. . . Take a "behind the scenes" look on what it takes day-to-day to run a shelter that cares for and adopts over 150 cats a year!Eglin Pet Welfare's Adoption Process
So you are thinking about adopting a new member of the family. The process to adopt a cat or a dog from our shelter can be easier if you follow these few guidelines.
You will need to:
1. Make sure that you have thought it over and have decided to adopt a pet, that you are emotionally ready and financially able to provide a safe, healthy and loving home for the life of the pet.
2. Fill out an "Adoption Application" Form
3. Visit the shelter to meet the adoptable cats and/or dogs
4. Meet with a pet adopter for an "Adoption Interview". We encourage the entire family be present so the adopter can determine the suitability of the animal for the entire family.
5. Once approved for the adoption, sign the adoption contract and pay the current adoption fee.
Trial period - typically you will have 7-10 days to ensure that the pet and family are compatible.
The staff and volunteers at Eglin Pet Welfare love all the animals in our care and work extremely hard to provide the very best environment available. Our goal is to find each pet depending on their individual needs a loving, forever home of their own.
Eglin Pet Welfare Policy:
If we determine that there may be a problem or the adoption is not in the best interest of the animal we reserve the right (for any reason) to refuse to adopt out an animal.
Eglin Pet Welfare Article:
Part of the Family or just a Pet?
By: Carin Gibson, EPW Dog Coordinator
For those of us who work in the animal rescue field, there are basically two types of people: those who consider their pets part of the family and those who do not.
Obviously, there are sometimes circumstances beyond control that prevent a pet owner from keeping their pet. For example, an elderly pet owner who is hospitalized or moved into assisted living or maybe a family whose dog has started showing aggression towards the new baby. However, in our experience, most times it is a CHOICE to give up a pet due to an inconvenience and most times the pet owner has not done everything that could be done in order to keep the pet part of the family.
According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), 6-8 million cats and dogs enter shelters each year and 3-4 million of those are euthanized (put to death). Many of these shelter animals are innocent victims of irresponsible people who allowed their pets to breed or people who did not think through the responsibilities of pet ownership before they got the animal.
We, at Eglin Pet Welfare, strongly believe that pets are part of the family. When you acquire a pet, you are making a commitment to a living creature with feelings and emotions. Most pets live for 10-20 years so keep in mind that it is not a short term commitment. We have an application/interview process for adoption. We strive to place our animals into responsible, loving, FOREVER homes. The most frustrating part of what we do is fielding the daily calls from people wanting to surrender dogs and cats. We thought it would be interesting and educational to examine the most common reasons people give us for wanting to give up their pets. After going through our dog waiting list and tallying up the reasons, these proved to be the most common reasons.
Please be aware that these are basically the same reasons that cats are given up, although we do not maintain a cat waiting list.
Falling in love with a pet is easy but adopting a pet is a huge decision.
Pets require lots of time, money, and commitment - for the life of the pet.
Eglin Pet Welfare's Top 10 Reasons People Give Up Their Pet
1. No time for pet
2. Unable or unwilling to train the pet
3. Moving
4. Pregnancy or new baby in the house
5. Divorce
6. Strays taken into homes unable or unwilling to keep them permanently
7. Allergies
8. New pet not compatible with other pets
9. Can't afford pet maintenance
10. Many more . . . any excuse to "dump" the pet