# About Animal Fields
When adding an animal, you will see a myriad of fields which you can either use or ignore to tell the story of your adoptable animal. These animal fields are listed in the table below, along with an explanation of each.
The [How to Add an Animal](/doc/598d464b-4fca-4cb3-96bc-e7e9a0a21650) section, of which this page is part, details the steps to take in adding an animal. In addition, we have a video about the process:
[https://youtu.be/HA7gTw44F6A?si=Xvhlk0n5BV7bAzux](https://youtu.be/HA7gTw44F6A?si=Xvhlk0n5BV7bAzux)
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**Where do I find it?**
You can add an animal by going to **Animals > Add an animal**.
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# About Animal Fields
The fields listed in the tables below are available for you to use in adding adoptable animals.
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An **R** indicates the field is required. All others are optional. **P** indicates the field is private to the organization.
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# Basic information
| **Name** | **Description** |
|------|-------------|
| **Name R** | The animal's name is required. **NOTE**: We recommend that you do not add extra information to the name field (like *ADOPTED* or *URGENT*). The *Other Names* field can be used for nicknames or name changes. |
| **Status R** | Choose a status from the drop-down list. You can learn more about animal statuses in the [Change an Animal's Status](/doc/bb38db68-7184-4265-abff-4593e383b9de) section in this guide. |
| **Summary** | Enter a summary of the animal's description. The summary is a short description of the animal and appears at the top of the animal’s web page and in the **Pet Adoption Toolkit**. This is a text field. |
| **Species R** | Select the animal's species from the drop-down list. |
| **Primary Breed** | Select the animal's primary and secondary breeds after selecting the species. The primary breed is required for all species except dogs.
See the section, [Mixed or Unknown breed](/doc/b0124755-a1eb-4abf-8c51-9e1985bfdc5f) in this guide. |
| **Secondary Breed** | Select the animal's primary and secondary breeds after selecting the species. The primary breed is required for all species except dogs.
See the section, [Mixed or Unknown breed](/doc/b0124755-a1eb-4abf-8c51-9e1985bfdc5f) in this guide. |
| **Has special needs** | Tick the **No**, **Yes**, or **Unknown** radio buttons to indicate whether or not the animal has any known special needs. |
| **Sex** | Tick the **Female**, **Male**, or **Unknown** radio buttons to indicate the animal's sex. |
| **Declawed** | Tick the **No**, **Yes**, or **Unknown** radio buttons to indicate whether or not the cat is declawed. |
| **Altered** | Tick the **No**, **Yes**, or **Unknown** radio buttons to indicate whether or not the animal is altered. |
| **Grooming needs** | Tick the **Not Required**, **Low**, **Moderate**, **High**, or **Unknown** radio buttons to indicate the animal's need for being groomed. |
| **Color (General)** | Select the animal’s general color from the drop-down list. This value is sent to the adoption listing sites. Note that you must first select a species to see the species-specific list of colors. |
| **Shedding amount** | Tick the **Moderate**, **None**, **High**, or **Unknown** radio buttons to indicate the animal's propensity for shedding. |
| **Pattern** | Select the animal’s coat pattern from the drop-down list. Note that you must first select a species to see a species-specific list of patterns. |
| **Coat Length** | Select the animal’s coat length by ticking one of the radio buttons for **Short**, **Medium**, **Long**, or **Unknown**. |
| **General Age** | The General Age field is used by the adoption listing websites. Tick one of the radio buttons for **Baby**, **Young**, **Adult**, **Senior**, or **Unknown** to indicate the animal's general age range. |
| **Description** | Enter a description of the animal into the editor. For information about using the WYSIWYG editor, see the chapter [WYSIWYG Editor](/doc/62a0934e-42f6-4904-887a-a4bad6187719) |
| **Physical qualities** | Select from the boxes listed any physical qualities that are important for an adopter to know.
 |
# Personality and Behavior
| **Reason Not Housetrained** | Enter the reason the animal isn't house trained (if applicable). This is a text field. |
|-------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Energy level** | Tick the appropriate radio button for **Low**, **Moderate**, **High**, or **Unknown** to indicate this animal's level of energy. **Note**: there is also an **Activity** level field later on the form. |
| **Reaction to new people** | Tick one of the radio buttons for **Cautious**, **Friendly**, **Protective**, **Aggressive**, or **Unknown** to describe the way this animal responds to new people in his or her environment. |
| **Exercise needs** | Tick the radio button that best describes this animal's need to be exercised: **Not Required**, **Low**, **Moderate**, **High**, or **Unknown**. |
| **Requires a yard** | Tick **Yes**, **No**, or **Unknown** to indicate whether this animal needs a yard. |
| **Obedience training** | Tick whether this animal (primarily used for dogs) needs obedience training: **Needs Training**, **Has Basic Training, Well Trained**, or **Unknown**. |
| **Requires a home with fence** | Tick the appropriate radio button for the type of fence required for this animal (generally used for dogs): **Not Required, Any Type**, **3 foot**, **6 foot**, or **Unknown**. |
| **Likes to vocalize** | Tick the radio button that best describes how much this animal vocalizes: (**Quiet**, **Some**, **Lots**, or **Unknown)**. |
| **Personality & Behavior qualities** | Click one or more of the boxes to describe this animal's behavior or personality.
