Every animal does best when their whole team is connected.
Your fosters get their own free app. Your team gets one prioritized view of every animal's care. And when an animal is ready, adopters apply and pay online.
The following is an interactive demo using a fictional rescue and invented animals. Maple Street Rescue is not a real organization.
Update · Rough dayAssign
Supply · UrgentAssign
Adoption · waiting 1 dayAssignEmily Chen · 2h ago · Didn't eat much today and seemed low. No temp, just quiet.
Priya Raman · 5h ago · Waiting 1d on this board · Supply Request: KMR kitten formula, fleece blankets
Applied yesterday · dana.park@email.com
New foster application from Jordan Miles
21h agoMarcus Webb logged an update for Kratos (great day)
24h agoA real rescue’s morning, running in your browser right now. Have a look around. Yours would show your animals, your fosters and your staff.
Not everything in here is wired up. Click something that isn't and it will tell you what it does.
Every tool your foster program needs.
Designed specifically for foster-based rescue work, not bolted onto shelter software.
Mornings that run themselves
Start each day with one prioritized list: rough nights first, then urgent requests and adoption applications, each with who's on it.
Foster updates, your way
Pick what fosters track for each animal. Photos, weights, and answers flow into one feed, with charts, not a group chat.
Grow your foster base
A branded application page you can share anywhere. Review, approve, and connect new fosters in minutes.
Calendar, events & RSVPs
Vet visits and community events on one shared calendar, with one-tap foster RSVPs and reminders.
Messaging & newsletters
Direct threads tied to each animal, plus newsletters you can schedule to every foster or just a few.
Works with Shelterluv
Connect your own Shelterluv account and your animals come over with their photos. New intakes show up every day, so nobody types an animal in twice.
Animals do better in homes. So do adoptions.
Foster homes are where animals settle, show who they really are, and get the photos adopters fall for. The more your fosters are part of the process, the faster animals find homes. That's what Second Tail is built around.
of their animals adopted out, on average, by rescues and shelters with foster programs. Without one: 48%.
Best Friends Animal Societywhen fosters help with the adoption itself, like reviewing applications. They know the animal best.
Best Friends Animal Societyas likely to be adopted, for shelter dogs who spent just one or two nights in a foster home.
Gunter et al., Animals (2023)From a survey of about 650 rescues and shelters, and studies of shelter dogs. They show a strong link between fostering and adoption, not a controlled experiment.
Adoptions, with the foster who knows them best.
Your fosters know these animals better than anyone, so they help tell the story and meet the family. Your team keeps the decisions, the payments, and the donations, all in the same place, with no separate adoption tool.
- Your foster tells their storyFosterWhen an animal is ready, their foster is asked for the photos and the story only they know, and sends it to you from their phone.
- You approve it, it goes liveYour teamOne switch puts the animal on your rescue's public adoption page. The foster hears the moment it's up.
- Applications come to youYour teamAdopters apply right on the animal's page. Every application lands on your dashboard, and your team makes the call.
- Meet and greets, togetherYour teamFosterBook it from the application and include the foster. It lands on their calendar with the adopter's name and number, so nobody relays texts.
- Paid online, plus a donationYour teamApproved adopters pay the adoption fee through Stripe, straight to your rescue, and can add a donation. The foster gets word their animal is going home.
- Fosters never handle money or decide who adopts. Payments go to your rescue’s own Stripe account, and Second Tail never holds them. Adopted animals move to your Alumni page on their own.
The following is an interactive demo using a fictional rescue and invented animals. Maple Street Rescue is not a real organization.
Needs you
Coming up
Your updates
- OK daySeen by the rescueOct 2
Quieter than usual but drinking. Short walk around the block and a long nap.
- Great daySeen by the rescueSep 26
Played fetch in the yard for twenty minutes, then slept all afternoon.
Care
Behavior and house notes
Shy with new people for the first few minutes, then glued to your side. Good with calm dogs, not tested with cats. Crate trained and sleeps through the night.
From Maple Street Rescue
Adoption
Maple Street Rescue asked you to pick photos and tell Luna’s story.
Journey
- Ready for adoptionOct 5
- Vaccines up to dateSep 14 · Rabies and DHPP at Maple Street Vet
- Moved in with youMay 18
- Came into Maple Street RescueMay 12
This is what your fosters would be handed. Same rescue, same animals, from their end.
Not everything in here is wired up. Tap something that isn't and it will tell you what it does.
Will your fosters actually use it?
That is the question that decides whether any of this works. Software your volunteers quietly ignore leaves you back in the group text by March. So their side asks for about ten seconds, and it is the part we have spent the most time on.
Free for every one of them
Fosters never see a bill or a locked feature. You hold the only subscription, however many people you bring on.
Nothing to install
It opens in the browser they already have. No app store, no account setup call, no volunteer left behind on an old phone.
An update takes one tap
Pick how the animal did, add a photo if there is one. That is the whole thing, and it lands on your board immediately.
Every feature, on every plan.
Less chaos. More fosters fostered.
Second Tail doesn't add to your plate. It clears it.
Before Second Tail
- Spreadsheets, group texts, sticky notes
- Volunteers chasing each other for updates
- Supplies and reimbursements tracked in DMs
- Onboarding a new foster takes a phone call
- Adoption applications on paper and in email
With Second Tail
- One dashboard the whole team can see
- Updates flow in from fosters automatically
- Supplies and reimbursements in one tap
- New fosters self-onboard in minutes
- Adopters apply and pay online
Pricing that grows with you.
Pick the plan that fits your rescue today. Upgrade anytime as you place more animals at once.
Starter
The whole platform, sized for fewer homes at once.
Unlimited staff and volunteers
Unlimited fosters on your roster
Unlimited animals, however many per home
Up to 25 foster homes at a time
The only thing your plan counts
- Foster dashboard & animal profiles
- Direct foster messaging
- Supply & reimbursement requests
- Spreadsheet import for your existing data
- Adoption pages with online payments
- Priority support
Growth
The whole platform, sized for more homes at once.
Unlimited staff and volunteers
Unlimited fosters on your roster
Unlimited animals, however many per home
Up to 100 foster homes at a time
The only thing your plan counts
- Foster dashboard & animal profiles
- Direct foster messaging
- Supply & reimbursement requests
- Spreadsheet import for your existing data
- Adoption pages with online payments
- Priority support
More than 100 foster homes at a time?
Big networks and shelter-scale rescues get a custom plan: same unlimited staff, animals, and roster fosters, tailored to how you work.
Questions about which plan fits? Email us and a real person answers.
Your fosters are ready. Your tools should be too.
Set up your rescue in minutes and bring your whole foster network into one calm place.
Fosters always free · Cancel anytime · Your data stays yours