Below are some of the questions that ARFP is frequently asked. Click a heading to go to that section of questions, or click an individual question to see information about it. If you have a question that you don't see listed here, please feel free to contact us.
ARFP is a private 501(C)(3) non-profit animal rescue group. Although we refer people to and network with other organizations like the animal shelter, we aren't affiliated with them.
ARFP doesn't get any funds from federal, state, or local government, or from United Way. We operate solely from donations made by people like you.
The dogs and cats in our program are homeless pets that people have found and called our rescue line about.
After you decide which dog or cat you want to adopt, you'll fill out a short application. One of our trained volunteers will go over the application with you and ask you a few questions. If you rent your home, we'll contact your landlord to make sure that it's okay for you to have a pet -- or another one if you already have one. If you currently have any pets, or have had one in the past year, we'll contact your veterinarian for a reference, also.
After the 48 hour waiting period, during which we complete these reference checks, a volunteer will contact you to schedule a day and time to bring the pet to your home. The volunteer will go through your house with you and point out anything that could be a danger to the pet; for canine adoptions, the volunteer will inspect the fence to make sure there aren't any places where the dog could get out.
If you're doing a babysitting trial period before finalizing the adoption, the volunteer will have you read and sign a babysitting contract. At the end of the babysitting period, the volunteer will contact you to see how things are going and if you want to go ahead with the adoption. If so, he will make arrangements to have you fill out the adoption contract and pay the adoption fee.
If you aren't doing a babysitting trial period, the volunteer will have you read and sign the adoption contract when he delivers the dog or cat to your home, and will collect the adoption fee at that time.
Currently, the online form is just an interest form to let us know that you'd like to meet the dog or cat. The application that you fill out at the adoption fair is longer and more in depth. We're working on converting our online form to a full adoption application.
We're thrilled that you've decided to adopt a pet, and just as happy that you love one of ours as much as we do. However, since part of our adoption process includes a home visit by a trained ARFP volunteer, we're sorry that we can't have you come pick up the pet instead. But with the millions of homeless pets throughout the United States, we know that there's a wonderful one in your area that would love to be part of your family. We recommend searching on Petfinder.com, where you can search by region to find adoptable pets in your area.
A fenced yard gives a dog a safe place to play, exercise, and use the bathroom when you can't walk him. Not only does it keep the dog from wandering your neighborhood or getting into the street, a fenced yard keeps the dog safe from other animals or even people who might hurt him.
Actually, we consider all of our dogs house dogs, no matter how big. We want them to be part of your family, inside the house with you when they aren't playing outside or going to the bathroom. But, yes, a fenced yard is required even for the smallest dog in our program. They do still have to go outside to relieve themselves and to get exercise. A fenced yard is the safest place for that.
Yes. Cars aren't the only danger that dogs have to worry about. There are also other animals -- domesticated, wild, or even rabid -- that could attack them, things that seem tasty to eat but are dangerous -- like radiator fluid and certain plants -- and even unscrupulous people who might hurt a dog found wandering around outside. Keeping your dog in a fenced yard when he isn't inside the house with you or being walked on a leash keeps him safe from all of these things.
Over the years, we've found that the safest type of fence for a dog is a sturdy, physical fence that's attached to the house with a door leading from the house to the fenced area. Although invisible fencing might keep your dog in the yard, it doesn't keep other animals or people out. Additionally, some dogs are willing to suffer through the shock once to get through the invisible fence -- or just get too excited chasing a squirrel to realize it until it's too late -- but won't voluntarily get shocked a second time to get back into the yard.
Because there is a gap between the house and the fenced area, dogs can and have gotten loose while being led from the house to the dog lot. As with invisible fencing, we've found that the best type of fence for the health and safety of the dogs in our program is one that's physically attached to the house with a door leading from the house directly into the fenced area.
Because we have a limited number of foster homes, unfortunately we can't bring all homeless animals into ARFP. If you've found a stray and need to find a home for it, please call our rescue line and leave your name, number, mailing address, and a brief description of the pet and the situation. If we have an opening in a foster home and can bring the dog or cat into ARFP, a volunteer will call you back. Otherwise, we'll send you information about how you can find a good home for a pet.
The volunteers at the NSAC are part of our adoptions team -- they help people get to know the pets in our program and find the right one for their home and lifestyle. NSAC volunteers aren't members of the rescue team and don't know if we have available foster homes, so they can't take in any animals brought to the NSAC.
Since ARFP is an all volunteer organization, our rescue team members also work fulltime regular jobs, so we use a voicemail system to answer rescue, adoptions, and administrative calls. We receive more than twenty calls a day on the rescue line, and our volunteers only have a couple of hours in the evening after work to answer them, so it can take us a while to get back to everyone. In some cases, if we don't have an opening in a foster home, our volunteers will instead mail you a packet of information about finding good homes for pets.