 |
# Compatibility
| **OK with cats** | Tick one of the radio buttons for **Yes**, **No**, or **Unknown** to indicate if the animal behaves well around cats. |
|--------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Good with adults** | Tick one of the radio buttons for **All**, **Men Only**, **Women Only**, or **Unknown** to indicate whether this animal is good with adults and what kind of adults. |
| **OK with dogs** | Tick one of the radio buttons for **Yes**, **No**, or **Unknown** to indicate if the animal behaves well around dogs. |
| **Owner experience needed** | Tick one of the radio buttons to indicate whether this animal needs an owner experienced with that species or breed.
 |
| **OK with kids** | Tick one of the radio buttons for **Yes**, **No**, or **Unknown** to indicate if the animal behaves well around children. |
| **Compatibility qualities** | Click the buttons to indicate special compatibility issues this animal might have.
 |
# Administrative Information
| **Received Date P** | This is the date that the animal entered your organization. This date is used by reports to calculate the amount of time an animal was in your organization. It’s also used by the **Recent Animals** special list. See [Identify Special Needs Animals](/doc/2fe94858-94e0-4638-92b1-50c3eeaaae0a) in this guide for more information. Use the calendar icons to select the date or type it into the text field. |
|-----------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Rescue ID** | Enter your organization's public tracking number or identifier for this animal. Use your [Animal Settings](/doc/2a5106da-179d-47c8-96a7-04b28bfb1ae8) to have Rescue IDs automatically generated for your animals. |
| **Internal ID P** | Enter your organization's private tracking number or identifier for this animal. Note there is also a Rescue ID field. |
| **Found** | Was the animal stray/found? Found animals are uploaded to various lost and found websites. Note that this is a required field. |
| **Up-to-date** | Tick one of the radio buttons for **Yes**, **No**, or **Unknown** to indicate if the animal is up-to-date on its vaccinations. |
| **Found Date** | If the animal was found, on what date was the animal found? Use the calendar icons to select a date or type a date in the text field. |
| **Foster** | Select the animal's foster from the drop-down list of your fosters. You can add a new foster or manage your contacts by clicking the **Add** button. If you enable **Public** **View** for the caretaker/foster's **Contacts** record, the public will be able to contact the caretaker directly for more information about the animal. See [Caretakers and fosters](/doc/cd6ff179-a022-48f1-b850-160f12755274) for more information. |
| **Found zip/postal code** | Enter the zip code or postal code for the area in which the animal was found. |
| **Location** | Choose the animal's physical location. This is the location of the animal right now, not the location where the animal was found. You can add a new location by clicking the **Add** button. See [Locations](/doc/31982ec6-d497-4860-8366-76970a97bc3e) for more information. |
| **Location public** | If you want the public to be able to see the animal’s location, select the checkbox for Location Public. This setting must also be enabled in the list of enabled/disabled fields under **Animals > Settings > Enabled & Disabled Fields Settings.** Note that this is a required field. |
| **Microchip number** | Enter the animal's microchip number. This is a text field. Note that this is a required field. |
# Euthanasia Information
| **Euthanasia Date** | Enter or select the date that the animal is scheduled to be euthanized or has been euthanized. Use the calendar icons or type in a date in the field. |
|-----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Euthanasia Reason** | Select the reason the animal will be euthanized, if applicable from the drop-down list of options.
 |
# Additional Notes and Comments
| **Special needs description** | Enter information about the animal's special needs, if they have any. If you enter anything in the **Special Needs** box, the animal will appear on the **Special List** for **Special Needs** animals. See [Identify Special Needs Animals](/doc/2fe94858-94e0-4638-92b1-50c3eeaaae0a) to learn more. |
|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
# Custom Animal Groups Membership
| **Custom Animal Groups Membership** | If this animal fits into any of your custom groups, the group name will display here, such as Kittens. |
|---------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
# Media
| **Media Actions** | This is where you can upload pictures and videos to the animal's web page. See [Add Media to Animal Record](/doc/da012395-8ecb-4e97-8f40-1c5c7955b129) for more information on this process. (We even have a video!) |
|:-------------:|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
# Export Accounts Selection
| **Export Accounts P** | You can select the specific FTP export accounts where you want this animal to appear. If you do not want the animal to be exported to any FTP account, click the **Unselect** link under the checkboxes. |
|-------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Allow export** | Tick **Yes** to allow this animal to be exported to API (including Toolkit) and FTP accounts. If you do not want the animal to be exported at all, click **No.** |
| **Shared P** | Tick **Yes** if you want to share this animal with your partners. Tick **No** if you do not. See [Partnerships](/doc/d70552fe-c22e-456f-894f-ca25e480d239) for more information. |
Remember to click **Save** or **Save and New** or **Save and Clone** at the end of the page to save your work.
The animal header and footer are automatically added to the top and bottom of the animal’s description, respectively. The header and footer are used as an easy way to update animal descriptions on the adoption listings websites without editing each animal. The header and footer are also used on the animal’s web page with the **Website** service. The header and footer are great places to put basic information about your adoption process, special programs information or hints about your next event.
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