Pawlytics Transforms Animal Rescues with Shelter Software

Allergic to Pets but Saving Them: How Lizz Whitacre Built Pawlytics

Lizz Whitacre is allergic to pets - the Midwest founder wasn't allowed to have dogs or cats as a child - but not the perseverance to save them. Her new-to-Kansas City startup is now wagging momentum as she helps mom-and-pop boutique animal shelters streamline operations to boost adoptions.

A Lifelong Mission

"The journey has been lifelong, quite literally," explained Whitacre, founder of Pawlytics, describing a vision that extended beyond her personal health limitations once she learned the life-and-death consequences facing animals in need.

As a little 5 or 6 year old, I remember checking out a book from the library on shelter pets and reading the word 'euthanasia' for the first time, she said. And that's when I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is my life's mission.' I truly had always believed, up to that point, that every animal left with this very happy adoption story, and that's not the case.

From Volunteer to Founder

Whitacre - a Minnesota native who relocated to Kansas City in summer 2025 - volunteered at her local animal shelter during high school, started her own foster-based rescue, and even tried her hand at opening a cat cafe in college. But the opportunity to truly scale her impact didn't arrive until Whitacre launched Pawlytics, she said.

Pivoting to tech while still a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2019, Pawlytics now helps more than 500 organizations in 14 countries. The software upgrades foster-based animal rescues and shelters to streamline their administrative operations, including pet record and partner organization management, payment processing, creating custom forms and contracts, and tracking adopters, fosters, and volunteers.

The Problem and Solution

A particular vertical in need of the startup: smaller-scale operations that likely are a could-be pet's last hope for adoption.

When shelters get oversaturated and over-full with animals and they don't want to euthanize them, they ship them out to different mom-and-pop shops, Whitacre explained. And it was interesting to me that these groups make up the bulk of adoptions that are happening, but they didn't have any technology companies servicing them.

Growth and Impact

Pawlytics hit profitability in 2024 and has made 21 times its revenue since 2022 - in part thanks to its ability to help such rescue operations integrate with adoption websites and microchip registries, as well as getting them deals with pharmaceutical, microchip, and pet DNA companies, she continued. Adopters also have access to pet insurance and medicines like flea and tick control through the platform.

The Future

In 2026, the startup is diving deeper into logistics challenges within the animal shelter industry, Whitacre noted.

Where we're going next is really exciting, she explained, because truly, the CRM aspect of it wasn't the thing that got me the most excited. We still see pets being euthanized. Every year right now, 6 million pets go into shelters and 600,000 of them are still being euthanized, which is atrocious to me. I entered this space to see a day in my lifetime where pets are not euthanized for space in shelters.

Building Next Level

After a decade in Lincoln, moving to Kansas City - which she'd visited often for Pipeline programming and events - allowed Whitacre to step into the region's Animal Health Corridor and an innovative startup ecosystem, she said.

The relocation gives her renewed inspiration and room to grow, she emphasized.

I was already feeling a change on Day 1, said Whitacre, who still operates her own foster-based rescue and has a couple of rental properties she leases exclusively to people with pets that might have trouble renting elsewhere. It's really been the people here introducing me to new ideas and new ways to think through the problems that I'm solving with my company. It's just given me new perspectives, new ideas, new ways to shape how I speak about the company.