STRAY HOLDS, OWNER SURRENDERS, AND ADOPTIONS! Some times our policies can seem confusing to people, so I took a little time to explain the legalese in regular-peoples language: If a dog or cat comes in with no collar and no ID of any kind, we will hold them for one full week/ 7 days before allowing them to be adopted. During that time, potential adopters may come to the shelter to meet the pet and decide if this is the pet for you, but it is important AND THE LAW that the owners have a fair opportunity to find and claim their pet. If a pet comes in with a collar but no ID, we give the owners three more days--10 days total. If a pet comes in with ANY ID, whether it be a license, microchip, tag with owners phone number, whatever, we will search for and HOUND the owner to either come get the pet or sign a release of ownership so the shelter can begin finding a new home for the pet. If the pet is STILL not claimed or released, then the laws of abandonment get too tricky to go into here. That is why it is so important to have your microchips registered, up-to-date, and edited for changes in address or phone or ownership! When a pet is turned in as a stray, the finder has the right of first refusal. That person has until the end of the stray hold to inform the shelter of their intentions--otherwise the pet may be adopted as early as 10:15 am the day they are available! We do not hold animals that are available for adoption. Too often in the past, people ask us to hold a pet until payday or whatever, and we never hear from them again; meanwhile Fluffy had several opportunities to be adopted and potential owners were turned away. If there is more than one person interested in adopting a particular animal, they should be at the shelter the day the pet is available, right at opening time. A drawing will be held right on the spot and whoevers name is drawn will adopt the pet. Any pet surrendered by the owner to the shelter is available for immediate adoption--again, the early bird gets the worm! Not every animal at the shelter is available for adoption. Sometimes animals are in our care for legal reasons. Some visit with us when the owner falls ill, is badly injured, or passes away and there is no one else to care for them. Many circumstances can come up where a pet needs care on an emergency basis--this is why we are a shelter,: not doggie jail! ;)
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 21:04:38 +0000
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