Our Adoption Process
Our rescue’s purpose is to save unwanted and homeless dogs and place them in a loving forever home suited to their individual needs. We take special care to match the right home with the right dog, ensuring a lifetime of love and happiness for both the dog(s) and the adopting family. We take the following steps to determine a match.
Step 1 – Fill out an Adoption Application
The first step is to submit an adoption application. This application is designed to tell us about you, your family members and your lifestyle so that we can fit you with the perfect companion. Please fill out the application completely and truthfully. Failure to do so will terminate the process and your application to be immediately rejected.
Step 2 – Application Review
Our volunteers will screen your application to determine if all necessary information was provided and verify all information.
(a)Veterinary Reference
Please contact your veterinarian within 24 hours of submitting your application to give permission to speak with us about your current pet’s veterinary history. If this cannot be verified, your application will be denied. If you do not currently have any pets, we understand that you would most likely not have a vet. If you have a vet you used previously, please provide that information instead. If you have never had a pet, this step will be skipped until the end of the adoption process which at that time you will need to have found a local vet to establish a relationship with.
(b)Landlord Approval Verified
If you rent your home; your landlord may be contacted to make sure you have approval to have a dog in your home. Please state in your application any breed or weight restrictions, deposits required etc. * If your landlord does not allow dogs in your home, we will be unable to continue processing your application.
(c)Personal References
We require two (2) personal references and an emergency contact. Only the emergency contact may be a family member. Our volunteers will contact these references last.
*Once the application is processed (3 to 5 business days), we will contact you to schedule a home visit and interview. (Step 3)
Step 3 – Home Visit and Applicant Interview
Home visits are required. Applicants not residing in the DFW Metroplex area will be contacted by a rescue local in their area to conduct a home visit. If no local rescue volunteer is found, applicant will need to submit photos of the exterior of their home and set up a phone and/or video interview.
This is an informal chance for us to get to know you, your lifestyle, and your home environment along with determining which dog(s) in our program would be the best fit for your family. The home visit volunteer will do a short walk-through of your home and yard to ensure its safety and will advise on any areas of concern. All household members must be present for the home visit.
*We adopt out of the area and state on a case by case basis.
Step 4 – Meeting between Applicant & Available Dog(s)
*In some cases this step may be included in the home visit
We do not have a facility where the dogs can be visited as majority of our dogs are in foster homes. Unless we are having a public event, we do NOT arrange meetings between interested individuals and our adoptable dogs until an applicant has been approved. Once you have been approved, a volunteer (usually the foster) will contact you about scheduling a time for you to meet the dog(s) you are interested in.
Step 5 – Adoption
Once you have been approved to adopt a specific dog(s) you will be required to sign an adoption contract and provide payment of the adoption donation. The adoption donations are based on the dog’s age and range from $150 to $350 which helps to cover veterinarian expenses for spay/neuter surgery; rabies and vaccinations; microchip; exams; heartworm testing; heartworm preventative; flea and tick preventative as well as treatment for injuries or illnesses and any other care related expenses as needed. All of our dogs are fully vetted prior to becoming available for adoption.
*Although we do our best to work with our adoptable dogs on correcting undesirable behaviors and learning a few basic commands, most of our dogs are not obedience trained nor do we present them as such, and we strongly urge our adopters to enroll in a training class within the first month of adoption. Not only does this help to shape the behaviors that are important to you and your lifestyle, it also helps with the bonding process. We have several programs in the area we can recommend for you.
Post-Adoption Follow-up Visit
Our adoption contract contains a clause that allows one of our volunteers or a representative to perform a follow-up visit. We may require such a visit to check on how the dog is doing in its new home if we feel that the terms of the adoption contract are not being met. We are committed to the life, happiness and well being of every dog we place for the remainder of their life. Should the adoption not work out or you need to rehome the dog for any reason, we require, by contract that the dog is returned to us.