a. VA law requires that any and all pets must be spayed or neutered within 30 days of adoption.
b. A Spayed or Neutered animal is easier to adopt than one that is not.
2. ADOPTION TRENDS:
a. Puppies & kittens are adopted faster than juvenile, adults, or seniors (in that order usually).
b. Smaller breeds are adopted faster than larger breeds.
3. TRAINING:
a. An animal that is house trained, crate trained, and/or litter box trained, is more adoptable than one that is not.
b. For Dogs: Whenever possible, please ensure that your dog(s) has learned basic leash manners, and that you have started basic obedience work. There is a wealth of information online to teach you how, or feel free to call us for guidance.
4. PET DESCRIPTION:
a. The more information we have on your animal’s personality, skills, likes & dislikes, the easier it is for a potential adopter to make an emotional connection with your animal.
b. Please try to come up with a one page “singles ad” for each of your animals. Include information such as:
i. Their personality: Are they are good with other dogs, cats, people, children, etc.? Do they love attention, love to play, sleep all day, what makes them special or unique?
ii. Have they had proper socialization (obedience, dog park visits, interaction out in the public, public parks, etc.)?
iii. Do they have any destructive behaviors (marking their territory, chewing furniture, tearing up clothes/blankets, barking, meowing, spraying, scratching, food aggression, cage / leash aggression, etc.)?
iv. Any information about your animal is good information
5. PET PHOTOS & VIDEOS:
Photos: Please email at least 5 or 6 good pictures of each animal. Please take pictures from the animals’ front, side, top down and other angles, so we can put the 3 best photos on the internet, include it in our emails, and post the animal up on FaceBook, Petfinder.com, AdoptAPet.com and Petango.com
Videos: We can post a 15 second video of the animal, if you have a digital video camera that you can upload video to us with.
6. PAPERWORK & ANIMAL LISTING:
We will generally need the paperwork filled out, the appropriate listing and/or surrender fee received, and proof that the dog / cat has received a basic check-up and shots before we can advertise the animal for adoption. Please note that if the animal is owned jointly with a spouse or significant other, both parties are required to give consent for the listing of the pet.
7. WHAT WE DO FOR YOU:
Please also remember that while we do a good bit of work listing & promoting your animal up front, the bulk of the work we do is on the back end:
a. We require a 6 page application from all potential adopters.
b. We obtain both personal as well as Vet references from all potential adopters.
c. We arrange for “meet & greets” with any potential adopters & their families, and will disqualify adopters immediately if we witness aggressive, unkind or inappropriate interaction between the adopters or their children / dependents.
d. We check all adopters against state wide “do not adopt lists (DNA List)”, check all references, do a criminal records check, and always do a home visit & inspection, for each adopter.
8. OUR GOAL:
We are here for the benefit of the animal, and our only goal is to ensure that we place your animal into the best, most loving, stable, & qualified permanent home possible.
9. HOW YOU CAN HELP:
We have had a lot of success placing dogs & cats using these above methods, but we need your help and follow through to make the adoption and placement in a loving home a reality. Regular communication, timely responses to our emails, taking or promptly returning calls from the SPCA, and using all good faith efforts to work with us, are all essential to a successful adoption.
Sincerely,
Bill Hoyt
Stafford County SPCA
Executive Director
