Adoption Procedures

FOR ALL ADOPTIONS:

Thinking ahead to your pet’s next destination

• If you are from Australia, New Zealand or Taiwan (places that prohibit the direct import of pets from mainland China) or a place that has a long quarantine period (e.g. Sweden, the U.K. and Hong Kong) please read Australia/NZ Pet Import.

Donation – how much and why

• SCAA is a non-profit volunteer-based organization.  SCAA spends over US$2500 a month on international-standard veterinary care for our foster and local project animals and on food and litter for our 200+ cat and dog project. We rely on donations to survive. We request a minimum RMB500 donation on the adoption of a cat or dog.
  
  
• In addition to being a much-needed contribution towards foster and project animal care, an adoption donation is a routine operating procedure for international-standard rescue and re-homing organizations as an indication of a financial and personal commitment to pets.

A time for adjustment and future commitment

• Some adopted animals adjust quickly to their new home and family, while others may need a few weeks. Pets should be introduced to their new environment and new family members (including other pets) slowly.
  
  

• Cat companions: bonding can take time

  Easy access to food, water and a litter box (cats) as well as a quiet, comfortable and safe place to relax all help put a pet at ease and ensure a smooth transition.
  
  
• If the adopted animal does not adjust within three weeks, we will gladly take the animal back into care and help you choose a different pet or refund your adoption donation.  This policy provides for a reasonable adjustment period and is not a “return” option months or years later.
  
  
• Once you have committed to adoption, you are solely responsible for your pet.  However, the adoption agreement clearly states that you agree never to abandon is discard the animal in any circumstances.  SCAA may (depending on resources) be able to help with re-homing your pet if necessary and we should be contacted for assistance. If SCAA believes there is a risk of future abandonment, we will respectfully refuse adoption and offer fostering or other alternatives instead.

Controlling the pet population

• Sterilizing companion animals is necessary for a companion animal’s long-term health and well-being and to prevent unwanted litters from abandonment. SCAA spays and neuters healthy foster kittens under our care at approximately 6 months old. All adopters must sterilize their adopted animal not old enough to be neutered/spayed at the time of adoption, when they have reached the appropriate age. Speak to SCAA about our subsidy available (only at our vet partner, PAW) for adopted animals: RMB100 for young kittens and puppies and 50% subsidy for animals that will be ready for surgery within a month of adoption. The higher subsidy is to encourage adoption of our wonderful, older animals that are often overlooked in favour of the youngest and smallest ones.

Training, behaviour and consequences

• If you adopt a cat, you must agree NOT to de-claw it. Scratching is not a behavior associated with “misbehaved” cats, but is a natural feline instinct. Cats can be trained to engage in this natural behaviour in a way that spares your furniture. Prepare your home with scratching posts and pads and reward your cat for using them.

• A well-trained dog is a happy dog

  If you adopt a dog, your pet will come into contact with many people – neighbours, security guards, other pets, as well as complete strangers. Some people may be afraid of your pet, no matter how docile a dog. To keep people at ease and to safeguard your pet from the consequences of a complaint (valid or not), you will need to train your dog to handle meeting new people, walk your dog on a leash, and carry your dog licence with you as the laws require.
• If you work long hours, you need to evaluate the risk of leaving these responsibilities to a helper. A well-trained dog is a happy dog
  

Follow-up

• SCAA representatives will follow up by e-mail or telephone after adoption to ensure a smooth re-homing transition for you and your pet.
• We request that you also keep in touch with SCAA to advise how your pet has settled in within a month of adoption and feel free to provide any future updates. Please send us a family or updated pet photo and some comments about your adoption experience. We gladly update our “Happily Ever After” section of our website (photos of people are not posted without consent).

Getting the adoption process started on paper

1. Review SCAA’s adoption and sterlization agreement to ensure that you are clear about SCAA adoption policies.
2. Fill in cat/dog adoption questionnaire to ensure that the animal you wish to adopt meets your and SCAA’s requirements. Email back to or discuss by phone or in person with an SCAA representative.
3. Review Dos & Don’ts for New Pet Owners to ensure you know how your life may change after you adopt - remember, this can be a 12-18 year commitment! [please read on for a link to these documents]

Visiting an Adoption Day

Adoption Days are held once a month at O’Malley’s Irish Pub, 42 Tao Jiang Road just off Hengshan Road (for directions go to www.omalleys-shanghai.com and click on “About O’Malley’s,” phone: 6474-4533, 12-3pm).

Adoption Days are posted under the events section on the SCAA website main page and also on the Events Calendar.

Animals not yet on the website may be at Adoption Day and not all animals on the website may be there. Some animals may not have received their first vaccination or have received this in time (5 – 7 days beforehand) and some animals may fall ill in between these events. Occasionally, foster parents cannot attend.

To learn more about a particular animal being available at Adoption Day, please email foster@scaashanghai.org (cats) or dogprogram@scaashanghai.org (dogs).

Adoption documents for download

Thoroughly completing pre-adoption documents and communicating with SCAA well in advance of Adoption Day helps us find the right pet for you as soon as we reasonably can.

Please note we are a volunteer-based organisation and our directors also have professional and family obligations. We will gladly arrange adoptions outside of our monthly Adoption Days, but we kindly ask for your patience as this can take up to two weeks:

Adoption Documents for download

• Cat Adoption Questionnaire
• Dog Adoption Questionnaire
• SCAA Adoption & Sterilization Agreement
• Spaying & Neutering Information
• Do's & Don'ts for New Pet Owners!