Houston Pets Alive unfortunately cannot intake animals from the public. We pull all of our dogs and cats off of the euthanasia list at the Harris County Animal Shelter. These animals are about to lose their lives within a few hours and therefore are our top priority.
Unfortunately, we do not have the foster base or resources to intake additional animals from the public at this time. Below are some suggestions for how you can help your pet find a new home. We have found these methods successful with re-homing our fosters. We hope you find this guide helpful. If you would like further advice please feel free to contact us at info@HoustonPetsAlive.org.
- DON’T use craigslist…it is way too risky!
- EMAIL. Send out an email blast to literally everyone in your address book and then ask them to forward it and share. Beg for help!
- FACEBOOK:
- Use Facebook! Post on your page and include cute photos. Make your post public view.
- State what city you are in. Insert your email address for contact. Provide a brief description of your pet, highlighting the positives and especially mentioning if they are good with other dogs, cats, or children.
- Leave out negatives in the post (You can discuss those with people once they contact you.) Don’t lie to potential adopters about the animals’ faults!
- The first thing you need to say is “PLEASE SHARE”…..that’s more important than “please adopt” because the more shares the posts get, the farther out the pleas go.
- Use cute photos. The photo is what gets your dog or cat adopted…use clear photos, no blurry eye or red eye and the more creative and cute you can make the photo, the more your dog or cat will stand out.
- NEXTDOOR: Post on NextDoor.com to see if any of your neighbors can help. Make sure to post to your neighborhood plus the surrounding neighborhoods.
- HOUSTON SAVE A PET Facebook page: Ask to join and post your animal here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/houstonadopt/
- PAWSITIVELY TEXAS: Another good Facebook page for posting your animal.
- FLYERS: Post flyers around town. If you would like to try this, take a cute picture, preferably outside in the sun and grass, and write a cute description of your dog. Be sure to talk about all the positives and leave out negatives (you can share those things, if there are any, when you get to the adoption counseling part once they meet your dog). Make a flyer with tear off tabs at the bottom with your contact info. Post at neighborhood dog parks (but not the large city parks as that is against the rules), vet clinics, coffee shops (especially Starbucks), Panera Breads, Einstein Bagels, gyms, churches, shops in the Heights, mail rooms or mail box centers in neighborhoods.
- SCREENING:
- Make sure to screen! Try to do it delicately and work most of the questions into casual conversation while they are meeting the dog.
- Try not to scare people off but definitely make sure they are a good home and not going to use the dog for bad purposes like dog fighting or leaving it outside or in a crate all the time.
- ALWAYS disclose any issues the pet may have.
- Make sure you get a vet reference (get the name and number of the vet the potential adopter uses and the name of the pet they take there), then call the vet’s office (speak to receptionist) to verify it and ask them if they would recommend that person as a responsible pet owner. The vet’s office will not mind telling you!
- If you get a good vet reference then that’s a great sign, but if not I wouldn’t adopt to them.
- Ask questions. Where will your pet sleep? Will your pet be inside only or outside part of the time and if so, how much of the time? Will your pet spend hours on end stuck in a crate? Find out what kind of quality of life your pet will have with these new owners before making a decision.
- If you aren’t 100% sure do a home check. Actually go to their home to see where the dog will be living. (Bring a friend! Don’t go alone to a stranger’s house)
- Be sure to let the people know if the dog does not work out they are to call you to reclaim and not just take the dog to some animal shelter.
