How to Adopt.

There are many ways that you can find your special friend.  The first is to check the shelters.  People are surprised how many GREAT animals are just waiting in the shelters for their perfect family.  There are pure breeds as well as mixed breeds in shelters all over the country.  Some shelters will do long distance adoptions BUT they must have a home visit and some really good references.  While others might insist that you drive to meet your new family member.  Please do NOT try to persuade the shelter to change their policies.  These were put into effect to help the animals.  Trying to get them to change will only cause headaches for everyone.  if you can not adopt a certain pet from that shelter then move on and find another.  It simply was not meant to be. 

Of course there are rescues.  There are all sorts of rescues, from the all breeds to the pure bred.  Each and every rescue has their policies and again they are there for the purpose of protecting the animal.  We have all had our share of excuses about why the animal can't stay with the family and we do NOT wish for the animal to continue guessing where it will be living.  Policies are put into effect to protect everyone that is involved.  If you have a question about a certain policy please feel free to ask a question about it but PLEASE do not go nuts on the rescue and start accusing them of doing this to make a buck.  No reputable rescue does this kind of work to make a buck.  If rescues come close to breaking even we are excited. 

Then there are owner surrenders.  Some of these can be found on craigslist or other ad sites.  These animals are being given up for one reason or another and their owners want to find them homes.  With these ads you can only contact the publisher of that ad and see what they have to say.  These policies will vary greatly. 

Through Why not ME? Animal Rescue you must follow the procedures.  We require an application to be filled out and submitted.  You must pay the non-refundable deposit.  If your application is approved this deposit will go towards your adoption fee.  We also need 3 references and only 1 can be a family member, the other 2 MUST be outside of your family.  One vet reference is required so PLEASE make sure your vet will give us the information that we need.  If not then your application will be held over until we can get all that we need.  From that point, and if your application has been approved, you will be contacted by the foster family.  We then need to do a home visit.  We do NOT expect your house to be spotless, we just want to talk to you face to face and see where the animals will be living out their rest of their lives.  All family members need to be present for this home visit.  This is our policy.  Next we need to see about getting everyone together to meet and greet.  We want to make sure that everyone is capatible and want another animal.  If all goes well then we work with you to get your new family member home.  We also have a few other policies that we do on a case by case review.  Examples are fencing.  We do not require a fence to adopt BUT we might have a dog that is a runner and THAT dog requires a fenced in area.  We think kids and dogs are a GREAT combination BUT we might have a dog that just does NOT like children, so that dog will NOT go to a family with children.

NOTE: If you expect to get a animal from a great distance you might be required to pay for a transport for this animal.  This is not ALWAYS the case but sometimes it happens.

After you get your baby home we expect a LOT of updates and pictures.  We LOVE pictures and hearing about how things are going.  We do NOT leave you alone.  If you have ANY issues we are here to help.  There is no such thing as a stupid question, and believe me we have heard them ALL, but we want you to continue to talk with us.  We always want to be a helping hand when it comes to adopting. 

If for ANY reason things do not work out, you are required to give us back the animal.  Even if it is 10 years down the line, we expect you to return the animal to us. 

If we don't have the animal you are looking for PLEASE email us and we can help.  Reminder: All policies are different and you might have to go through a process a couple times before you find your perfect family member.