Tinder-like app pairs pups with potential owners

Author: CBS News
Published:
Rebekah and Mitchell Faria with Slash and Jax CBS NEWS

Dating app technology puts the power to meet people in the palm of your hand. You swipe right if you’re interested, and left if you’re not. Now, that same idea is helping to pair dogs in desperate need of a home with potential owners.

“The challenge for us is helping as many animals as we can,” Tiffany Lacey, the executive director of New York’s Animal Haven, told CBS News’ Don Dahler.

She said social media has made a huge difference in getting people to adoption centers.

“As soon as we post a picture people are coming to the shelter to meet the animal. It’s really turned the whole thing on its head,” she said.

Pictures of pups like Joey, Jewel and Holden will join the more than 125,000 posted nationwide on apps like BarkBuddy.

“It behaves just like Tinder except instead of finding a date you’re finding a dog that can be your best friend,” Stacie Grissom said.

She runs the content team at Bark, a disrupter in the pet toy and treat industry and best known for its BarkBox monthly subscription service.

“There are thousands of shelters across the country that are uploading their dogs to Petfinder and we are able to pull all of that information and just present it in a different way that’s fun and engaging, and not what you would expect,” Grissom said.

Like popular dating apps, dog lovers swipe right to like and left to pass. Location settings make it easy to meet dogs in your area and you can specify characteristics like size, age and gender.

For Rebekah and Mitchell Faria, it was an “instantaneous” connection when they saw a picture of Jax.

“He had his ears flapping. His tongue was lolling, he looks like a complete dingus and it was, yeah, love at first sight,” Rebekah recalled.

The couple turned to Bark Buddy after their dog Slash lost his best friend, their cat Brutus.

“Once we had to put Brutus down, Slash was distraught,” Rebekah said. “There really was a big hole in our house.”

But the Farias had to get Slash’s approval, too.

“He was super friendly from the get go,” Rebekah said. “He helped finish our family.”

The BarkBuddy app is free to use and there are no ads, but the searches are limited to dogs. Of course, there are plenty of cats at rescues like this one who would also be happy to meet you.

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