Adoption 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
What You Get
Our adoption fee covers:
- microchip
- health exam
- de-worming
- age-appropriate vaccinations
- spay/neuter for animals over 6 months
- treatment for HW+ dogs
- behavior advice/resources for the life of the animal
our adoption process
Step 1: Apply
- Fill out an adoption application (you do not have to specify an animal at this point)
- Complete an adoption interview with an Adoption Counselor
- over the phone or in-person on weekends
- typically within 24 hours of application
- Our adoption team will review your application and email you with a decision
- If approved, your application is good for six months
- typically within 72 hours of interview
Step 2: Schedule
The adoptions staff will help ensure the pet you’re interested in is a good fit for your family & schedule a one-week trial “sleepover”. Most animals live with fosters, so reach out to our staff if you have questions.
If you have pets already, our staff will send you step-by-step instructions for slow introductions. Please do not bring your pets to the shelter unless pre-arranged with our staff.
Meting our cats
For cats who live in foster care, we’re not able to provide meet & greets before sleepovers. You can come meet our cats at the shelter or our Petsmart Cattery (on Shepherd Dr).
If you’re interested in one of our Fraidy Cats, our adoptions and behavior staff will work with you to prepare and set up meet & greets before the sleepover.
Meting our dogs
All dog meet & greets are appointment only, once your application has been approved. If you have a dog at home, our staff will coordinate introductions at FFL before scheduling a sleepover!
Come meet our dogs at Sunday Playgroup! Every Sunday (rain or shine) 2:30-3:30 PM here at FFL
Step 3: Sleepover
Sleepovers typically last 1 week and give you the opportunity to see whether the animal is a good fit for your home. Our adoptions staff will regularly check-in via text throughout the week to see how things are going. We’re able to provide medical and behavior support during your sleepover, as needed!
Before a sleepover, we’ll need:
- a signed sleepover contract
- your photo ID
- fully refundable $250 spay/neuter deposit (for animals under 6 months)
Step 4: Adoption
Let us know when you’re ready to adopt and we’ll send everything digitally. You’ll receive:
- adoption contracts
- a link to pay the adoption fee
- an adoption packet with info about training, healthcare, and more!
Adoption Fees:
- $95 for all dogs and cats
- $75 for single rabbits or $120 for a bonded pair
Adoption Discounts:
- Repeat adopters: $70
- All kittens under 1 year are 2-for-1
- “Hidden Gem” cats: $0
- Senior humans (65+) adopting senior animals: $0
- Senior humans (65+): $70
- Military with ID: $70
FAQs
Our applications are general, meaning you’re applying to adopt any cat/dog from us, rather than one particular animal. Once approved, you’ll reach out to our adoptions team to start scheduling a sleepover with the animal you’re interested in. We prioritize adopters by best fit and on a first come, first serve basis after approval. If you see an animal marked as “reserved”, that means an approved adopter has already scheduled a sleepover with them.
Most of our animals live in foster care rather than here at the shelter.
For cats, we aren’t able to set up meet & greets before a sleepover due to the shelter being a stressful environment. We have several cats who live in our free-roam rooms at FFL and in our Petsmart Cattery on Shepherd Drive. We’re open to the public Wednesday – Monday (closed Tuesdays) for you to come meet our cats! If you’re curious about whether a cat lives in foster care, feel free to reach out to our staff.
For all of our dogs (regardless of whether they live in foster), you’ll have to apply to adopt before scheduling a meet & greet. We also have a weekly playgroup every Sunday at 2:30 PM here at the shelter, where you can meet some of our adoptable dogs!
If you’re adopting a puppy or kitten under 6 months, we require a refundable deposit of $250 before the sleepover. If you decide not to adopt, we’ll process the refund for you at the time of the return. If you do adopt, we’ll refund you after you email us proof of the spay/neuter with an outside vet. You can check out our list of area low cost clinics here!
The deposit does not include the adoption fee (both are paid separately).