Quick start

1. Get a key

Create an account, then create a key on Your keys. It's shown once, so copy it somewhere safe.

2. Make a request

Send the key in the Authorization header. This finds adoptable dogs within 25 miles of Denver, Colorado:

With curl

curl "https://www.nokillnetwork.org/api/v1/pets?zip=80202&radius=25&species=dog&limit=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $NKN_API_KEY"

With JavaScript

const res = await fetch("https://www.nokillnetwork.org/api/v1/pets?zip=80202&radius=25&species=dog&limit=5", {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.NKN_API_KEY}` },
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error((await res.json()).error);
const { pets } = await res.json();
for (const pet of pets) {
  // Always link to the pet's page on The nØkill Network.
  console.log(`${pet.name} (${pet.breed ?? pet.species}) in ${pet.city}, ${pet.state}: ${pet.url}`);
}

Keep your key on your server. If you call the API from a web page, anyone can read the key in the page.

What comes back

{
  "pets": [
    {
      "id": 9900123,
      "section": "adoption",
      "name": "Biscuit",
      "species": "dog",
      "breed": "Labrador Retriever",
      "sex": "male",
      "city": "Denver",
      "state": "CO",
      "country": "US",
      "description": "Friendly 3-year-old who loves walks…",
      "photos": ["https://media.nokillnetwork.org/…"],
      "featured": false,
      "postedAt": "2026-11-01T17:04:00.000Z",
      "url": "https://www.nokillnetwork.org/adoption/colorado/denver/labrador-retriever-dog-biscuit-9900123"
    }
  ],
  "page": 1,
  "total": null
}

3. Show the results, with links

Every pet and shelter has a url field: its page on The nØkill Network. Link to it wherever you show the pet. That page is where adopters contact the owner, so it's how your visitors actually help a pet. Terms

Limits and errors

• Each key can make 60 requests a minute and 10,000 a day. Over that, you get status 429 and a Retry-After header saying how many seconds to wait. Need more? Contact us.
• Errors are JSON with an error message: 400 for bad parameters (with details), 401 for a missing or revoked key, 404 when a pet is no longer listed.
• Pets get adopted fast. Refresh what you show at least once a day, and drop pets the API no longer returns.

Every endpoint and field is in the API reference. API reference