Adopt

Lots of wonderful furry, fluffy, or fuzzy pets are homeless and in search of families. They don’t ask for much. The biggest demand is love! They give SO much in return.

Why Adopt:

• GRATITUDE: Our experience has been that rescued fur babies are grateful to their foster families and subsequently the families who adopt them and express that gratitude with love, lots of lovin’.
• HEALTH: They are current and up-to-date on veterinary care, including (but not limited to) testing, basic vaccinations (rabies, distemper/parvo, bordetella), deworming, and spay/neuter. They have been tested for heartworm disease and usually also Lyme, ehrlichia, and anaplasma. All of our pets are also microchipped before leaving our rescue. If they were heartworm-positive, they have been treated. They are on preventatives. Unless there is a specific reason not to do so, we have treated known medical conditions We disclose all of that information. We give the adopters the medical records.
• KNOWLEDGE: We tell adopters everything we know about their personalities and the behavior traits we observe while the pets are in our foster care. We encourage questions because the more adopters learn about the pet before adoption, the better the match and the better the chances of ensuring a permanent home.
• INTERACTION: We not only allow but encourage adopters to spend time prior to adoption getting to know the pet(s). We require interaction prior to adoption with adopters’ current dogs and the dog(s) potentially being adopted from us.
• NEED: Last, but not least, these pets are homeless and searching for loving families and homes, where they will never again have to worry about how to get their next meal or if they will wake up in the morning and see a face they recognize.

HOW TO ADOPT:

• APPLY: If you have adopted from us before, email us at info@petharbor.org to find out your next steps. If you have never adopted from Pet Harbor before, start with the application.
• APPROVAL: This involves many steps. We process the application by checking all applicable references (veterinarians, people who know applicants’ pet experience firsthand, any landlord, homeowner association, local shelter). We verify home ownership. We do basic checks. We engage in a back-and-forth Q&A with applicants. The more we learn about applicants, the better equipped we are to help make successful matches between humans and pets. (Please note that sometimes applications on their faces provide enough information for us to know we cannot approve them. In those cases, we do not do all of the above due diligence.) Then we visit the home and family, whether that is in person or virtually. Then, if approved, we issue an approval email describing the next steps (the meet-and-greet and contract-signing processes).
• MEET & GREET: Meet the pet(s) if you haven’t already. Subject to change, this occurs in one of two ways. It happens at formal events or in between events at the foster homes. There are a lot of “ifs” involved with the latter. The best scenario is at events. All persons who will live in the house with the adopted dog must meet the dog before adoption. That includes all human and canine family members, not feline family members.
• CONTRACT: Enter into a contract. The contract requires adopters to, among other things, commit to:
  1. A lifetime of love for the new indoor family house member;
  2. Give the pet adequate food and shelter;
  3. Ensure the pet wears a Pet Harbor ID tag at all times;
  4. Provide the pet with routine veterinary care;
  5. Keep the pet on heartworm preventative 12 months a year every year;
  6. For dogs, give the dog plenty of exercise without: (a) allowing the dog to wander; (b) chaining the dog; or (c) letting the dog ride loose in the back of an open pickup truck;
  7. Purchase any required pet license;
  8. Return the pet to Pet Harbor Rescue if, for any reason, the pet cannot be kept by the adopter;
  9. Keep contact information current with Pet Harbor throughout the life of the pet; and
  10. Adhere to a prescribed schedule of updating us throughout the life of the pet so we can know how happy the pet is!
• DONATION: Make a donation to our organization. As a 501(c)(3) organization. donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. NOTE: We do NOT at this time accept personal checks or credit cards. If you adopt at an event, we accept donations by PayPal, cash, cashier’s check, certified check, or postal money order. If you adopt at an individual meet and greet, we accept donations by PayPal ONLY. Adoption donations can be as much as the adopter chooses but must be a minimum of:
  dogs age 6 months to 8 years, $350;
  dogs younger than 6 months of age, $500;
  dogs age 9 and up, $100;
• BE PATIENT: Wait, if required. Animals recovering from treatment for heartworm or other diseases cannot leave our organization until the veterinarians assure us their health allows it.
• ENJOY!: Welcome the new family member. Give him/her lots of love and a permanent home.
• KEEP IN TOUCH: Our adopters give us a call or drop us a line and photograph every now and again to let us know how they and their new family member(s) are happier every day. We require updates for the life of the pet, annually after the first year, more frequently during the first year.

WHO TO ADOPT:

To see a listing of the dogs we have available for adoption, click here or call us at (703) 583-HSKY. We are happy to discuss with approved applicants what pets are available at that time. We work with applicants after approval in an effort to make the right match. We cannot know when we get an application if a particular dog will be available or will be a good fit until we have completed the application processing.