Lucy's Adoption and Fostering Page

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Save lives! Foster or adopt a homeless pet, and don't forget to spay/neuter too!

There are thousands upon thousands of homeless companion animals (dogs and cats, house rabbits, etc.) in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country alone. Millions of friendly pets arund the United States need homes. Therefore, we urge prospective pet owners to adopt a pet from a shelter or rescue group rather than buying one through either a breeder or a pet store.

Here are more reasons, in addition to reducing the number of homeless pets, why you should spay/neuter your pets. For more info on spaying, go to Lucy's Links page.

Many of the animals that have been given up to shelters and rescue groups have had some training, though not all of them. Some end up in shelters because they slipped out of their collars or leashes - or weren't wearing any to begin with, and got out of their houses or yards - and have not been claimed. Many have been given up because their owners moved, divorced, died, or had a baby, or because their owners had another lifestyle change which they felt was not compatible with pet ownership. Quite a few pets have been given up because their owners felt the animal was "too active" or "got too big," not because of the animal's misbehavior or because the animal was mistreated. A number of the dogs and cats in shelters are purebred - far from all are mixed breeds. Some even come with papers.

Most of the pets which are in shelters and with rescue groups are just hoping for a loving, secure, permanent home in which they can be fed, petted, groomed, and played with as a part of the pack.

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Some Common Misconceptions About Breed Rescues (written by a Pomeranian rescue group in Texas)

Did your pet sneak out or wander off? Did you find someone's pet? Please use Fairfax County's Lost Dog Form

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DC-area pet adoption events

Virginia:

Maryland:

Multi-state in the DC area:

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General DC-area adoption/fostering opportunities

Breed-specific:

Non-breed-specific, Virginia:

Non-breed-specific, Maryland:

Non-breed-specific, DC:

For other DC-area adoptions, see also:

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In the DC area but looking to adopt something other than a cat or dog? Try...

  • Metropolitan Guinea Pig Rescue - guinea pigs are described as requiring perhaps more work to take care of than a cat

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    Miscellaneous location- and/or breed-specific groups:

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    For general national adoptions:

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    Adoption requirements vary from group to group, and sometimes vary with different animals that the group manages. Most groups want to make sure that you have the time, energy, and finances to care for the animal that interests you, and that your home will be a good one for that particular animal. A home visit is likely to be requested or required. Adoption fees vary from free to a few hundred dollars; this amount often reflects any medical costs the animal has incurred to the group (if it had been treated for an injury, for example). Almost any group will require that an adopted pet be spayed or neutered - sometimes before adoption can be completed; sometimes within a set time period after adoption.

    The shelter/rescue group workers tend to be familiar with the personalities and abilities of each of their animals, and can steer you toward the ones which would be most compatible with your lifestyle and needs. Since these animals have already lost their first homes (and some have been through several homes), the emphasis during the adoption process will tend to be on the permanence of the placement of the animal with your family. Cats and dogs can live for ten, twenty, or more years. The shelter/rescue group wants to place their animals in lifelong homes.

    If you know that something may be coming up in your life which might interfere with your caring for an animal for the duration of its life, contact these groups instead about fostering an animal. Pets need comfortable, safe places to live until permanent homes have been found; by fostering, you will be doing both the animals and the groups a service while having the benefit of a loving pet while you are able to care for it.

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    Picture from The Dog Hause - click to go there

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    Lucy's site has these main sections:

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    *REAL* e-mail is good! - lucydog@imstumped.com

    Spammers are forbidden to use this address for any reason.