Resources for Rehoming Your Pet

What we look for when screening an adopter:

Consider what type of family or home would be best for your pet. Start making a list of the sort of person, family, lifestyle, or living situation where you believe your pet would truly thrive. This can include “deal-breakers” as well as “nice-to-haves.”

Take your time getting to know applicants. Asking many questions and having long conversations with them before you even meet will help you decide whether the potential adopter will be a good fit for your pet.

A few questions to ask:

Why do you want to add an animal to your family?

What are you looking for in a pet?

Describe your perfect cat/dog.

Have you had this type of pet before? 

Is the animal a good fit for the existing family members (people and animals) in the home? 

• Are there children in the home? 
• Are there any other animals currently in the home?
• How active is the home?

Does the family rent or own? One is not better than the other! 

• Is their landlord okay with them adding a new animal?
• Does everyone in the home know they are adopting and happy with a new animal?
• Is the animal a gift? (We recommend not adopting animals as gifts!)

How will you acclimate the animal to the new home? Did you know it can take animals up to 3 months to start feeling comfortable in a new home – Read more here!

Where will the animal be kept when you are not home? 

How long will they be left alone every day?

Where will the animal sleep?

What kind of exercise and enrichment will you provide? Keep in mind a fenced in yard is a bonus, but regular daily walks are best. 

• What do they envision a typical day with their animal to be?
• What energy level are they looking for?
• How do they like to spend their time?
• How do you plan to exercise your new pet?

In addition to physical exercise, we recommend mental exercise! This can include puzzle toys or feeders, training time, and more. 

Do you have a veterinarian that they use or plan to use?

Are you familiar with flea/tick/heartworm prevention? Vaccine schedules?

Cat specific questions:

Will the cat be kept mainly indoors, outdoors, or a combination of both?

• • If indoor/outdoor, how do you plan to acclimate them to the outdoors? At what age?

How will you deal with destructive behavior, such as clawing on furniture, etc? 

Do you know much about declawing, or do you plan on declawing?

Cats need places to climb and to hide. Can you describe your setup for your new cat?

(If multi-cat home) How many litter boxes do you have? Would you consider one litter box per cat plus one?

How might you manage litter box issues, such as urinating or defecating outside the litter box?

Dog specific questions:

How do you plan on potty training? 

• • How will you address any accidents that may happen?

Do you plan to crate train your dog? How?

How do you plan to socialize your puppy? What types of activities might you do together?

What kind of general training do you plan on doing with you pet?

How will you deal with behavioral issues that may arise, such as chewing on inappropriate items?

What kind of training will you provide? In line with animal welfare best practices, we prefer positive reinforcement techniques! 

• What kind of training do you plan to do with your dog?
• How do you plan to achieve your training goals?
• How would you respond if your dog were to chew on your shoes/furniture/etc?

Tips:

• Just because the adopter says something “wrong,” don’t end the conversation there! This may be an education opportunity & the adopter may still be a great fit, just in need of your expertise!
• Try to ask open ended questions, instead of “yes or no” questions. This will help you receive better information about the adopter’s home and lifestyle. 
• If the adopter is put off by your questions, respond by saying “I want the best for [pet’s name] moving forward. I just want to make sure you are compatible and know everything you need to take care of [pet].”

Meeting with potential adopters:

Once you feel comfortable with someone you should set up a meeting with them. If they have other animals it may be good to meet at a mutual place with just the person the first time, and then consider taking the animal you are re-homing to the adopter’s house to meet the other pets in the home. Some people feel more comfortable going to the adopter’s house to see where their animal is going, while some people do not feel it is necessary. We do not typically do home-checks at our organization.

If your pet is microchipped, make sure that you get all the information from the new owner. You must call the microchip company to release the animal out of your name and give them the new owners information.

We are here to help your search for a new home for your pet! Please see these tips to help your pet stand out online.