Congratulations on being chosen as the new family for a Black Dog rescue dog. We thank you for entering into this partnership with us- you are helping to save a life.
Please read through the following document. Once read you will click on accept and move onto adoption contract.
***If you are not in agreement with our policies, please do not adopt through us.
If any questions or concerns about these policies arise, please reach out to us via email at blackdogrescue19@gmail.com
Black Dog Rescue is run by volunteers. We have families, careers, and responsibilities outside of rescue. We do our very best to be diligent and attentive to your needs as an adopter, but please keep our busy schedules in mind. If you contact us, we will do our very best to respond in a timely manner.
Adoption Fees
Please contact us for adoption fees.
Adoption fees include age-appropriate inoculations, microchip, spay/neuter (* please see puppy spay/neuter policy if applicable), health check prior to transport, professional transport if dog is not local, customs/duties/brokerage fees (dogs over 8 months of age only),booked by the adopter for within 72 hours of dog’s arrival), and any medical treatment for health concerns we are aware of prior to adoption (at discretion of the rescue director).
Adoption Policies
1. Medical and Behavioural Issues
Our dogs come predominately from shelters and from the streets. Upon being rescued, our dogs spend a minimum of 14 days or longer in a foster home or boarding facility (prior to transporting).
During that time, their known medical needs are attended to, and our rescue partners assess their behaviour as thoroughly as possible. The dogs will see a vet a minimum of one time before they transport, and often, they are seen multiple times. Any and all medical records for your dog will be provided to you upon pick up. Dogs leaving on transport must be seen by a vet for a health check and a medical certificate before they are allowed to board the transport vehicle.
The behaviour of the dog is assessed as carefully as possible by our rescue partners. We provide any and all information that we have pertaining to the behaviour of the dog. This is also an opportunity for the potential adopter to ask any questions that they may have about the dog. We do our absolute best to ensure you and we have an understanding of your dog’s health and behaviour prior to their arrival.
Your rescue dog has been through a tough time before they arrive in your home. They have been through time on the streets or neglectful homes, time in shelters, boarding or fostering, transport, and then their final stop: your home. Please educate yourself on the decompression of rescue dogs. It can take weeks. They must be given time to decompress in their new homes, to relax, to ‘learn the ropes’, and to let their true personalities show through. A dog that has been ‘bounced around’, or otherwise traumatized, may not show their true personality until they are settled into their home for some time. Please keep this in mind. Be patient with your dog. Look at this in dogs eyes.
They are with somebody they’ve never met before. They’re in a strange country where the weather is different the smells different and the sound so different. And some of the dogs don’t speak English.
We are available to you for support during the decompression period, but fully expect adopters will commit to seeing their dogs through this decompression period. We ask that our adopters do not request to relinquish their dog during the decompression period, unless the safety of the dog or the people within the household becomes a concern.
Because the pre-rescue medical and behavioural histories of these dogs are unknown to us, we are only in possession of a certain amount of information about the medical status/behaviour of the dog. We are transparent with any information we have, but it is not possible for us to have full medical/behavioural histories.
•I understand that BDR has provided/will provide me with all of the medical/behavioural information that they possess for my dog. I understand that BDR is not in possession of full behavioural/medical histories, and cannot be held financially or otherwise responsible for information that is not known to them.
•I agree to commit to my dog for as long as their decompression period takes. I understand that by adopting, I am making a commitment to my dog, that I will see this commitment through to the best of my abilities, and that I will follow the advice of the rescue director.
• I agree that if necessary, I will hire a dog trainer (at my own expense) to help with behaviours that I deem unwanted in my dog.
•All dogs being transported to BDR have been tested we do a
4 D snap tests and distemper .I understand that if my dog has been diagnosed with heartworm, I have discussed and understood this parasite with the rescue director. I understand that the rescue has started my dog on the ‘slow kill’ ie. topical/oral heartworm treatment method, and that the rescue will provide for free six months of this heartworm treatment for my dog.
•I attest that if my dog has been diagnosed with heartworm, I have been given this information. I understand that the rescue is not in a position to pay for ‘fast kill’ ie. injectable heartworm treatment once my dog arrives in my home. If I choose to undertake the fast kill treatment independently, I have educated myself on the medical risks of using this method.
•I understand that any dogs arriving whether heartworm positive or heartworm negative, must be kept on a monthly prevention treatment that includes a heartworm preventative. This is non-negotiable. THE RESCUE DOES NOT PROVIDE/PAY FOR MY MONTHLY PREVENTATIVE. This is my responsibility as a pet owner.
•I agree to take my dog for a vet check within 72 hours of his or her arrival BDR does not reimburse me for this cost.
And please let the Advise once this has been done.
And any issues the vets determines. If this is not done. We assume no responsibility.
•I agree to apply for pet health insurance. I will provide proof of this insurance to the rescue if requested by the rescue.
