Grey Face Rescue & Retirement

Adoption process. Complete an Adoption Application The first step is to fill out an adoption application on our website. This application tells us more about you and your lifestyle, training beliefs and background with animals. While these questions may seem personal, they are critical to ensuring we have proper information to make a qualified decision about the dog you are applying for. Application Review Our adoption manager will screen your application to determine whether we need any further information. If anything is missing, we will ask you to fill out another application or provide more details. Verification If you rent your home or live in an apartment, we'll contact your landlord to make sure you are approved to have a dog there. We also ask about any breed or size limitations. If your landlord does not allow for a dog in your home, your application will be denied at this point. If adopting a dog with unjust stigma attached to them (any pitbull types, rottweilers, dobermans, etc.), we will contact your insurance to ensure they do not have breed restrictions within their policy. At this point, we will also assess to see if you are within your city’s limitations for number of pets in the home. Certain cities have ordinances that we must abide by. Veterinary References Our volunteers will contact the veterinary reference(s) you provide to determine if all your current pets are spayed/neutered and up to date on vaccinations. If you don’t have any current pets, we will ask about the veterinary care that your previous pets received. If you have never owned a pet, we'll skip this step. If your veterinary reference(s) cannot verify the spay/neuter and vaccination status of current or previous pets, we'll put a hold on processing your application until you can provide this information. Personal References We ask in your application that you provide personal references for individuals who can speak to your ability to care for a dog (specifically a senior dog). These individuals should not live in the same household as you, and they should include a least one person who has been to your home in the last 30 days. Please alert these individuals that we may be contacting them to ask a few questions. Applicant Interview Our Adoption Manager or one of our Placement Coordinators will contact you via phone to answer any questions and to talk more about your lifestyle to help better match a dog to you. Meet and Greet Our organization does not have a shelter where you can visit dogs; they all live in private foster homes. For the sake of our volunteers' time, we do NOT arrange meetings between interested individuals and our fosters until an applicant has been approved via this adoption process. Once you have been approved, a volunteer (usually the placement coordinator or the foster) will contact you about meeting the dog(s) you are interested in. This meeting may occur at the foster’s residence, your home or at another neutral location. Please keep in mind that you are NOT guaranteed a particular dog, even after meeting an animal as an approved applicant. We are not “first come, first served” – some dogs receive many applications, so we may allow multiple people to meet with a dog before we choose the right home for the particular animal. If we don't think you and the dog are the right match, we may deny the adoption of that dog, but we may suggest another one that would be a better fit. Home Visit We require a home visit to ensure that you will provide an adequate and safe space for one of our animals. A volunteer will contact you to set up a time that is convenient to to come over. During the check, we will look around your home and ask that you show us any areas the dog will access. This is also a great time to ask more questions about the adoption process and clarify any concerns. Adoption Once approved, and before the dog can come to your home, you must sign an adoption contract and pay the adoption donation. Once this is done, we consider the adoption as "pending" and we'll work with you on arrangements to get the dog to your home. We will send an invoice with instructions on how to pay the adoption fee, which you can do via PayPal (link below), personal check, or cash (ask for a receipt) on or before the day we transfer the dog to you. We will provide a few cups of food the dog has been eating, a copy of the contract, an informational packet to help with the transition, and any specific toys, blankets or other items the dog has become fond of. We will email you the medical and vet records after the adoption is finalized. We have a two-week trial period for any of our adoptions. This means that if you decide within two weeks of the adoption date that the dog is not a good fit for your family, you are required to return the dog to us and you will receive your adoption donation back. The adoption fee will be deposited upon receipt and refunded only if the adopted dog is returned within the two-week refund period (or any prior agreed-upon extension of the refund period). If at any time you are having issues with the dog, please email or call your contact person (usually a Placement Coordinator or the Adoption Manager) and inform us. A volunteer will be in touch with you as soon as possible. All dogs coming into Grey Face receive care tailored to their needs, including: • Nose-to-tail exam with a partner veterinarian • Vaccinations (rabies & distemper) • 4dx test to check for heartworm or tick exposure • Heartworm and flea/tick preventative • Spay/neuter as needed • Microchip (if able to) • As much love as we can give them! Our dogs are also temperament tested with cats, dogs, kids and for particular situations such as being around wheelchairs, canes, walkers, etc. Adoption fees only partially cover the cost of a dog's vetting, foster materials and other miscellaneous expenses involved in the temporary care and adoption of our dogs. They also assist in covering larger surgeries for other senior animals. We greatly appreciate any other donations you are able to make to the rescue. Optional Post Adoption Follow-Up Visit Our adoption contract contains a clause that allows one of our volunteers or a representative the ability to perform a follow-up visit. We may require such a visit if we feel that the terms of the adoption contract are not being met. Grey Face Rescue is committed to the life, health and well-being of every dog we place for the remainder of that dog’s life. Should the adoption not work out or you need to rehome the dog, we require, by contract, that the dog be returned to us. Please contact us immediately if this is something you need to do. Please remember, these adoption contracts are legally binding and must be adhered to.