PetFindr

PetFindr provides an R interface for the Petfinder.com API (V2). Once a user obtains an API key and secret from Petfinder, this package allows the user to retrieve information about animals by type, breed, location, and other useful characteristics. Find more documentation at https://earl88.github.io/PetFindr/.

Installation

You can install the the development version from GitHub with:

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("earl88/PetFindr")

Example

Set up

Welcome to PetFindr! Before you can search for sweet puppers and kitty cats in R, you’ll need to register for the official PetFinder API (V2) at https://www.petfinder.com/developers/.

library(PetFindr)
pf_setup()

The PetFinder API (V2) will assign you a key and secret. Those values can be saved to your .Rprofile for future use.

petfindr_key <- "paste_key_here"
petfindr_secret <- "paste_secret_here"
pf_save_credentials(key = petfindr_key, secret = petfindr_secret)

You’re almost ready to find pets! Before you can make a search, you’ll need to get an access token.

token <- pf_accesstoken(petfindr_key, petfindr_secret)

Your access token will last for one hour. After that time, you will need to generate a new token.

Using PetFindr

PetFindr has two functions that list available animal search values: pf_list_types() and pf_list_breeds(). To list animal breeds, you must specify one of the primary animal types.

pf_list_types(token)
#> # A tibble: 8 x 4
#>   name        coats               colors                        genders    
#>   <chr>       <chr>               <chr>                         <chr>      
#> 1 Dog         Hairless, Short, M~ Apricot / Beige, Bicolor, Bl~ Male, Fema~
#> 2 Cat         Hairless, Short, M~ Black, Black & White / Tuxed~ Male, Fema~
#> 3 Rabbit      Short, Long         Agouti, Black, Blue / Gray, ~ Male, Fema~
#> 4 Small & Fu~ Hairless, Short, L~ Agouti, Albino, Black, Black~ Male, Fema~
#> 5 Horse       ""                  Appaloosa, Bay, Bay Roan, Bl~ Male, Fema~
#> 6 Bird        ""                  Black, Blue, Brown, Buff, Gr~ Male, Fema~
#> 7 Scales, Fi~ ""                  Black, Blue, Brown, Gray, Gr~ Male, Fema~
#> 8 Barnyard    Short, Long         Agouti, Black, Black & White~ Male, Fema~
pf_list_breeds(token, type = "dog") %>% head()
#> [1] "Affenpinscher"    "Afghan Hound"     "Airedale Terrier"
#> [4] "Akbash"           "Akita"            "Alaskan Malamute"

Armed with options for animal type, breed, coat, color, and gender from the pf_list_*() functions, you can search for animals using a variety of query parameters.

# Search for baby dogs
puppies <- pf_find_pets(token, type = "dog", age = "baby", gender = "female")

# View images of horses near Dallas, TX
pf_find_pets(token, type = "horse", location = "Dallas, TX", sort = "distance") %>%
  pf_view_photos(., size = "small")

# Map the locations of small & furry animals
pf_find_pets(token, type = "Small & furry", page = 1:2) %>%
  pf_map_locations(token, .)