The Adoption Process

The application form is below. Please read the following carefully.

Adopting a dog from Piney Mountain Foster Care is a little different from going to a local shelter, picking out a dog and taking it home with you. We do our best to make sure the dog ends up in a loving environment not another abusive or neglectful situation, so we do some checking to be sure the applicant is not a known animal abuser and has a record of providing proper care to their animals.

The first step

Is to familiarize yourself with the dog. If you found us on PetFinder, Adopt-A-Pet, RescueMe, or Facebook, click through to the https://PineyMountainFoster.org web site and open the page related to the dog you are interested in. Here you will find all the known information about the dog along with photos and videos. We put it all in there, good and bad, so you can decide if the dog is right for you and your home.

If you are local

1. Complete and submit the Adoption Application form (below). This is now done on-line and the form is mobile device friendly.
2. The form will go to our Adoption Coordinator, Dennis, who will check the vet reference, check the animal abuse databases, and attempt to verify the information you’ve provided. Because everyone’s situation is different, we ask for basic information on the form and Dennis will contact you to discuss and clarify any finer points.
3. You may then schedule a meet-n-greet with the dog. If you have another dog we recommend bringing him or her with you to see how the two dogs react to one another.
4. The final decision is made by a committee, Chaired by our Adoption Coordinator, who consider the applications submitted and the Coordinator’s findings. This is done as applications come in. If the perfect home is found, they will proceed immediately. If there is a lot of interest we will collect applications for a few days and choose the best one.
5. Once a decision is made, all viable applicants are notified of the adoption, beginning with the one chosen to adopt.
6. An adoption Contract is then completed and signed by both parties. Being a legal document, an actual signature is required. If you are coming to pick up the dog here, the contract can be done at that time. The adoption fee is due at this time.

If you are distant

If you are too far away to do a local adoption, we will work with another rescue that is local to you. Contact your preferred rescue and ask them to pull the dog you want from us. You will then adopt to dog from that rescue according to their adoption policies.

If the dog is to travel across state lines, Piney Mountain Foster Care will have our veterinarian do an examination and issue an Interstate Health Certificate that will travel with the animal, as well as the dogs complete medical record, to the adopter. A Health Certification is good only for 10 days with most transporters so travel plans and certification appointment need to be coordinated to be sure the dog arrives at the destination before the Cert expires.

Other stuff

Piney Mountain Foster Care will microchip the dog and register the number to you. The microchip number is included with the dogs medical paperwork. It is then up to you to keep that information updated if you move or get a new phone number. (https://www.freepetchipregistry.com/)

We appreciate it when adopters keep in touch. Piney Mountain dogs often develop a fan club through our social media postings and the fans (who include many of our donors) enjoy seeing that a dog is settling in well with their new family. Happy endings to what are often sad beginnings are what we live for.

If the form below gives you trouble you can download a PDF copy here: Adoption Application