BARC;s Rescuer’s goal is to place homeless dogs into loving homes and families. We take special care to match the right home with the right dog, ensuring a lifetime of love for both the pet and the adopter. To ensure the best matches are made, we have a process that has been proven effective in determining the best homes for our animals. Our adoption process may seem time consuming or unnecessarily complicated, but please understand that we have our dogs’ best interests at heart. We strive to find the best homes possible for our dogs, as well as find the right dog for you and your lifestyle.
Please understand that our organization is completely run by unpaid volunteers, who dedicate their free time to help the dogs. If your references are unavailable, it will delay the process, since those must be checked before moving forward. The entire adoption process takes time; we are unwilling to sacrifice being thorough when the dog’s future is at stake. We thank you for your time and patience throughout our adoption process.
Step 1 – Fill out a Pre-Adoption Application
The first step is to have you fill out a pre-adoption application. This application will tell us about you and your lifestyle, training beliefs and background with animals. Who you are interested in and why.
Step 2 – Application Preliminary Review
Our application review volunteers will initially screen your application to determine if all necessary information was provided and contact you for a telephone interview.
Step 3 – Landlord Approval Verified
If it is determined that you rent your home, your landlord will be contacted to make sure you have approval to have a dog in your home. We also ask about any breed or size limitations.
Step 4 – Veterinary References Contacted
Our volunteers will contact the veterinary reference(s) you provided to determine if all your current pets are spayed/neutered and up to date on vaccinations. If you don’t have any current pets, we will ask about the veterinary care that your previous pets received. If you have never owned a pet, this step is skipped.
Step 5 – Personal References Contacted
Our volunteers will contact your personal references and ask them questions in regards to whether they consider you to be a responsible pet owner.
This is the portion of the process that can take the most amount of time. It is helpful if you contact your references and ask them to return our calls in a timely manner.
Step 6 – Adoption Trial Period
At the start of the trial you are required to sign an adoption contract and to provide payment of the adoption fee and spay/neuter deposit if necessary. Monies received will not be deposited until the adoption has been made official.
If needed, our organization can provide a kennel/crate, food/water bowls, leash and collar for you to use during the trial period. We may also provide a small supply of dog food that will allow you to transition the dog’s diet to another food.
If at any time during the trial period you are having issues with the dog, please call us at 403-805-4277 or 403-863-6356 and inform us. A volunteer will be in touch with you ASAP.
Step 7 – Adoption Official
If, at the end of the one week trial, our organization has NOT heard from you, our organization will consider the adoption official. Your adoption fee will be deposited and will no longer be refundable. We will also mail out to you all veterinary paperwork we have for the dog.
Step 8 – Notification of Spay/Neuter & Return of Deposit
If, at the time of adoption, your dog was not already spayed/neutered, you would have been required to agree to spay/neuter your dog and provide us a deposit fee. Our adoption contract requires all dogs to be spayed/neutered within 1 month of adoption or when age appropriate. You are asked to notify us when you have scheduled this surgery and at what vet clinic it is being done. Our volunteers will verify that the dog has been spayed/neutered. Once this has been verified, your deposit check will be returned to you. If you fail to spay/neuter, as outlined in the adoption contract you signed, our organization will take appropriate measures to take back the dog.
Step 9 – Optional Post Adoption Follow-up Visit
Our adoption contract contains a clause that allows one of our volunteers or a representative the ability to perform a follow-up visit. We may require such a visit if we feel that the terms of the adoption contract are not being met. Bonerz Advocacy Center is committed to the life, health and well-being of every dog we place for the remainder of that dog’s life. Should the adoption not work out or you need to rehome the dog, we require, by contract that the dog be returned to us. Please notify us asap by us at 403-805-4277 or 403-863-6356.
