What To Expect When Adopting From A Shelter

adoption, adoption - By Staff Writer on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 11:48

Adopting a dog is a life changing event and the volunteers and workers at animal rescues and shelters understand this.  It is for this reason that they have thorough adoption practices to make sure that potential owners are prepared to adopt a dog and that they get the right dog for their lifestyle.  There are a few things you can expect to encounter when adopting a dog.  Not ever shelter or rescue has all of them but any legitimate one will have most of them.

Application
The shelter will ask you to fill out an application.  This will include your basic personal information, household and lifestyle information and information on other pets in the household.  They are trying to get a feel for your living situation and if it is suitable for a dog or the dog you want.  They need to know how often you travel, how much time you spend at home, information about children in the house, other dogs and pets and what the space is like.  A family with small kids might not be good for certain breeds and they need to know this before you get the dog and return it because it snapped at your child.

Reference/Vet/Landlord Check
Like any job or volunteer position, the shelter wants to know you are a good person.  They want to speak with references that can vouch for you as a human being and that will tell them you don't intend to use the dog as bait in a fighting ring.  In addition they might ask to speak with your vet to confirm the health of past and current pets as well as your landlord to make sure you are actually permitted to have that puppy.

Interview
A lot can be picked up in a face-to-face meeting and the shelter or rescue will want to meet you in person.  This most often happens when you go to look at dogs.  They will let you look around and will allow you to interact with the pups.  In addition, they will want to ask you questions and verify the information on your application.

Sometimes A Home Visit
Some shelters take it to the extreme and do home visits where they do the interview, meet the family, see the home and verify the living situation. 

Fees
You should expect to pay a re-homing fee.  This should be under $200 if it is a legitimate adoption.  For information on what a re-homing fee is and why it is good, read our article on re-homing fees.

Adoption Agreement
The application will likely be accompanied by an adoption agreement where you agree to certain criteria if you are approved to adopt.  Some common items you may be asked to agree to are agreeing to not use the dog for hunting or guarding, not using the dog for any illegal activities like fighting, agreeing to fix the dog or, agreeing to not chain the dog.  These are agreements that any responsible dog owner or potential dog owner should be easily willing to agree to and are in place for the safety of the dogs.