Description
Seconde Chance is a French website that lists animals waiting for adoption in shelters and animal welfare associations all over France, so that people looking for a dog, cat or rabbit can find one near them.
It is run by an association under the 1901 law based in Marseille, has been online since September 2007, and is supported by the SPA. In November 2026 it listed 23,338 animals from 2,106 shelters and associations, and counted 581,873 adoptions since it started. It is free for the associations that publish their animals, and is paid for by sponsors and advertising.
Adoption follows four steps: search by species, age and place, contact the shelter, meet the animal, then sign the adoption commitment with the shelter, which sets its own conditions and fees. Since 1 January 2024 pet shops in France may no longer sell dogs and cats, only show animals from shelters and associations, although parliamentary questions report shops getting round the ban and sales moving online.
Strengths
- One search covers more than 2,000 shelters and associations across France.
- It is free for shelters, so even small associations can list their animals.
- The site is backed by the SPA and run by an association, not by a pet trade company.
Weaknesses
- The site carries advertising, and its sponsors are not named.
- Seconde Chance doesn’t check the listings itself, so details depend on each shelter.
- Adoption fees and conditions vary by shelter and are not shown on the site’s own pages.
Who it is for
People in France who want to adopt a dog, cat or other animal from a shelter and want to see what is available near them first.