Adoption
Re-homing Information
We have lots of different dogs coming into rescue and sometimes they do not stay long enough to get on to the website. We never know from day to day when the phone may ring and yet another dog is looking for a new home so if you don’t see any thing suitable on our page it doesn’t mean there isn’t one waiting somewhere else to come in, so it may be worth a call or email.
The first thing we ask you to consider when looking to re-home a dog or cat is your own circumstances. Will the dog or cat get on with existing family animals and are all family members are agreeable to having a new dog or cat. Some people assume dogs in rescue are there because of behavioural problems – this is usually the fault of the humans who have previously owned them and not cared for them properly. There may be problems to overcome in the first month or so until your new family member settles. Although a dog may have had the same owner for 5 years or more, some are still not house trained, can be destructive with chewing, may be food aggressive, may not know how to walk on a lead or travel well or may not be in good health due to bad ownership before. Most things can be overcome with patience and training and if you are looking to re-home a rescue animal you are probably sensitive enough to take this on board.
I see an animal I like – what happens next?
If you see an animal you like please either telephone the rescue centre on 01728 860937 or email Suffolkar@hotmail.com. Please leave a message if no-one is there (we are often out rescuing animals or looking after the ones we have) and someone will call you back. We will have a brief discussion about the sort of animal you are looking for, what your circumstances are, where you live etc.
Meeting the animal
You are welcome to come and see the animal you are interested in but you must make an appointment to ensure someone is there to show you around. Some of our cats are in the cattery, some are in foster homes. Some of our dogs are in foster homes and some are in kennels. Please bring other family members along if possible, if not, a second visit will be required (particularly small children). All our dogs require a minimum of 2 visits
Home check
Once you have decided on your new companion we reserve the right to carry out a home check. This is obviously for the benefit of the animal – we are not interested in how many times a day you hoover or polish, we are looking for a secure garden and how long the animal may be left (if you work) and where and what arrangements will be made if it is to be over a certain length of time. We are very happy to re-visit at a later date if needed but might just call in if we are passing. In some circumstances, we may also request a vet’s reference. We reserve the right to refuse to re-home any of our animals without giving a reason. We are however always available to give back up to the animals we have homed.
As most of the cats we take in are from feral back grounds we aim to FIV/Felv test them before homing, and where possible FIV/Felv test the mums of any litters of kittens. We do not vaccinate our cats and expect our adopters to take that responsibility when registering their new cat/kitten with their vet. All cats and kittens are worm and flea treated and microchipped before homing. Adult cats are neutered, kittens not old enough for neutering become the responsibility of the adopter.
We are a small independent Charity and we do as much as we possibly can for the animals in our care.
Taking your new pet home
Once the home check is approved and both parties are happy, the adoption paperwork can then go ahead. There will be an adoption fee. We ask for an adoption fee in order to continue the work for homeless and abused animals. We are not a profit making charity. Most of the animals that come into our care need medical attention and nearly all require neutering. This is generally carried out before the animal goes to its new home. If, for any reason this is not done (i.e. puppies or kittens), we will require you to fulfil this requirement and a form will need to be completed and sent back to us via your vet. This is to help the problem of too many unwanted animals.
Adoption Fees
We ask for a minimum donation as follows but if you can donate more we appreciate it:
Guinea pigs are £30 each
Rabbits are £75 each
Cats and Kittens are £75 each
Puppies aged up to 6 months old £500
Puppies aged 6 months to 18 months old £450
Adult Dogs aged 18 months and above £400
Senior Dogs aged over 8 years £350
Please click HERE to download a copy of our Contract of Adoption.
Follow up
We usually like to visit the re-homed animal in their home after a month or so to ensure everything is OK. If you have any problems, just let us know. Our aim is to find our homeless animals forever homes.