All vets provide information and first month is free.
•If I choose to not apply for insurance, I agree that I will not hold BDR responsible for any medical costs that may come up with my dog after adoption.
•I agree that, within the first 14 days of my adoption, I will contact the rescue director immediately if any health concerns arise with my dog. Any unapproved (by the rescue director) visits that I make to the vet with my dog will not be paid for by the rescue.
•If my dog needs to be neutered/spayed upon arrival, and I choose to have the surgery done at a vet other than the rescue’s, Black Dog Rescue cannot cover my surgery cost. The rescue will reimburse $50 after proof of spay/neuter is provided to them. Spay/neuter of adult dogs done at the rescue’s vet is included in the adoption fee.
•If I am adopting a puppy, I will read and abide by the rescue’s spay/neuter policy.
•I agree that I will not leave my dog unattended in my yard i.e. leave the dog in the yard when nobody is home.
•OUT OF TOWN (i.e. outside of the Lower Mainland) ADOPTERS- please ensure that your dog has been checked for a microchip BEFORE YOU LEAVE WITH YOUR DOG!!! Pick up is a very busy time for us.
Although we try hard to ensure we aren’t missing anything, oversights can happen. If your dog was not chipped our vet provides this as part of your adoption, at no cost to you.We do not pay for out of town vet visits for chip.
2. Post-adoption Support: What can I expect from BDR after I take my dog home?
We, as a rescue, put a great deal of time, care, and money into our dogs. We want the very best for them once they arrive in their new homes. These are the ways in which you can expect support from us, if you discover issues with your dog once they arrive and settle in:
•Advice via phone, text, email, and face-to-face (where possible)
•Liaising with/speaking to your vet if needed/requested
•Names/contact information for BDR-approved trainers (some provide first-session discounts to our adopters)
•Assistance in rehoming your dog if, after an appropriate decompression time has been given, and a good effort to work with the dog’s issues has been put in on the part of the adopter
•Removal boarding of your dog if he/she begins to exhibit behaviours that the rescue director deems dangerous within the home (eg. biting/vicious behaviour toward people in the home). This does not include reactivity toward other dogs. If the director feels that your family or the dog are in danger, we will remove the dog ASAP
*If you choose to relinquish your dog back to the rescue, we ask that you foster your dog while we work to find him or her a new home. You are expected to communicate and meet with the applicants we send to you.
If your dog is relinquished back to the rescue for reasons the rescue director deems ‘emergency issues’, ie aggression toward members of your household, we will remove/have the dog removed from your household ASAP, and will provide an alternate placement for the dog while we assess the situation.
What Black Dog Rescue cannot provide:
•Payment for your dog’s trainer
•Payment for your dog’s medical bills
•Food, equipment, nor licensing for your dog
•Payment for your dog’s monthly heartworm/flea/etc. preventative
•Fostering/boarding your dog for you if you decide to relinquish him/her back to the rescue for behaviours the rescue director does not deem ‘emergency issues’
•Legal/financial responsibility for your dog’s destructive/undesirable behaviours
•Boarding costs if you are unable to pick your dog up the day of transport (boarding is available at our vet, but adopters must call the vet to arrange this).
Please remember… This rescue is run by volunteers.
Adoption fees go to pay for boarding, dog food, medication, spay/
inoculations, vet visits, any medical or surgical procedures that we are aware must be done on the dog prior to adoption, professional transport, customs/duties/taxes when the dogs come through the border, vehicle rental for transporting dogs to Canada, and all of the other costs that come up before the dog leaves the rescue, and goes to your home. Any amounts left over from adoption fees go to help cover vet bills for our high-need/medical case dogs.
The adoption fee often does not fully cover costs. Any costs that the adoption fees don’t cover are paid personally by the rescue volunteers, and come from our household budgets. We make this financial commitment because we are dedicated to our dogs.
Please be respectful of this when you are making a decision to adopt a dog. We do not have a bottomless resource of money to continue paying your dog’s bills once you take possession of them. We take care of any medical issues that we are aware of prior to adoption.We do not take responsibility for future medical bills.
*If any medical concerns come up with your dog during the first 14 days that they are with you, you MUST contact the rescue director prior to taking the dog to your vet or to our vet. This is Please speak to her first. She can also provide information on what may be going on with the health of your dog.
Please note that Black Dog Rescue reserves the right to remove our dogs from homes that we deem unsafe after adoption.
• I have read and understood the above-mentioned BDR policies, and am in full agreement with these policies. I understand that if I do not follow the rescue’s policies, my dog can be apprehended by the rescue.
If you do not agree with our policy please don’t apply .
Contact Us
BLACK DOG RESCUE SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Black Dog Rescue Society of B.C. consists of Canadian & Texan volunteers who are committed to saving abandoned dogs and dogs who have found themselves in shelters.
