FAQ

We never kill animals for lack of space, due to their age, breed or when they have a treatable condition.

We make end of life decisions like you would with your own pet: when the animal’s quality of life is poor and cannot be improved.

If you are looking for help with an animal that you’ve found, begin by:

1. Posting on the neighborhood lost/found pet apps like Nextdoor and Pawboost – many times owners looking for their pets will check here first.
2. Take the animal to any vet clinic to scan for a microchip. If an animal if microchipped, you can reunite a pet with its owner via the pet’s microchip information.

Situation 2: Community Cat

If you have found a neighborhood cat that is not owned, look for a tipped ear indicating that the cat is neutered and return the cat to where it was found. Ear-tipped cats are part of a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program and should not be removed from their colony unless injured or ill. If injured or ill, please seek veterinary care.

If the cat is not neutered (again, look for an ear-tip), please seek spay/neuter at your nearest low-cost clinic or at a Fix Houston spay-neuter event.

Situation 3: Found, not a community cat, and cannot reunite with owners

If the animal you’ve found is not a part of a community cat colony and you’ve been unsuccessful in locating the owner, we have a lot of different ways to help you. We do have a limited number of fosters and we always run at maximum capacity so that we can save as many animals as possible.

If all of the Friends For Life foster homes are filled, we ask that you foster the animal you’ve found. While we have a limited number of spaces in our program, there are other ways we can assist you in caring for your rescue.

You can find our online enrollment form here.

You can find more details about fostering here.

You can find a list of local Houston area rescue groups and traditional shelters here.

ADOPTABLE DOGS: Many of our dogs live in foster homes and NOT at the shelter, so all dogs can be met on an appointment basis. The first step is to complete an online adoption application.

ADOPTABLE CATS: The shelter has three free-roaming cat rooms where you can come and meet many of our adoptable cats. Some cats do live in foster homes, so we’re happy to let you know if the cat you’re interested in is at the shelter or in foster before you come by. Just reach out to our adoptions team to find out!

Requirements

To adopt a pet from Friends For Life, you must:

• Be 21+ years of age
• Have a legal form of photo ID
• Be able to spend the time and resources necessary to provide the training, medical treatment, and proper care for your pet
• Be allowed to have a pet of the breed and size where you currently live

Adoption Process & Fees

1. View our adoptable cats or dogs
2. Fill out an adoption application (you do not have to specify an animal at this point)
3. We’ll give you a call to complete an adoption interview with an Adoption Counselor.
4. After our final screening steps, you will be notified of the status of your application. If approved, your application is good for six months.
5. Next, the adoptions staff will work with you to find a pet that is a good fit for your family, schedule a date to meet the animal and setup a one-week trial “sleepover”.
   • If you have pets already, our staff will facilitate pet introductions or send you with step-by-step instructions. Please do not bring your pets to the shelter unless pre-arranged with our staff.
6. If the sleepover is a success, we finalize the adoption contracts and go over your new pet’s medical records, microchip info, and the post-adoption benefits and resources that will be available to you as a Friends For Life adopter.

Adoption Fee: $95

This covers a microchip, age-appropriate vaccinations, spay/neuter if over six months old, and advice/resources for the life of the animal.

Promotions:

• Kittens under 12 months old are always a 2-for-1 adoption fee (adopt two kittens, pay one adoption fee)
• Adopt a “Hidden Gem” cat and the adoption fee is on us
• Senior humans (65+) adopting senior animals enjoy no adoption fee through our “Seniors for Seniors” program
• Senior humans (65+) not adopting a senior animal: $70
• Military with ID: $70
• Repeat adopters: $70

Fully-Refundable Spay/Neuter Deposit (if adopting an animal younger than 6 months): $250

• This deposit is taken at the time of the sleepover and refunded upon receipt of sterilization certificate by the age of six (6) months, or the return of the animal.
• Sometimes an animal that is over six (6) months old is medically unable to be neutered at the time of adoption. In this case, a spay/neuter deposit would not be required.

Our team of amazing #BlueShirt volunteers keep the shelter running! We wouldn’t be able to do this without them. You can sign up to be a volunteer by clicking here.

You must be at least 16 years old to work directly with the animals at our shelter.

For questions, reach out to our Volunteer Manager.

You can see all of the animals that need a foster home currently by visiting our foster page.

To be a foster means that you enter into a contractual relationship with us — you house and care for the animal throughout his/her stay in the program and you commit to bring the animal to adoption events. In return, we work to find a forever home for the animal and provide everything else that the animal needs.

What a foster provides:

• A safe, loving temporary home for an animal
• Transport to and from adoption events

What Friends For Life provides:

• Food/treats
• Toys
• Bedding/crate/kennel
• Wellness/medical care (vaccinations, any emergency treatment, etc.)
• Behavior training
• Adoption promotion/marketing

First of all, thank you for supporting this mission! It means the world to us.

We’ve outlined all of the ways you can get involved on our Donate page, but we also accept donations at our shelter location.

Shop: Get some swag and help fundraise for a good cause

Medical: Donate toward specific medical cases

Wishlists:

• Most urgently needed items (Amazon)

• General Shelter Supplies (Amazon)

• Pet Food Bank (Amazon)

• Bottle Baby Supplies (Amazon)

• Behavior × Training Supplies (Amazon)

• General Wishlist (Chewy)

We would be humbled to honor the memory of your pet by accepting food, beds, toys, medications, etc. Donations can be dropped off at the shelter (107 E 22nd St, Houston, TX 77008).

If you have something specific you’d like to ask about, please reach out to us.

We’d love to hear from you! We answer all sorts of uncommon questions (seriously – you wouldn’t believe us if we told you). Here’s how you can get in contact with us:

• Use our Contact page
• Give us a call at 713.863.9835
• Email us directly