Adoption Policy and Fees

PETS ARE A LIFE-LONG COMMITMENT – DO NOT TAKE ADOPTION LIGHTLY

You are making a commitment to love and care for your new pet for his or her lifetime – which could mean 10, 15, even 20 years. HEART’s goal is PERMANENT placement. We expect that when you adopt a pet you have made a decision to care for that pet for its entire life. So choose your new best friend carefully and be a responsible pet owner.

Every pet comes with a price tag more than the initial adoption fee. Finding the love of your life in a cat or dog body is the easy part. The hard part is really thinking about what pet ownership involves. Before getting a pet be sure you can afford the ownership costs for the projected life span of that animal.

ADOPTION POLICY

We consider the adoption of any pet to be a life-long commitment of time, affection, money, and responsibility. The animal’s welfare is our foremost consideration. Many things are taken into consideration when matching a cat or dog with an owner so that we can make the right match for both you and the animal.

• We require an adoption application and a pre-adoption interview to ensure that both you and the cat or dog are a good match.
• You must be at least 21 years old with proof of age.
• You must provide proof of residence.
• You must sign an adoption contract and agree to the terms of the contract.
• If you live in an apartment, your landlord must sign a Landlord Agreement Form.
• You must be able and willing to spend the time and money needed to feed, house, train and provide medical care for your cat or dog.
• You must be willing to have an authorized representative of HEART come to see where the cat or dog will be living.

Adoptions are made in the best interest of the cat or dog and the family. HEART may not allow adoption of a particular animal if the animal’s needs, personality or temperament are not suited to the adopter or the adopter’s living situation.

Cats or dogs may be reclaimed by HEART for falsification of information on the Adoption Application or failure to meet the conditions of the Adoption Contract.