Get ready to swipe right. A group of animal lovers in Lithuania have created a Tinder-style app intended to match dogs in animal shelters with their ideal pet parent.
The app, which launched in January, is called GetPet and already attracts hundreds of new users daily, according to U.S. News & World Report.
“It is like Tinder, but with dogs,” Vaidas Gecevicius, one of the app’s creators, said to U.S. News. “You can arrange a meeting with the dog — a date.”
The app features pet profiles with images of dogs looking for forever homes. When a new picture loads, users can scroll down to read more information about the dog, such as temperament and age, and if they like what they see, they can swipe right. Just like with human dating apps, if you swipe left, the profile disappears and is replaced by a new match.
The SOS Gyvunai shelter in Vilnius, Lithuania, has already had GetPet users drop by to meet their dog dates, taking animals on walks to see if the spark is there.
Founder of the animal shelter, Ilona Reklaityte, supports the idea. “I really welcome this new app as it gives us more chances to find our pets new owners and a new home, and that means we can then help other dogs still on the streets,” she said.
“We have 140 dogs right now. Sometimes we give away one or two of them every day, but now we receive (many) more calls and people are coming more often,” Reklaityte added.
The European Society of Dog and Animal Welfare estimates that there are 40,000 homeless dogs in Lithuania. It’s an issue that’s relevant around the globe, with high numbers of animals ending up in shelters or on the streets.
In the U.S, roughly 3.3 million dogs are abandoned in shelters every year, according to data from the ASPCA. The issue has inspired the “adopt, don’t shop” movement that encourages people to rescue pets from animal shelters instead of purchasing them from pet stores or breeders.
GetPet only features dogs at the moment, but the creators hope to include cats and other animals in the future.
