Pet Items and Pet Profiles
Pet items are the animal-level intake records inside a surrender case. They let your team review submitted animal details before deciding whether to create or link a pet profile.
What a Pet Item Stores
A pet item can store:
- Name, species, breed, color, sex, size, age, weight, and spay/neuter status
- Medical notes
- Behavior notes
- Reason for surrender
- Urgency
- Internal notes
- Custom data from the surrender form
- An optional linked pet profile
Pet items keep the intake data attached to the surrender even before the animal exists as a pet record.
Pet Item Statuses
Use item status to track each animal separately:
- Draft: information has been collected but not reviewed.
- Reviewing: staff are evaluating the animal details.
- Accepted: staff intend to bring the animal into care.
- Declined: this animal will not be accepted from the case.
- Linked: the item points to an existing pet profile or to a pet profile created from the surrender edit form.
- Converted: the item was converted into a pet profile by a backend workflow or older conversion flow.
Link an Existing Pet
Link a pet item when the animal already has a pet profile in your account. Linking keeps the surrender source visible on the pet profile without creating a duplicate record.
When staff create or edit a surrender internally, each animal item includes a searchable pet selector. Choose an existing pet there to save the item as linked immediately. You can also link an unlinked item later from the surrender profile's Pets tab.
Use this when:
- The pet was already entered manually.
- The same animal came from another intake process.
- You need to associate a historical surrender case with an existing profile.
Create a New Pet
Create a pet when the animal should become a new pet profile. Use the surrender edit form and choose New Pet so PawPlacer uses the normal pet form, including your custom pet fields. After saving, the surrender item is linked to the new pet profile.
Use this after staff have accepted the animal and are ready to manage it as part of your pet population.
Avoid Duplicate Pets
Before creating a pet, search your Pets list for the animal. If a matching pet already exists, link the item instead of creating a duplicate.
How This Appears on Pet Profiles
When a pet is linked or created from a surrender pet item, the pet profile can show the surrender source and link back to the surrender case. This helps staff understand where the animal came from without relying on a manually typed note.