ADOPTION PROCEDURES

Many of the animals in our program come to us with a sad history. They have suffered from abuse or neglect, lived as a stray without food and shelter or have suffered a serious injury. In order to ensure that our animals are placed in an appropriate, loving, permanent home where they will be cherished and well cared for we have a strict set of adoption policies.

Before a prospective adopter is allowed to adopt one of our animals they must first meet our qualifying conditions. Adopters must:

*Be at least 21 years old
*Agree that the pet will be an indoor companion only
*Have the consent of all adults living in the household
*Have the landlord’s written consent to own an animal on the property (if applicable)
*Pay the adoption fee by cash or check

In some instances additional requirements must be met. For example; some of our dogs may only be adopted to a home that has a fenced in yard. Also, if the adopter already owns a pet, especially a dog, their pet must be introduced to the new animal before it can be adopted. This helps to ensure the adopted pet is a good fit for that household.

Because we believe it is important for us to meet all prospective adopters, we do not ship our animals. The adopter must first spend some time with the animal and then meet with an adoption counselor. This provides an opportunity to review the adoption contract, provide information on the animal and discuss responsibilities of pet ownership. In addition, we require adoptive homes to be within reasonable travel distances from the Twin Cities Metro area. We assume responsibility for the entire lifetime of our animals. If one of our animals cannot remain in an adoptive home, we ensure that it gets into another appropriate home. We cannot do this at a great distance.

After an animal is adopted, we require the adopter to have the animal checked by a licensed veterinarian within fourteen days of the adoption date. If the veterinarian finds any life threatening condition in the animal that was present at the time of adoption, the animal may be brought back to us within fourteen days along with a written explanation from the veterinarian. We will have our veterinarian treat the animal, or the animal may be returned for a full refund of the adoption fee. This is the only instance where a cash refund is provided.

Occasionally there are circumstances when an adopter returns an animal to St. Francis for reasons other than medical. If the animal is returned within 30 days of being adopted an Exchange Certificate may be issued to the adopter. The St. Francis board of directors will determine, at its sole discretion, whether the return is for a legitimate reason and the adopter is eligible for an Exchange Certificate.