Shelter's Adoption Criteria
Reading these first saves everyone time — including the animal you're hoping to meet. If anything is unclear, call the shelter at (949) 492-1617.
How applications are reviewed
An application must be submitted prior to an interaction with one of our animals. This offers us the opportunity to start you in the right direction in looking for a new pet.
The shelter may take multiple applications on the animals, and do not disclose the number of applications currently on file.
The adoption process is not first-come, first-served. The shelter supervisory staff reviews all applications and makes a decision that they feel is the best placement for both the animal's and the applicant's needs.
The timeline for the application process on each animal can be different. We do our best to accommodate each applicant's requirement for interactions, however, an adoption approval may be made as soon as we have an applicant that meets the animal's adoption criteria and completes all required interactions.
Meeting the animal
All household members must interact with the animal. We do this to ensure that all family members, and the animal you're interested in, are a match.
All dogs in the household will need to come in to interact as well.
If the dog will be frequently interacting with other dogs (owned by family members, friends, etc.) we recommend they come in to interact as well, to ensure a successful adoption.
Interested in meeting an animal before you fill out an application? Our shelter is open Tuesday – Sunday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.