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All About Adoption

The first step in our adoption process is to fill out an Adoption Questionnaire. Once the Adoption Questionnaire has been submitted to us, it will be forwarded to one of our adoption counselors for processing. If we are able to match you to an available dog, we will forward your questionnaire to the dog's foster family. The foster family will contact you directly to set up a mutually-convenient time for you to meet the dog you are interested in. Please note that we do not have a shelter facility and therefore no public hours. All of our dogs are housed in private foster homes, so to lessen the impact on our foster volunteers, we require a screened and approved Adoption Questionnaire on file before we are able to arrange for a visit. Additionally, please review the adoption contract below.

Adoption Questionnaire

Adoption Contract

***Coming Summer 2023***

Sanctuary Rescue On-Site Adoption Center!!!

Our vision is to host occasional on-site meet-and-greets for pre-approved applicants where several of our dogs available for adoption at that time are present.

See Our Adoptable Animals

Adoption Process

What dogs are available?

The best way to keep up with what dogs we have available for adoption is to check our adoptable animals section frequently - all dogs will be listed there when ready for adoption. We are a little bit superstitious and don’t like to list dogs for adoption until they are at least six to seven weeks old (to leave after eight weeks). So if you have your eye on a young puppy, our Facebook page is the best place to find regular updates and pictures, and once we think they’re finally ready for adoption, we will list them with every possible detail we know about them on Petfinder.com,

What are the steps to adopting?

First, please submit the adoption questionnaire linked above. If your application is approved, we will arrange a visit with your potential new companion at the foster parents' house. If you are still interested in adopting after your meet-and-greet, adoptions usually take place within 48 hours thereafter. We are planning an opportunity for monthly meet-and-greets at our future adoption center, but if you have a specific dog in mind, don't hesitate to fill out an adoption questionnaire now. We don't want anyone to miss out!

What is the adoption fee?

All adoption fees are $295 unless otherwise stated. This adoption fee includes but is not limited to: deworming, age-appropriate vaccinations, microchipping, and spay/neuter. All adult dogs will be tested for and cleared for heartworms before adoption. However, our adoption fee actually only covers a portion of the expenses incurred by the rescue to care for, feed, house, and vet each dog. Therefore, the adoption fee is a suggested minimum. We appreciate all of your support!

I live in [insert place here], can I adopt from you?

Sanctuary Rescue is headquartered in Midlothian, Virginia (a suburb of Richmond). Our adoption radius is within 2 hours of Richmond, VA.

We very occasionally adopt out-of-state to very highly-qualified adopters; however, preference is always given to local adopters.

Submit an Adoption Questionnaire