Frequently Asked Questions

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. Advice on how to TNR community cats can be found here.

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. You can find out more information about what fostering means by clicking here.

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 by clicking here.

You can find more details about fostering by clicking here.

You can find other rescue groups and traditional (NOT no kill shelters) by clicking here.

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. Complete an adoption interview with an Adoption Counselor
   After additional screening steps, you will be notified of the status of your application. If approved, your application is good for six months.
4. 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 possibly a 1-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.
5. If the sleepover is a success, we’ll schedule an appointment to 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 an FFL 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 months, or the return of the animal.
• Sometimes an animal that is over 6 months old is medically unable to be neutered at the time of adoption. In this case, a spay/neuter deposit would be required.

Our army of #BlueShirts 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.

If you’re interested in volunteering as a group or with your organization, please click here.

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

Our ability to save animals is directly related to the number of foster homes we have available.

It is this relationship with the community that sustains our work and helps us save lives.

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 care (vaccinations, any emergency treatment, etc.)
• Behavior training
• Adoption promotion/marketing.