Adoption Policies & Procedures

• Thank you for your interest in helping save a life by adopting a pet for your family. Before you proceed further, please review: "Is Pet Adoption for You?" (linked here)
• The adoption application process usually takes up to 7 days, often less.
• Please submit your application within 2-7 days of your adoption date and not before.
• Application Forms are available for download here. Please complete and submit your application in a timely manner as we cannot guarantee how long the animal you are interested in will remain available.
• The process consists of your completion of an adoption application, our review of the application and contacting relevant references, verifying the application information and then contacting you with a decision about approval.
• Once the application is approved, the adopter is contacted and arrangements are made to complete the adoption contract and take their new animal home.
• While we do welcome out-of-state applicants, we highly encourage you to look around at your local shelters to see what they may have to offer before contacting us.
• We do not "ship" our animals.
• We understand the desire to meet our "cuties" as soon as possible. But because we operate entirely out of foster homes, we need to limit pet visitation to approved applicants only. Once your application is completed by you and approved by MASR, we will be glad to schedule your visit.
• When you meet the animal, the MASR volunteer will make a determination if it is a match. If it is, you are welcome to adopt the animal at that time. You are NEVER obligated to adopt the animal. If it is a match, it is then your decision whether to adopt.
• We do not have a policy about ages of children, the determination is case-by-case. We love children and animals together. However, we DO expect that all children will be respectful, gentle and kind to the animals and be supervised by the adult in the family, closely supervised if the children are very young.
• You must be at least 20 years of age to adopt.
• MASRescue reserves the right to refuse an adoption to anyone for any reason.
• Your patience is appreciated as we receive many applications each day and have many animals to care for.
• If you are approved and adopt, you will be expected to let us know how your new family member settles in, how everything goes at the vet (you are required to take your newly adopted animal to the vet within 7 days of the adoption) and then to follow up once your kitten/puppy is spayed/neutered, if applicable. Of course, we hope that you will always maintain communication with us, as we are always available to help and/or hear the "tails" of your furry family members.
• If for some reason you can no longer care for your MASR animal, you are REQUIRED to contact us. We make a lifetime commitment to all of our animals. We expect to have the animals returned to us. If you need to re-home your animal and you know of someone who is interested, we ask you to still contact us so that we may be part of the process. You may never turn your animal over to a shelter, unless required to do so by law.
• FEES: In general the fee for most dogs/puppies is $225. However, any animal that must be seen by a groomer or has additional surgical requirements may be more. Older dogs may be less. The fee for most kittens and cats range between $85 to $100. Please refer to the individual animal's description for specific fee.
• These Policies and Procedures are effective as of 06/17/10.
• For additional information or questions, please use our Contact Us form.