CQ Pet Rescue looks at a number of factors when adopting our animals to new homes. We always aim to place them with families where they will be loved, healthy, secure and happy.
To that end, we consider a number of factors that can influence this outcome, and be the difference between a happy pet and one that is frustrated, roaming or neglected.
If you are thinking of adopting a pet, ask yourself this:
People have a number of reasons for applying to adopt a pet. Whatever your reasons, ask yourself these questions, and answer honestly to yourself:
- Are you willing to be responsible for an animal that will depend solely on you for its happiness and welfare for the next 10 to 15 YEARS, which you will need to feed, exercise and play with EVERY SINGLE DAY?
- Are you willing to work more hours or spend less money on yourself to pay for the animals vet care, food and extra costs?
- Are you willing to factor your pet into your decisions and lifestyle choices for the next 10 to 15 YEARS as a responsible pet owner?
If the answer is not yes to the above questions, then pet ownership is not for you at this point in your life. Whilst pets are wonderful, they can also be hard work and a lot of responsibility and expense.
Fencing and security
Do you have good fences? Are there gaps underneath or between planks, are they not high enough, are gates always left open, are you on a property with a secure house yard? Secure fencing is essential in making sure your pet is not able to wander off and roam, putting themselves in danger and being a nuisance to your neighbours. If we do not believe your fencing will safely contain your pet, we will ask you to make adjustments as necessary if you wish to proceed with an adoption. Don’t forget – good fences and security also keep unwanted visitors out!
In addition to fencing for dogs, we also look at containment in the home for cats; if the cat has not been desexed and fully vaccinated, the adopter must be willing to keep it as a 100% indoor cat until it is; additionally there are some cats whose personality traits make them unsuitable to go outside, or the environment is not acceptable to do so (timid personality that means it might bolt into the street at unexpected noise; next door neighbour has cat-killer dogs, etc). The adopter must be willing to accept a cat that may need to be an indoor cat only or supervised outdoors.
Yard size
Yard size is very important, because your pet may be spending most of their day in the yard. If the yard is not big enough for your prospective pet, we are sorry but we will not adopt that pet to you. Applicants sometimes try and justify a small yard or courtyard by saying they will walk the pet every day – unfortunately the pet needs more than a half hour walk a day, they need an appropriate space where they can also run, play, roam and explore. For example, cattle dogs and collies don’t do well in townhouse courtyards or apartments.
Exercise
Dogs require a walk every day, sometimes two. Taking your dogs for walks is not just about exercise – the dog also needs the outside stimuli that walks provide, such as new sights, smells, and environments. As many people discovered during Covid-19 lockdowns, staying in one place 24/7 is boring; your dog is no different. If a dog does not receive enough exercise, they start to find other ways to keep themselves interested, such as fence running or digging; they are then usually called a bad dog as a result, whereas they are actually just not getting enough exercise or outside interest appropriate to their breed or personality.
Adopting for your kids
Having a pet when you’re growing up as a child is a wonderful experience, and many people have fond memories of their pets as a child. However, pet ownership as a parent is completely different. Whilst we understand parents wanting their child to have a pet, please consider this; YOU will be the one making sure the pet has had its dinner, has been exercised, taking it to the vet for vaccinations or obedience classes, or cleaning the kitty litter. Whilst you can expect your child to take on some responsibilities, as with most things it will need you to supervise and make sure it’s been done. We also ask parents to remember that kids these days don’t necessarily spend as much time outside in the yard as their generation did, and as such consider if the pet will be played with, interacted with and walked as much as it should be.
Will it be a part of the family?
A pet has emotional needs that need to be met, and need to feel they are part of a family unit and loved. In return, they will love you and provide companionship, but they are dependent on you to be looked after. Pets are not something to be just brought out and played with when you feel like it for 15 minutes when you get home from work and then put back in a kennel or a special room in the house; they are part of the family and need to be treated as such. Consider how much time you actually spend at home – don’t adopt if you are the only caregiver and are travelling around the state for three out of every four weeks. It’s not fair on the pet or the friends and relatives you will try and get to pet-sit all the time for you.
Will a new pet fit into your home with your current pets? If they hate other animals, do they really want you to adopt a second one to be their friend? Sometimes animals are quite happy being an only furbaby. Likewise, if you have non-desexed animals and you want to adopt a pet that isn’t desexed from us – sorry, that isn’t happening. The vast majority of our pets are the result of irresponsible breeding, we are very firm on stopping this cycle.
Adopt to your actual lifestyle, not your Instagram version
Adopt a breed and personality suited to your lifestyle as it exists now. If you’re a bit of a couch potato who hates exercise, don’t adopt a collie in the expectation you’ll become fit because you’ll walk it. You won’t. Instead, adopt a greyhound or a lazy bull arab who has about as much interest in running as you do, and instead would much rather sit on the couch with you and cuddle. Likewise if you have a super active lifestyle and want to go running 5km every day with a dog, don’t get a maltese; go with that collie your couch potato mate decided not to adopt.
We hope this article has given you some insight into the kind of things we look at when considering adoption applications.
Whilst we are always thrilled someone wants to give a rescue animal a home, we do have a duty of care to ensure that the pet is going to a home where it will be looked after, and likewise a duty of care to the applicant to ensure they are getting a pet suitable to the home they can provide.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email us at admin@cqpetrescue.com.au or message our facebook page.