What We Wish Everyone Knew About Our Pet Adoptions

What We Wish Everyone Knew About Our Pet Adoptions

by | Sep 16, 2019 | Pet Care & Tips | 0 comments

All our adoptable dogs and cats are waiting for their forever home. We would love to find out who is right for you.

While the process to adopt a pet is similar at most shelters and rescues, every place has their own regulations.

Before we match you with your furever friend, here are some important points that we want to reiterate about adopting at the Humane Society of Macomb.

You Must Fill Out a Pre-Adoption Form

For both cats and dogs, we require adopters to fill out a pre-adoption form before meeting and greeting their potential furever pet.

This form is not as bad as it sounds.

You’ll just need to provide us with basic info such as: your address, preferences for pets, home and family information, personal references, and if applicable, previous veterinary and pet information.

Once you have completed the pre-adoption form, you are welcome to meet with as many cats or dogs as you would like.

You can also come back another day to visit with our animals without having to fill out another adoption form for up to one year as that’s how long we’ll keep your information on file.

The Process Is Slightly Different for Both a Cat and Dog

For cats, if the meet and greet goes well, we may put you in one of our cat playrooms or interview rooms for some one-on-one time with your potential pet.

If that goes well, there is the possibility to take the cat home that day.

For dogs, if the meet and greet goes well, there is the possibility to take the dog home that day. However, if you already have a dog, we require a meeting between the dogs at the Humane Society of Macomb prior to the adoption.

This will help you and us determine if your current dog and potential dog will get along with each other.

Sometimes, Same Day Adoptions Are Not Possible

In some circumstances, we may need to conduct home visits, multiple meet and greets, lease-agreements and pet-deposits for apartment complexes or wait for veterinary records.

We also do not allow puppies to go home on the same day because they require a lot of attention, extra training, and patience. Our process is to place them on a 24-hour hold and send the potential adopter home with our “puppy-checklist.”

This puppy checklist was created by our dog trainers and aims to lower the number of returns and discusses puppy socialization, training classes, dog-proofing your home, and more.

Final Paperwork

This is the part where you finally get to adopt your new pet.

We’ll make copies of their veterinary records and microchip your pet with the contact information you provided us earlier.

You’re also required to sign a receipt and a specific adoption policy depending on the dog you’re taking home. These adoption policies mention needs specific to certain breeds.

Finally, we’ll snap an adoption picture and send you home with a “goodie bag.” In this goodie bag, there are some toys, a sample-size bag of the food they are fed at the shelter, and a folder containing the animal’s records and flyers with common questions and concerns.

We hope this has helped clarify and make you more comfortable with our adoption process for our animals.

Please know that we are open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. for adoptions.

Check out the pets we have available for adoption by clicking here.

Please call (586) 731-9210 or send us a message to verify if the pet you’re interested in is still available.