I Want to Adopt an Animal

Adopting an animal in Shanghai is a big decision: Adoption is Forever

Opening your home and family to a pet is a very rewarding experience. Adopting a companion animal is a lifetime commitment.
SCAA has loyal, affectionate and healthy companion animals in need of a good permanent home. We look forward to seeing more of our needy rescues find their happily ever after.

Before you adopt

Can you? Should you?

Pets and kids: a mutually rewarding relationship

Whether you move to Beijing, Boston or Berlin, your pet is a family member that ought to move with you. Yet many loving pets are abandoned in Shanghai every year. SCAA is not in a position to re-home all these pets (nor is it our mandate to do so). Abandonment is sometimes a result of people indulging an immediate desire for the companionship that a pet brings, without regard to the long-term commitment needed. Sometimes distraught pet owners are caught not having enough time or money to arrange pet transport, despite the best of intentions.

Not having the funds (potentially thousands of dollars) to transport a pet out of China and/or being from (or planning on going to) a county whose pet import rules make it nearly impossible to transport a pet directly from China does not reflect on your good ability and kind willingness to give unconditional love and careful attention to a companion animal. However, the reality of these situations means not being able to make the lifetime commitment that pet adoption in Shanghai, as it does elsewhere, requires.

Being a foster parent is a great way to help SCAA’s rescued animals by providing temporary care and companionship and if adoption is in doubt, we encourage this helpful alternative.

Which pet best suits your lifestyle?

SCAA, like many forward-thinking animal rescue organizations, helps adopters find a pet that best suits their lifestyle. Inspired by the American SPCA’s Meet Your Match™ program (with it’s unique feline-ality and canine-ality assessment tools), SCAA believes pet adoption is about finding adopters who best meet a particular companion animal’s needs and finding a companion animal that best suits a particular (e.g. home environment, experience, and schedule). Foster parents and directors pride themselves on knowing a foster animal’s temperament and habits and the ideal home environment in which he or she would thrive.
Looking beyond an animal’s color, gender, age, size or breed is common sense to most animal lovers, but short-sighted adoption based solely on any one of these factors has often resulted in unwanted pets in the long-term.
Cats and dogs have different lifestyle needs and many dog breeds have their own special characteristics. To find an animal that’s right for you, please review Before You Adopt

Pink enjoys regular exercise and a rare snowfall	Senior (10 yrs +) dog Bitsy relaxing

Preparing for adoption

1. Confirm your housing development or lease does not prohibit pets and (where appropriate) that all members of your household agree to a companion animal.
2. Familiarize yourself with the terms of the SCAA Adoption & Sterilization Agreements. Review and complete the appropriate SCAA pre-adoption questionnaire and email it to SCAA. (please read on for links to these documents)
3. Check out the Adoption Gallery or visit an Adoption Day to see which animals are looking for a good permanent home.
4. Discuss adoption with an SCAA representative via email, telephone (we will provide a mobile number on request) or in person at Adoption Day.
   
5. If you already have a pet, research how to introduce new pets to each other before you adopt by speaking to your vet, consulting reputable pet care websites, or asking SCAA.
6. Get your home ready ahead of time with what your pet will need:
   • age appropriate pet food (dry and wet)
   • litter box, cat litter and scoop
   • cat scratching post (vertical and horizontal preferably)
   • nail clippers and pet brush
   • dog harness / leash
   • money set aside for a mandatory dog license (up to RMB2000/yr)
   • toys
   • pet carrier / crate (bring this to Adoption Day!)
     
7. Meet with SCAA at Adoption Day or as otherwise arranged to finalise adoption. Because we do not have a shelter or office and only hold Adoption Days monthly, an adoption may take a couple weeks to arrange.
   

Please see SCAA Adoption Procedures for the required forms.

SCAA animals looking for a good home

For photos and a description of some of our animals (not all are posted as volunteers cannot keep up with frequent changes), please check out the SCAA Adoption Gallery
For more information on a particular companion animal, or if you don’t see the pet you have in mind, please e-mail us:

foster@scaashanghai.org (cats and kittens)

dogprogram@scaashanghai.org (dogs and puppies)

or visit SCAA at an Adoption Day.

Because foster animals are cared for in individual foster homes around Shanghai, we cannot arrange visits to “view” adoptable animals outside of Adoption Day. However, if a good pet match is found and adoption agreed to in principle, we would be happy to finalise adoption at a time convenient for SCAA, foster parents and adopters.
We are always taking in new rescues, so if you don’t find the pet that’s right for you today, please keep in touch. Do not buy an animal from a market or pet store.

We look forward to hearing from potential adoptive parents!