For anyone who has questions about adopting an animal from us...
An Adoption Guide
So you want to adopt a dog from us?
Here’s what you need to know... (yes it’s a bit long and you might find it a bit of a chore to read, but it’s really important so please read to the end).
The Penny Jones Animal Hospice was set up as a sanctuary and not as a re-homing centre – however, we do often have a small number of dogs looking for forever homes, and occasionally cats. Details of animals available for adoption are listed on our website with any specific adoption criteria listed within each individual post.
Our Facebook page, ‘Penny Jones Animal Hospice’ follows daily news from the sanctuary including new animals arriving and resident animal updates. If you are reading this from the website, look us up on Facebook if you haven’t already!
The Penny Jones Animal Hospice cannot guarantee that any animal seen on our Facebook page or website will eventually be suitable for a prospective adopter but we do promote those that we believe to be ‘ready for a domestic home’. The animals are only promoted for adoption after they have been assessed but we are unable to match a dog with a prospective adopter with absolute certainty as each has very differing needs and each dog changes hugely once in a new environment.
We welcome enquiries from prospective adopters (messenger or email is preferred please) and we will aim to respond within 24 hours.
All visitors to the sanctuary are by appointment only. We understand this can be disappointing, however, studies show that visitors walking around the site can cause distress to the animals, affecting their mental and physical health. For our animals’ welfare, we restrict general access to our volunteers (although we do aim to have two public Open Days a year, usually May/June and September/October).
All Penny Jones Animal Hospice dogs are given health and temperament assessments. This gives us an insight into their character and enables us to make a considered decision as to which type of home would be best for the animal. However, once a pet has settled into a new home, his or her behaviour can frequently alter. The Penny Jones Animal Hospice cannot be held responsible for the temperament of any animal once it has been re-homed - we can only assess an animal by the behaviour it displays whilst in our care. We can socialise our dogs with other sanctuary dogs and with our volunteers, we can walk our dogs in our own fields and along the roads local to us, we can assess how clean our dogs are in their kennel areas and can assess how they react to our other animals. We have our limitations but we will always be honest with you about our animals.
If you are a potential adoption match for a specific dog, you will be invited to make an appointment to meet the dog at the sanctuary and we will need to do a home check. If you already have a dog(s), we will ask you to bring them to meet the PJ dog so that we can assess how the dogs get on. Depending on the dog(s), you might be asked to visit us more than once.
After all the introductions and checks are complete and if you still want to adopt the dog, you will be asked to sign an adoption contract. At this stage, you will be able to make a donation to the charity and take your new companion home. On average the process can take up to 3 weeks, dependent on the availability of our volunteers. When you adopt a dog from us, we ask for a minimum £100 donation towards rescuing another dog (each dog costs us upwards of £250, depending on where the dog has come from). All our dogs are micro chipped and registered to PJAH with Animal Tracker on arrival (https://www.animaltracker.co.uk).
The dogs at the sanctuary are with us for varying lengths of time and we form a strong bond with them from the moment we know they are destined to travel to us - we care deeply about what happens to them. When you adopt an animal from us, we would love you to join our Facebook group ‘Penny Jones Animal Hospice Friends’ and update us on how your adopted dog is getting on.
All animals are re-homed at our discretion and we reserve the right to refuse a prospective adopter without giving a specific reason. Our dogs are matched to an adopter based on the most suitable applicant and not on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. We are sorry but we are not able to reserve an animal until after the checks and introductions have been completed – however, we always welcome expressions of interest, even if the animal has not yet arrived at the sanctuary. Each animal is completely unique and we are dedicated to finding the best environment for each animal which does mean that many remain at the sanctuary for life due to the type of dogs that we prioritise to rescue. All of our long term residents have a rescue space for life and often arrive here as they are too old, too ill, too traumatised, have a bite history or are at risk of being euthanised for one reason or another.
We do not generally place our dogs into foster homes. We would not agree to a dog being adopted and shared between two households. We do not generally re-home our dogs to homes with young children (there is the occasional exception!). We do not re-home dogs out of the area as we would not be able to provide adequate rescue back up. Our dogs are not cat tested unless it is specifically stated on the individual dog listing on the website.
We will try our best to ensure the dog you adopt is a fantastic match for you - however, if you feel the dog is not the right one for you after you have taken one home, it is in everyone's best interests that the dog is returned within the first two weeks. If there is behaviour or settling issues while your dog adapts to a new home, we will provide support where practicable and give advice based on our own experiences. We urge you to tell us about any problems you are having with your newly adopted dog so that we can attempt to resolve the issue. We firmly believe in the saying that “a problem shared is a problem halved!”
We offer lifetime backup for our dogs and will help you if your circumstances change and you are no longer able to care for your PJ dog - this may mean we take the dog back into our care at the sanctuary, but other solutions can be offered if we have no kennel spaces available.
Thank you reading to the end.
