Petszel reports 1M adoptions and a 20% average drop in returns

Petszel announced on October 13th, 2026 that its post-adoption platform has supported one million pet adoptions. The Frisco, Texas company says shelters using its tools have seen return rates fall by an average of 20%.

Petszel is free for shelters and rescues, and sends adopters shelter-branded guidance on health, behavior and training through the first weeks at home, and the company says over 500 shelters and rescues now use it.

Petszel grew from 20 shelters to 500 in under three years

Co-founder Matt Russell started the company in February 2023, per a 2024 Dallas Innovates profile. Petszel began with 20 pilot shelters in early 2024 and had passed 300 by October 2025, when it announced a messaging partnership with Iterable.

The one-millionth adoption was Vinny, an 8-week-old kitten who went home with Eden, along with his brother, from the Animal Protective Association of Missouri in St. Louis. Sarah Javier, the shelter's CEO, said post-adoption support "helps families navigate those important first days and weeks together."

"We tend to celebrate adoption day as the happy ending. But anyone who has brought a new pet home knows it's really the beginning," Russell said.

The first month is when new owners make their buying decisions

Petszel points to a peer-reviewed study built on nearly 40,000 of its surveys. Published in the Journal of Shelter Medicine and Community Animal Health, it followed more than 22,000 adopters from 112 shelters and rescues.

Adopters were surveyed through Petszel's platform on their first day, first week and first month, and one of the four authors is from Petszel.

Over 94% of adopters rated the experience positively. But more than 78% of dog adopters and 50% of cat adopters reported at least one problem.

Play biting and house soiling led the dog complaints. By Month 1, the study found:

• 66% of dog adopters had completed a first vet visit.
• 56% of cat adopters had done the same.
• Nearly half of dog adopters had no plans for formal training.

Those are the gaps a vet clinic, a trainer, a food brand or an insurer wants to fill, and every one of them opens in the 30 days after a pet comes home from the shelter.

The back end of adoption is turning into a sales channel

Most pet brands court new adopters at the front of the funnel, where Amazon and Best Friends built an AI adoption matchmaker. Petszel sits on the other side, in the adopter's inbox after the pet comes home.

Petszel has talked about selling into that window. Dallas Innovates reported in 2024 that adopters "will gain access to tailored product and service offers," and a Santa Cruz Works profile mentioned "a six-figure partnership with a major pet brand." Insurers already pay for placements like this, as Healthy Paws showed with its fourth embedded insurance deal.

So what will a brand pay to reach a household in its first month with a new pet? The first sponsors on a network of 500 shelters will set that price.

Source: Petszel via PR Newswire