What happens after you submit an application?

 

As soon as you submit an adoption application, this will start the process on our end.  These are the steps that we follow. 

 

1. Within 3 days of receiving your application, one of our Board Members or Volunteers will reach out to you to discuss your application, the dog you are interested in adopting, and to discuss your situation.  If you do not receive an automated message to say we got your application within a day, please send an email to corinne@sophiasgracefoundation.org to ensure follow up.

2. If we think that we might have a match with one of our dogs, then we will begin conducting reference checks.  We ask for references from any veterinarians you may have seen in the past 5 years and 3 personal references, who are not family members.  Please reach out to your veterinarian’s office and personal references and let them know a volunteer from Sophia’s Grace Foundation Dachshund Rescue will be reaching out to them, so that we do not encounter any delays with your application.  If we do not hear back from your references after a week, we will have to put your application on hold until further notice.

3. Either while your references are being checked or after, we will begin to set up a home visit with one of our representatives.  This will include checking to make sure your family, home, and property are appropriate for the dog you are interested in adopting, or any other dogs we have available. 

4. If all reference checks and home visits are successful, then we will attempt to schedule a meet and greet with the dog you are interested in.  This is not always possible, since our dogs are located throughout a multi-state territory.  If the dog is close, though, we prefer you to meet the dog and have the dog interact with any pets you may already have.

5. Finally, after all of these steps are completed and you are officially approved to adopt the dog that was agreed upon. You will be required to sign our Adoption Contract and pay the Adoption Fee.  We will then begin to set up a time for you to pick up the dog or have the dog brought to your home.  Sometimes this requires organizing a transport chain to get the dog to you.  Depending on mileage, we may ask for an additional fee.  Those fees are listed below under “How does transporting my adopted dog work?”

6. After you adopt the dog, we will call to check up on how the transition is going and to make sure all is going well. 

7. Adoption Fee/Return Policy: Adoption Fee/Return Policy: The Adopter agrees to pay an adoption fee. This fee represents only a small portion of the expenditure we incur with our rescue dogs. Additional donations are welcome and appreciated. We do NOT refund adoption fees. If the Adopter decides that the Dog is not an appropriate fit or cannot keep the dog for any reason, the Adopter must notify SGF immediately and will forfeit the adoption fee as a donation to the rescue. SGF will decide if it is in the Dog’s best interest to be returned to SGF for future placement. If it is decided that it is in the Dog's best interest to be returned to SGF, the Adopter is responsible for transporting the dog to a public location near the foster home. If transportation cannot be arranged by the Adopter, the Adopter may serve as the foster home until a suitable option is otherwise determined. The Adopter will NOT abandon, give away, or sell the Dog. In the event that a suitable home is found by the Adopter for the Dog, SGF must approve the new Adopter. The new Adopter must sign this contract or a similar one, as well

 

How does transporting my adopted dog work?

 

Since we are a multi-state organization, we sometimes place our dogs in home that are not in your vicinity.  In order to move the dog you have adopted, to your location or a centralized meeting point, we use our wonderful volunteer transporters to help drive the dog closer to you.  SGF reserves the right to charge transport fees for long distance transports.   The mileage depends on the distance that our transporters drive combined. Prospective adopters interested in a dog that is not located in their state, they will be responsible for making their own arrangements to obtain the dog.  We DO NOT SHIP our rescue dogs.

 

0-100 Miles = $50.00

Over 100 miles charges are to be determined.  

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