Adoption Procedure

Rehoming

No members of the public are allowed to enter the kennel areas and all dogs will be brought out to the public when they have been viewed on the photo board.

The following conditions must be met:

All the family must meet the animal to be adopted and if the animal is a dog the family must walk the dog on at least 2 occasions prior to re-homing. Any existing pet dogs must be brought into the centre to meet the branch animal.
To promote responsible pet ownership, if there are any cats or dogs already living with the potential adopter, these must be fully vaccinated and neutered before the adoption. The branch will not hold any animal until these conditions are met.
If the potential adopter lives in rented accommodation a copy of the tenancy agreement must be shown to prove that animals are permitted on the property.

If the above conditions are not met within ten days from the date of reservation the animal be placed back up for adoption and the reservation cancelled.

Restrictions

The branch places the following restrictions on re-homing animals:

No cat under the age of 9 months should be re-homed on a main road.
Dogs and cats (other than house cats) should not be re-homed to flats above the second floor. Up to the second floor, each case will be considered on an individual basis.
Unless a cat has already lived as a house cat no branch cat or kitten will be re-homed as a house cat.
Kittens and puppies cannot be left for more than 4 hours.

Neutering and health checks

Unless there are any overriding veterinary reasons all animals are neutered before re-homing.

Animals must have a final vet check within seven days of adoption and a further health check by a member of staff on the day of adoption.

Adoption Fees

The adoption fees for animals re-homed by the branch are;

Dog: £100
Cat: £50

A deposit must be paid in order to reserve an animal (£30 for dogs and £25 for cats). The deposit will be deducted from the adoption fee at the time of adoption.

Deposits are non-refundable.

Home Visits

Pre-adoption home visits are carried out on all animals re-homed by the branch. Where an individual or family has adopted an animal from the branch to the same address within the last twelve months a home visit may not be required. Post adoption visits are carried out on the majority of re-homed animals.

General

A standard RSPCA adoption form is filled out for every adoption and all would-be adopters must establish proof of their identity and residence. Pedigree documents will not be passed onto new adopters.

All cats and dogs must leave the animal centre with a suitable collar and tag, cats must have a snap-able safety collar and must be transported in a suitable pet carrier.

The branch will not take on the cost of any illnesses the animal later develops unless identified during initial health checks and agreed by the branch and the new owner prior to re-homing.