facilitated by Austin Pets Alive! (APA!), HASS’s 41 pilot shelters and 300+ partner organizations have joined the movement by committing to implement the HASS model. To learn more, visit www.humananimalsupportservices.org.

Source: Human Animal Support Services