Animals API: List, Retrieve, and Update Animal Records

The Animals API gives you access to every animal record in your organization, from intake through outcome. Each record is the single source of truth for that animal across all workspaces — the same record your team edits in the app, your public website reads from, and your medical and placement history is filed against. You can list animals with filters, fetch a single record in full, create new intake records, and update fields as an animal moves through your workflow.

The status field must exactly match a status configured in your organization’s Settings → Animal Statuses. Statuses are case-sensitive and organization-specific. Sending an unrecognized value returns a 422 error. Retrieve your configured statuses from the settings before writing automation that sets status values.

List Animals

Retrieve a paginated list of animal records. Apply filters to narrow results by status, species, or location.

GET /animals

Query Parameters

integer

default:"1"

Page number to retrieve.

integer

default:"25"

Number of records per page. Maximum 100.

string

Filter by animal status (e.g. Available, In Foster). Must match a status configured in Settings → Animal Statuses. Can be specified multiple times to filter by several statuses.

string

Filter by species (e.g. dog, cat, rabbit). Case-insensitive.

string

Filter by the ID of a location or housing unit.

boolean

When true, returns only animals published to your public website. When false, returns only non-public animals.

string

Filter by care state. One of in_care, on_hold, completed, or not_in_care.

Example Request

curl -X GET "https://your-org.rescueconsole.com/api/v1/animals?species=dog&status=Available&perPage=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "anim_01hx9z3kqp4f8vbn2tj7yd6m",
      "name": "Biscuit",
      "publicName": "Biscuit",
      "species": "dog",
      "breed": "Labrador Mix",
      "status": "Available",
      "careState": "in_care",
      "locationId": "loc_01hw3r2mxpabcd1234ef",
      "intakeDate": "2026-08-12",
      "dateOfBirth": "2024-03-05",
      "sex": "male",
      "weight": 28.4,
      "microchipNumber": "985141002345678",
      "isPublic": true,
      "notes": "Loves fetch. Good with children over 5.",
      "createdAt": "2026-08-12T10:05:00Z",
      "updatedAt": "2026-09-14T08:22:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "total": 38,
    "page": 1,
    "perPage": 10,
    "totalPages": 4
  }
}

Retrieve an Animal

Fetch the full record for a single animal by ID.

GET /animals/{id}

Path Parameters

string

required

The unique ID of the animal record.

Example Request

curl -X GET "https://your-org.rescueconsole.com/api/v1/animals/anim_01hx9z3kqp4f8vbn2tj7yd6m" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response Fields

string

The unique identifier for this animal record.

string

The working name used internally by your team.

string

The name shown on your public website and cage cards. Defaults to name if not set separately.

string

The animal’s species (e.g. dog, cat, rabbit).

string

Primary breed. May be null if not recorded.

string

The current status, matching one of your configured Animal Statuses.

string

The care state derived from the current status. One of in_care, on_hold, completed, or not_in_care. Drives dashboard counts and public visibility logic.

string

The ID of the location or housing unit where this animal currently resides. May be null.

string (date)

The date the animal arrived, in YYYY-MM-DD format.

string (date)

The animal’s date of birth in YYYY-MM-DD format. May be null if unknown.

string

One of male, female, or unknown.

number

Most recent recorded weight in pounds. May be null if not yet recorded.

string

The animal’s microchip number. May be null.

boolean

Whether this animal is currently published to your public website.

string

Free-text notes visible to your team. May be null.

string (ISO 8601)

Timestamp when the record was created.

string (ISO 8601)

Timestamp when the record was last updated.

Create an Animal

Add a new animal record, typically at intake.

POST /animals

Request Body

string

required

The animal’s internal working name.

string

The name to display publicly. Defaults to name if omitted.

string

required

The animal’s species (e.g. dog, cat).

string

Primary breed description.

string

required

A status that matches one of your configured Animal Statuses.

string

The ID of the location where the animal is housed.

string

required

Intake date in YYYY-MM-DD format.

string

Date of birth in YYYY-MM-DD format. Omit if unknown.

string

One of male, female, or unknown.

number

Weight in pounds at intake.

string

Microchip number, if already known at intake.

boolean

default:"false"

Whether to immediately publish this animal to your public website.

string

Internal notes about the animal.

Example Request

curl -X POST "https://your-org.rescueconsole.com/api/v1/animals" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Pepper",
    "species": "cat",
    "status": "Stray Hold",
    "intakeDate": "2026-09-17",
    "sex": "female",
    "weight": 7.2
  }'

Response

Returns 201 Created with the full animal record as the response body.

Update an Animal

Update one or more fields on an existing animal record. Only fields included in the request body are changed — omitted fields are left as-is.

PATCH /animals/{id}

Path Parameters

string

required

The unique ID of the animal record to update.

Request Body

Include only the fields you want to change. All fields are optional.

string

Updated internal name.

string

Updated public-facing name.

string

New status. Must match a configured Animal Status.

string

Updated location or housing unit ID.

string

Date of birth in YYYY-MM-DD format.

number

Updated weight in pounds.

string

Updated microchip number.

boolean

Set to true to publish to your public website; false to unpublish.

string

Updated internal notes. Passing an empty string clears the notes field.

Example Request

curl -X PATCH "https://your-org.rescueconsole.com/api/v1/animals/anim_01hx9z3kqp4f8vbn2tj7yd6m" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "status": "Available",
    "isPublic": true,
    "weight": 29.1
  }'

Response

Returns 200 OK with the full updated animal record as the response body.

Overview

Resources

Animals API: List, Retrieve, and Update Animal Records

List Animals

Query Parameters

Example Request

Response

Retrieve an Animal

Path Parameters

Example Request

Response Fields

Create an Animal

Request Body

Example Request

Response

Update an Animal

Path Parameters

Request Body

Example Request

Response

​List Animals

​Query Parameters

​Example Request

​Response

​Retrieve an Animal

​Path Parameters

​Example Request

​Response Fields

​Create an Animal

​Request Body

​Example Request

​Response

​Update an Animal

​Path Parameters

​Request Body

​Example Request

​Response

List Animals

Query Parameters

Example Request

Response

Retrieve an Animal

Path Parameters

Example Request

Response Fields

Create an Animal

Request Body

Example Request

Response

Update an Animal

Path Parameters

Request Body

Example Request

Response