by Maria Matheson

Created on: November 06, 2008   Last Updated: November 13, 2008

Safely finding a new home for your pet is challenging, but not impossible. In the United States, most animal shelters are woefully overcrowded. About 5 million healthy dogs and cats are killed in shelters every year. Because of state stray laws, most shelters need room for incoming animals. If the shelter runs are taken up by strays, then an owner turn-in animal must be adopted, find a rescue group or be euthanized to make room for the incoming stray. Owner turn-ins, no matter how adoptable, are always the first killed.

Best Place to Look for a New Home

Your best source for a new home is your address book. Contact everyone you know and explain why you need to find a home for your dog. Do not allow embarrassment to stop you, your dog would rather that you suffer a little loss of face, rather than his losing his life. Ask your friends and families to send your pet's information to anyone they think may be interested.

An Animal Rescue Group may Help

Animal rescue groups exist to help find homes for pets. Rescue groups may limit their intake to a certain breed, species or age. If your cat is a purebred, contact the breed rescue group for help. They will ask about your pet and may suggest a donation to help offset costs. Provide complete information since the type of home your pet finds will depend on it. Some groups help all breeds and ages. They will usually ask that you provide information, a photo for a website and to bring your pet to adoption events. Adoption events provide a way to connect pets needing homes with families looking for a pet, so if the group holds events, your pet will have a much better chance of finding a home if you attend.

A note about rescue groups. Sometimes these well meaning folks take in more animals than they can reasonably care for. Before you physically give your pet to a rescue, go and see exactly where your pet will live.

Animal Shelters

Before dropping your pet off at a shelter, ask a lot of questions. Find out exactly what the euthanasia criteria is. Do they kill for space? If so, your owner turned in pet will not have much of a chance. Do they place animals in your pet's age group? How long do they keep pets? Do they hold offsite adoption events? Are adoptable pets on a website? Does the shelter have good hours for adoptions? Offsite adoption events, hours when working people can adopt and animals on a website make it easier to find an adoptable home.

Free to Good Home Ads

Never offer your pet as free to good home. People rarely treat free pets as valuable members of a household. Charge an adoption fee as a sign that your pet will receive veterinary care and food. Research dealers, puppy millers and others of dubious character take free pets to resell to laboratories and populate puppy mills. Unethical snake owners have been known to adopt kittens to feed to their snakes.

To avoid a disaster for your pet, ask questions and get references. Interview the potential adopter, find out the name of their veterinarian and call to see if they care for their pets. Talk to their groomer and even a neighbor. Visit the home where your pet will live. Do not allow your pet to live somewhere that you would not want to live.

Be Honest and Ethical

Tell the prospective adopter the truth about your pet. If your dog suffers from Addison's disease and needs medication, let the adopter know how much the medicine costs. If your pet is not house trained, do not lie and say he is. Finally, if your pet is aggressive you must think long and hard about placing the pet in a new home. You are responsible if he bites or harms someone.

Resources

Article: Safely Find a New Home for Your Dog

petfinder.com - Find rescue groups and nearby shelters

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