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Companion Animals--> New Home< /FONT>
Finding a New Home for a
Cat or Dog
The goal is to find a home with
responsible adult owners/guardians where the animal will live for
the rest of his/her life. Generally, placements with adults over the
age of 30 are the most successful. We do not recommend placing
animals (especially kittens or puppies) in homes with children under
the age of 5 or in homes where other animals have been relinquished,
surrendered or given away for any reason.
1. Medical Care. We
suggest that you take the animal to a veterinarian as soon as you
can. The animal should be examined and any recommended medical
treatment for an injury or illness should be completed. Tests should
be done (heart worm for dogs and feline leukemia/FIV for cats). The
animal should be given vaccinations. Testing and vaccinations are
done to protect your own animals as well as make the homeless animal
a better candidate for placement. Getting the animal spayed or
neutered is also a good idea. This will make the animal more
attractive to potential adopters, ensure no more animals are born
and reduce chances of any future health or behavioral issues related
to being left intact.
2. Keep the animal safe. Keep the animal in your house or other safe place where
it cannot run away and has adequate shelter. You will learn more
about the animal if s/he lives in your house - whether s/he gets
along with kids and other animals, any personality characteristics,
whether a dog has been trained, etc. Until the animal has had the
above medical care, s/he should be kept separate from your own
animals. If you make introductions after that, please do so
gradually to keep peace with the animals in your home!
Do not take the animal to a shelter or pound if
you or someone you know can keep the animal until a home is found.
Many animals behave differently when confined to a cage in a strange
place and may be harder to place because of their uncharacteristic
behavior. When animals go to shelters, their chances of being
euthanized increase substantially. Shelters have limited space for
too many animals. Shelters may not even try to adopt older, sick or
animals with behavioral problems. While the Iowa City Shelter adopts
about 50% of the animals that come into their shelter, the rates are
much lower in Cedar Rapids. The animal will have a much better
chance if you keep it until a home is found.
Please never take a black cat or kitten to a
shelter in October as it will most likely be euthanized - most
shelters don’t adopt out black cats/kittens in
October.
3.
Advertising. If the animal is a stray and appears to be well
cared for, you can place a free "found" ad with the Gazette (or
other local newspaper). You should also notify the local shelter and
animal control facilities that you have found the animal and s/he is
in your possession. In Cedar Rapids, these are: Cedar Valley Humane
Society (362-6288) and City Animal control (848-7373). It is best to
send them a photo of the found animal. Make certain you leave a key
detail about the animal OUT of any advertising so that you get the
real owner and not someone who might mistreat or sell the animal for
research or training.
Tell all your friends and family that you have
the animal and are seeking a forever home. Word of mouth is an
excellent way to find homes.
Post notices about the animal, including photo,
medical care, and your telephone number at your veterinarian’s
office and other offices, your place of business. We do not
recommend placing notices at retail stores or other locations where
you will get callers that you don’t know.
You can place a free ad on www.petfinder.org This is a nationwide resource for people who want to
place or adopt an animal. You should submit a digital photo and a
biography about the animal. Be sure to include whether the animal is
spayed/neuter, vaccinated and tested for disease. Provide
information about the animal’s personality (affectionate, loves to
play, etc) and other details such as: is she housetrained, gets
along with other animals and kids, declawed.
You want to avoid adopting the animal to people
who will sell her/him for research, use the animal to train fighting
dogs, use the animal for rituals or other risky or dangerous
situations (e.g. never adopt out a black or white cat/kitten in
October or near any Friday the 13th. This includes black
and orange tortoiseshell cats). Some ways to
reduce the likelihood of these undesirable
situations are to make sure you check (vet and landlord)
references, do a home visit, and charge an adoption
fee.
4. When you get an inquiry. First conduct a telephone
interview. Ask some of the key questions on the Adoption
Application
(e.g. cats should not be
allowed outside, have they ever given an animal away?). If you like
the answers given, have the person come to meet the animal. Ask them
to bring their children. Have them complete the Adoption Application
Form (they can complete it there or take it home and return it to
you). Watch how the adults and children interact with the animal to
make sure they are kind and gentle. After they have completed the
Application, call their veterinarian(s) and ask if other animals in
the household are current on vaccinations, whether they’ve been
tested for heart worm (dog) and feline leukemia, FIV (cat) and if
they are altered. Ask about any animals that are no longer living or
that the potential adopters may have had at one time but no longer
have. Ask the veterinarian if there is any reason you should not
adopt to this person. If the potential adopter is a renter, speak
with their landlord to ensure that animals are allowed. Tell the
person you will be contacting their landlord. Finally, if everything
checks out, go to the potential adopter’s home for a home visit.
Make sure the potential adopter and all family members/house mates
are there so you can meet them, ask to be shown where the animal
will be kept when the adopter is at work or away. Meet other
resident animals and see how they are kept and how they appear.
Check around the house for hazards (certain plants, cords, etc) and
ask the potential adopter to removed any hazards. If s/he refuses,
do not adopt to that person.
5. If everything checks out. If you decide to adopt to the
potential adopter, have the adopter sign an Adoption
Agreement
to return that animal to you
in the event the placement isn’t successful - make sure you give a
copy to the adopter so s/he knows how to find you. Make it clear to
the adopter that you want the animal back if things don’t work out.
You don’t want the animal abandoned, taken to a shelter or given to
the wrong person. Make certain you charge an adoption fee. We
recommend a minimum of $65 (to recoup some of your costs and help
ensure that the adopter is committed). If the animal is too young to
be spayed or neutered, you can return some of the fee to the
adopter’s veterinarian when you have received confirmation that the
animal is spayed/neutered. This will help ensure the animal gets
altered and that you know s/he has been altered.
Have the potential adopter pick up the animal at
your house or you can deliver the animal to them (preferred because
you can help the animal settle in). Give the adopter copies of all
veterinary records, the rabies tag and any special toys, bedding,
supplies, food and litter. It will be important that the adopter
feeds the same food or makes a gradual switch to avoid diarrhea.
Same with litter - the adopter should use the same litter or make a
gradual switch - to ensure kitty uses the litter box. Make certain
any dog adopted is wearing a collar with rabies and identification
tags. If the adopter is picking the animal up, ask them to bring a
carrier to transport a cat and a leash for a dog.
Make a follow-up call after 24 hours and again
after the first week, first month to make sure the placement is
going well and to answer any questions.
*If the animal you are seeking to find a home
for is your own animal, all the above suggestions apply. IF you are
seeking a new home because of behavioral issues, lack of training or
other reasons, we encourage you to try to fix the problem first.
There is help at several web sites (see www.aaiowa.org). Some veterinarians will provide helpful advice and
obedience trainers can be life savers. The animal will have better
success in a new home if any issues have been addressed first.
Sometimes getting those issues addressed means the owner will decide
to keep the animal. This is better for the animal in most cases.
Good luck!
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