Fayetteville Animal Shelter
and Animal Services
1640 Armstrong Road
Fayetteville, AR 72701-7231
(479)444-3456
Adoption Procedures and Fees
The Fayetteville Animal Shelter has rather a lengthy procedure for anyone wanting to adopt a
pet.
The reason is that we don't want to have these animals back in the
shelter! (See "Excuses, Excuses!" for some of
the reasons--excuses--people give for surrendering animals they
probably should not have acquired in the first place.) We want to be sure
that animals will go to responsible, caring homes.
Application Form
Because we want to be sure that animals will go to responsible, caring
homes, we ask potential adopters to fill out an
application form regarding their living
situation, their past or present pets, and the sort of home they will
provide a new pet. There's a reason we ask so many
questions: our goal is to find permanent loving homes for animals.
We evaluate the animals to make sure they will be suitable family pets.
The purpose of the application form is to help us evaluate the
people as responsible pet owners.
Waiting Period
There is a
48-hour waiting period to give us time to follow up on the questionnaire (call a landlord to make
sure pets are permitted, call people listed as references).
The waiting period also gives potential adopters time to think about what they are doing--we
don't want people to adopt an animal on impulse and then think better of it. An information sheet
is given to people reminding them of what adopting an animal means.
This is where people come to adopt an animal.
Fees
The size of the adoption fee surprises many people. It may seem large ($50
now), but you get a lot for your money,
notably the spaying or neutering of the animal.
All animals adopted from any shelter in Arkansas must be spayed or neutered. This is the law
now, but even before it became law, it was the policy of the Fayetteville Animal Shelter. There
are
too many dogs and cats; there aren't enough homes for them all. We feel that it would be
downright irresponsible to permit an animal to be adopted from the shelter, only to breed and
result in more animals to be handled by the shelter.
A Special Program
The Compassionate Hearts program is for
animals that have already been
spayed or neutered. Under this program, certain people may adopt a
dog or cat without payment of the fee.
An Animal GOES HOME!
If all goes well and the person returns after the waiting period, the fee is paid, an adoption
contract is signed, and an animal goes home. We like to have pictures of animals in their new
homes. We have many scrapbooks of successful
adoptions.
Return to the "Adoptions" page.
Return to the Fayetteville Animal
Shelter and Animal Services homepage.
