SURRENDER PROCESS - FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS!

What do I need to know when surrendering my dog to Funds for Furry Friends?

Funds for Furry Friends is a nationally registered charity that places all of our dogs in loving foster homes.  We do not always have available homes and sometimes there is a wait involved.  It is important that you do provide us a few weeks notice when you are surrendering a dog.  

When you surrender a dog you are transferring ownership of the dog to our rescue, and we will be placing the dog in the home of a volunteer. Some of our volunteers have other dogs, cats, children and they all have varying levels of experience.  It is extremely important that you are honest about the dog, so we can place him in an appropriate foster home.

Please note:  Foster homes are volunteers who offer a space in their homes for dogs in our rescue.  This is NOT a dog babysitting service. If you are looking for someone to watch your dog while you are away, please contact your local boarding kennel.

If you would like to surrender a dog? 

Step One - Email us with information about the dog you would like to surrender to rescue.  Pictures are very helpful.  This should include the following information:

The basics - name, breed, age, size, color, weight, and disposition. 
How long have you been looking for a home for the dog? 
If you have attempted finding a home on your own, and if so where/how?
Is the dog spayed or neutered and up-to-date on vaccinations? 
Is the dog housetrained, crate trained and leash trained?   
Is the dog good with kids?  Cats? Other dogs?
Are there any heath issues we should be aware of?
Are there any behavioural issues we should be aware of?

We WILL work with behavioural issues, but we do have limited foster homes who can handle these dogs.  We want to put the dog in the RIGHT situation and it is important we have as much information as possible to ensure the dog is in an appropriate foster home. (ie. we do not want to put a dog that is snappy in a home with a 2 year old.)

Step Two - We will contact you and let you know the approximate wait time there will be for your dog to get into rescue.  This can vary depending on the answers to the above questions and the availability of foster homes.  Currently, we anticipate wait time as about 2-4 weeks - but this can vary.  At present, we have more small dog foster homes than we do big dog foster homes - and we often have a shorter wait time for small breed dogs.

Step Three - In order for us to intake the dog, you will be required to surrender the dog to the rescue, and an owner surrender form must be signed.  We will also require that copies of any and all vetting done on the dog are provided.  If you do not have this information, you can contact your vet clinic to get it.  Please be advised that failure to bring vet work at the time of the surrender will result in an intake refusal.  When a dog is surrendered, we do ask that a donation is made towards the costs associated with the care of the dog.  This is not a requirement, but it is appreciated as we are a charitable group, and we require donations to operate.

What if my situation is URGENT and I can not wait?

We are willing to help dogs in urgent situations and understand this happens sometimes.  However, taking a dog on short notice does cost the rescue.  If we do not have an open foster home, it does cost us $65 per week to board the dog.  Our wait averages 2-4 weeks, but can vary depending on the current situation.  If you are able to donate the costs of the estimated wait time, we can rush your dog in.  Please contact us and outline the circumstances - we will let you know what we anticipate the wait time to be.  (Note: a month's boarding costs $260.00 at our discounted rate.)

What factors affect the intake of my dog?

We will give preference to owners who have made an attempt to place their pet on their own.  Animals that are fully vetted will also receive preference.  These are not requirements, but there is preference given in these cases.

In addition, external factors such as the number of animals in our local pound and the availability of foster homes will impact the intake timeline.

I found a dog will you take him into rescue?

Legally, we can not take in any found animal into rescue.  If you have found a dog, you are required by law to turn him into the pound for your area.  You are welcome to contact us and we can certainly tag the dog for intake into the rescue, should owners not reclaim him.  Once the dog's time is up at the pound, we can legally rescue the dog from the pound without any problem.  

Please be advised it is not lawful for us to accept a dog that is not surrendered by his owner.  We do ask an owner surrender form is signed when any dog is surrendered to the rescue, and by signing you become liable should the rightful owners discover you have surrendered their dog.

Can I surrender a cat to your rescue?

ALL of the cats in our rescue are taken from the Brandon City Pound or the RM of Cornwallis Pound.  The pounds are experiencing extremely high volumes of cats and we can not keep up and are powerless to save them all.  We are simply unable to accept owner surrender cats when so many face death at our local area pounds.

Are you a no kill rescue?

This depends on your definition of "no kill."  There are many organizations out there that will refer to themselves as no kill, and justify this by declining any dog that has behavioural or health issues. We have also discovered a number of organizations that maintain their "no kill" status by turning dogs they adopted out away when they are returned - some will even send the animals to the pound!

This is what sets our organization apart - we insist our dogs are returned and will go to the ends of the earth to work with any behavioural issues, giving each dog a fair chance with more than one experienced handler.  There have only been TWO cases since the organization was started in 2001, where a dog was euthanized because of extreme behavioural issues.

In the event a dog is extremely ill, we also may euthanize for extreme health issues.  While most organizations WILL do this, they still consider themselves "no kill" which is not really a truthful statement. Some organizations minimize their risk for health issue dogs by refusing to take any older dogs into rescue.  Funds for Furry Friends will not do this and we take pride in the number of adult and senior dogs that have passed through our doors.  Due to extreme health issues, we have only had to euthanize FOUR dogs since we started in 2001.

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