v5 public API returning no Available animals for org

[S Nils]

Hi all,

I’m working on an integration for a non profit org I volunteer at using the v5 public API.

I have:

- An API key with Status = Public.
- “About your site” set only to “Lists animals for adoption”.
- Export Settings set to “By default, export to services that list animals for adoption = Yes” (everything else No).
- API Exports enabled.
- At least two animals are configured in the Manage UI as:
  - Status = Available
  - Allow export = Yes
  - Shared = Yes
  - Location public = Yes

Using this key, I can call:

  GET /v5/public/orgs/6575/animals/?limit=25

and I see 2014-era animals (all Adopted), so the key is working and the org is recognized.

However, both of these calls return meta.count = 0:

  GET /v5/public/orgs/6575/animals/search/available/?limit=25
  GET /v5/public/animals/22107225   (animal ID from the Manage URL)

This is with the same key, same account, and the animals clearly set to Available in the portal.

I’ve opened a support ticket and have been working with Emily and Harriet, provided details on cURL requests and responses for reproduction including transactionID's of failed requests but wanted to ask here as well in case someone else had any additional insight:

- Is anyone else seeing v5 not returning current Available animals while still returning older animals for the same org?
- Are there any known issues with v5 data updates or the Adoptable Pet Data API that would explain this behavior?

Any insight appreciated.

[Phillip Jackson]

To get a list of all available animals, the url format I am using is like so: 

`https://api.rescuegroups.org/v5/public/orgs/${process.env.ORG_ID}/animals/search/available/`. 

It seems as though this is formatted correctly, but try it without the limit query to see it resolves correctly.

To fetch a single animal, using their ID: `https://api.rescuegroups.org/v5/public/orgs/${process.env.ORG_ID}/animals/${id}`.

The difference I see here is that you are not passing the ORG URI and parameter

Hope this helps. 

[S Nils]

Ok my cURL examples were as follows one for a animal by ID and another by the ORG ID. With some animals marked as available in the system, and the API settings having parity with what is listed under the main account control panel, one could expect to see the animals listed in the response but I still get 0.

// ANIMAL LOOKUP BY ID
1) `GET https://api.rescuegroups.org/v5/public/animals/********`
Response:
`{ "meta": { "count": 0, "countReturned": 0, "pageReturned": 1, "limit": 25, "pages": 0, "transactionId": "*************" } }`

// ANIMALS BY ORG 
2) `GET https://api.rescuegroups.org/v5/public/orgs/****/animals/search/available/?limit=25`
Response:
`{ "meta": { "count": 0, "countReturned": 0, "pageReturned": 1, "limit": 25, "pages": 0, "transactionId": "*************" } }`

[S Nils]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I just tried the org-scoped animal endpoint as well:

  GET https://api.rescuegroups.org/v5/public/orgs/orgId/animals/animalId

and I’m still seeing:
  meta.count = 0
  meta.countReturned = 0

(using the same API key, which works for the other calls).

To summarize what I’m seeing for account my account:

- This call returns our older animals (all from around 2014, status Adopted):
  GET https://api.rescuegroups.org/v5/public/orgs/orgId/animals/?limit=25

- These calls all return meta.count = 0, even though there are currently Available animals configured in the Manage UI with:
  Status = Available
  Allow export = Yes
  Shared = Yes
  Location public = Yes

  GET https://api.rescuegroups.org/v5/public/orgs/orgId/animals/search/available/
  GET https://api.rescuegroups.org/v5/public/animals/animalId
  GET https://api.rescuegroups.org/v5/public/orgs/orgId/animals/animalId

* orgid is valid and current
* animalId is valid and available

So the key + org are clearly recognized (I can see the old 2014 Adopted animals), but the newer Available animals don’t appear in the v5 public export at all, even when queried directly by ID with the org in the path.

That’s why I’m thinking this is more of a v5 data/export issue than a URL/permissions mismatch. If anyone from RescueGroups or other devs have seen similar behavior (old animals present, new Available animals missing), I’d love to know how it was resolved.

On Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at 2:45:02 PM UTC-5 unis...@gmail.com wrote: