What you should know about our Adoption process…
We are run by volunteers
Since we are a non-profit organization run by volunteers, we are all trying to do our part to help the rescue and dogs in our care. The vast majority of our volunteers are foster families, who continue to open their homes to dogs that need a safe and loving place to stay temporarily. We have extremely dedicated volunteers that brave our unpredictable Central PA weather to work fundraising events, walk dogs, complete home visits, conduct reference calls and help to transport dogs or supplies.
Needless to say, the demands of a rescue can be tiresome, gut-wrenching and heartbreaking, but we have the best group of volunteers and supporters. The joy that these dogs bring to our everyday lives, must be shared! While we work so very hard to place as many dogs as we can, it doesn’t always prove easy.
Most of our volunteers work full-time jobs unrelated to the rescue. We do our best to divide tasks between volunteers for the speediest response, but life often presents its challenges and we cannot always respond as quickly as we wish we could. Most of us have families and dogs of our own as well.
Our adoption process
Our adoption process is taken very seriously. Most of these dogs have been rescued from terrible situations, like nearly escaping euthanasia due to over-population of shelters, neglect, serious health issues, abandonment or abusive situations. These dogs are sometimes separated from families or siblings, or even worse situations. They’re often scared and don’t understand how they’ve ended up in this situation.
We receive background on every dog that we have the option to rescue. If we decide to accept the dog and have a foster family lined up, we’ll receive the dog and take some precautions before releasing the dog to out foster family. In order to set these dogs up for success, it’s important that we understand their temperament and stressors. We’ll look into how they respond to other dogs, cats, animals or children.
All the dogs in our care will be fully vetted and spayed or neutered before becoming available for adoption. This is for our pet’s health and also to help control the pet population.
If you’re considering adopting
The best advice that we can give is – start the process early! While expressing interest in our dogs is amazing, filling out an adoption application doesn’t make it a done deal. There are many other steps and screening methods that are set in place to ensure that we are setting up our rescue dogs and potential families for success!
Don’t wait for a dog to come along and then submit your application. Fill your application now. Based on your application, we can determine the dogs that match your situation or personality. Of course, we consider preferences if you have them, but it isn’t always a match unfortunately. If your application is filled out and in our system, you’re a portion of the way through.
We accept multiple applicants for each adoptable dog
Often we have strong interest in a particular dog and will have multiple applications submitted at the same time. Applicants are sometimes disheartened to know that we will take more than one applicant for a dog. There are several reasons why we do, but it really boils down to wanting the right match. We have put a lot of time and resources into helping our dogs be the very best they can be and we want them to go where they will succeed.
Consider how many applications and interested parties that we can get for one dog. When this happens, we feel extremely lucky to be in this position. Our goal is to save as many pit bulls as possible and find the best, loving and safe homes for them to live their lives. Imagine if you were waiting for a home and the process was completed one application at a time.
Not everyone meets the credentials that we have set in place. This is not implying that an applicant not picked for a particular dog is not a great applicant, but they might not be the best applicant for a particular dog.
Why do we accept multiple applications for dogs on a regular basis? Some dogs need an active family, some sedative, some need a family without children, or a family that is really strict and a leader, some need a more laid back family, some need to be the only dog in a family, some need a dominant friend and many, many more reasons. We often don’t know any of those things until we meet you and your family (including 4-legged).
Scheduling meet and greets
Since we’re dealing with foster families and potential adoptive families, scheduling convenient times for multiple parties to meet is not always easy. We appreciate your patience while we work to find a mutually beneficial time for everyone to meet.
We are fortunate to have such a strong following of supporters, who continue to spread the news about our rescue and our efforts. There are so many dogs that can be rescued and we’d love the opportunity to place them in loving homes with all of the families that express interest in our rescue and what we do. It’s all about the dogs 🙂
Let’s get social
If you follow us on social media, (if not, you can start here now) you know it’s very easy to see why we love these dogs so very much! We have over 30 dogs in our care and they each have their very own stories and personalities. We try to share as much of them as possible and we love when you help spread the word!