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Animals will be placed only with adults of legal age who intend to keep
them as household pets. No dogs will be placed to serve merely as guard
dogs or hunting dogs and no cats will be placed just to function as barn
cats or mousers.
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All
animals will be placed as inside pets only.
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Applicants wishing to adopt cats/kittens must be willing to consider
alternatives to declawing.
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Puppies and kittens under 16 weeks of age will not be placed in homes
where there are children under six (6) years of age. Health and humane
authorities agree that a young child usually cannot be expected to
handle a puppy or kitten properly. Mishandling is likely to result in
injury to the animal, the child or both.
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No
animal will be released for adoption as a gift to another person. The
recipient may not want an animal, the animal may not be suitable for the
recipient’s life style or the recipient may not meet the criteria for a
responsible pet owner. Animal Lifeline will issue “Gift Certificates”
that may be redeemed by the recipient, but Animal Lifeline reserves the
right to refuse adoption to any person that fails to meet the criteria
for a responsible pet owner.
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Because of the potential for abandonment, students are carefully
screened and counseled before being approved for pet adoption. Adopters
must be prepared to give lifelong care to the animal they adopt.
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If
the applicant rents, written permission from the landlord is
required before the adoption application is approved. This is
for the protection of the animal and the adopter.
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No
animal adopted from Animal Lifeline of Iowa may be sold or given away to
another person. If the adopter can no longer keep
the animal, for whatever reason, it must be returned to Animal Lifeline
of Iowa.
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All
adopters are required to fit their new pets with properly fitting
collars (with an elastic insert for cats) bearing a permanent tag with
the owner’s name, address and phone. All dogs are released from the
shelter with a temporary tag bearing Animal Lifeline’s name and phone
along with an order form to obtain an ID tag with the owner’s
information on it. In addition, all animals are micro chipped before
adoption.
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Serious consideration is given to the adopter’s ability to provide
adequate exercise for a dog. Fenced yards are preferred. Consideration
will be given IF the adopter is able to provide adequate
exercise for the dog without a fenced area.
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Animal Lifeline may conduct a Pre and Post-Adoption home visit.
Adopter’s identity will be confirmed by a current driver’s license at
the time of the adoption.
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A
free Post-Adoption physical and stool check is offered to adopters by
one of several Des Moines area veterinarians. We highly recommend you
take advantage of this offer.
