Please call us at (630) 495-3623 to inquire about the adoption fee. Along with the adoption fee, a rabies tag and 6 months of heartworm prevention must be purchased at the time of adoption. Please also note that any vaccinations that need to be done post-adoption are at the cost of the new family.

The Adoption Process page describes the steps and requirements to adopt an animal. If you meet all the requirements and the adoption is approved, you could potentially take your new pet home immediately. However, there are times when several days are needed to get the required documentation on the vaccinations of your existing pets or lease information.

Every shelter has its own policies for approving adoptions. Our adoption screening process is designed to ensure that each animal is placed with a responsible person, one prepared to make a lifelong commitment with the resources available to care for and house a pet, so the animal doesn’t end up back in a shelter again. Our first priority is to help the animal find the best home possible.

Our method for determining the breed of any dog is to evaluate the size, appearance, and temperament and, based on experience, make our best guess. Mixed breed dogs can be a combination of many generations of mixed breed dogs, so it isn’t always easy to make an exact guess. Some are easy and others are impossible to determine. DNA testing is available for breed identification; however, that would be at a cost to the adopter post-adoption.

Since the majority of our animals are rescued, we almost never know anything about the mother or father. And even with that information, there can be dominant or recessive genetic traits that produce a puppy that is nothing like the parents.

The majority of our animals are rescued with no history of health, parentage, or previous owners. There is little or no information forwarded to us about the pet. Occasionally we will know something and are happy to share what we know, but that happens very rarely.

Our pets are rescues so their interaction with children is unknown and we do not have test children to try out with them. We attempt to flag any pets that we would not recommend with children, and we’ll do our best to help you select the best pet for your household.

However, the final decision and responsibility about what pet to adopt lies with parents. It is also important to ask yourself how your kids would be with a pet. It is unreasonable to expect that even the most docile dog or cat who is startled by a child screaming, grabbing, hitting, or abusing the animal would not react. Training is always helpful, not only for the dog but for the entire family to know how to manage a new dog.

We do not speculate on housebreaking for adult dogs unless we have had the dog in our own home and verified that it is housebroken. However, we take in hundreds of dogs every year and very few of them stay in private homes, so it is rare that we know housebreaking status.

Adult dogs instinctively do not relieve themselves in their immediate living area and a dog that is housebroken recognizes their living area and as such does not relieve itself there. It stands to reason that a dog coming from a hospital environment isn’t going to immediately understand that your house is now their house too. Some do, but some need a transition period of a few hours to a few days to figure that out and we always recommend letting them outside more often until they are fully acclimated. You need to expect a few “incidents” while they settle into new surroundings and learn your routine of when they go out, go on walks, eat, sleep, etc.

Very young puppies are physically and developmentally unable to understand housebreaking. As they mature, you have to teach them. If you want a puppy you have to expect to train it; they never come pre-trained.

We do social evaluations with our dogs and are able to identify dogs that are overly dog-aggressive, and will identify them as NO OTHER DOGS in their adoption profile. However, there are various levels of getting along in the dog world that are dependent upon breed, age, sex, and most importantly the qualities of both dogs together.

Our suggestion is that you bring your dog to meet any dog you potentially want to adopt, and we can provide a neutral space for that to happen.

Dogs and cats can and do get along, however, instant friendships are rare and usually take some time. Our recommendation is that you avoid breeds with high prey drives if you have a cat. Secondly, a cat that is not a fear runner is more likely to get along with a dog. A running animal triggers a chase reflex in most dogs and when the cat doesn’t run, the dog is more likely to respect the cat and not see it as a toy or something to chase, allowing a friendship to eventually form.

We do not do home visits.

We typically get all of our adoptable pets from local police stations that are found as strays. We have a stray holding period and then will vet them and adopt them out. If for some reason there is a pet that is not adoptable due to health issues, behavior, or any other underlying reasons, we will then work with local rescues to find these pets a great and loving home.

We update the pets shown online as often as possible. Adopted pets are removed and new pets are added. It is highly likely that a pet shown online is available. However, our goal is to place homeless pets in permanent homes, and holding them would potentially deny them a home while we wait for someone who may or may not show up and may or may not actually adopt the pet.

If you see a pet online that seems right for you, please call the number shown on each online pet description and you will be given up-to-the-minute information on the pet’s availability. If still available, we recommend you come in immediately to meet the pet and fill out an application if you decide that you want to adopt.

We are located at:

244 W Roosevelt Rd Lombard, IL 60148

Animals are kept sheltered until they find homes, no matter how long it takes unless they are seriously ill and their quality of life is unacceptable by a DVM.