Considerations Before Adoption
Before you decide to adopt, please consider the following items carefully:
- The average life span of dogs and cats is 7-18 years old, you must commit to raising them till the very end of their lives.
- You have to free up time to spend and communicate with your pet every day, such as talking to them, caressing them, and pay attention to whether they are showing signs of illnesses.
- You must clean and sanitize your pet’s daily necessities from time to time, such as its cage and drinking bowl. Their food, water, cushioning and blankets have to be changed daily. Maintaining good hygiene is essential for your pet’s optimal health.
- You have to plan and make a budget on your pet’s daily supplies and fundamental expenses, including grooming, food and medical expenses.
- Adequate exercise is crucial in maintaining your pet’s well-being. Thus it is recommended that you allow them to roam and walk around the house for at least 4 hours a day.
- It is a dog/cat’s nature to chew and bite on things out of curiosity. Therefore please store and keep items such as electric cables, plants, and small items out of their reach to prevent them from accidentally swallowing potentially hazardous items.
- When your pet is sick, you must bring it to the veterinarian to get treated.
- If you have more than one pet at home, please ensure that they can get along well to avoid necessary injuries.
- If you plan on having more than one pet at home, in which they are compatible with each other for breeding, you must think beforehand and separate them. Schedule a spaying/neutering appointment with you veterinarian as soon as possible.
- Before raising a pet, you must gain full consent from other family members and make sure that none of you has a pet allergy.
- After adoption, you must bring your pet to a certified veterinary clinic for annual health check-ups and vaccinations every year.
- After adoption, you must apply flea and tick control solutions to your pet once a month all year round.
- You have to be able to provide your pet with a comfortable living environment, promise that you will give them your all to take good care of them, and embrace all of its imperfections and flaws.
Notes and Requirements for Adoption
- The adopter has to be living in Hong Kong.
- The applicant of the adoption has to be age 18 and or above.
- Before the adoption is approved, we may assign our staff to make a home visit to the applicant’s home when necessary.
- To proceed with the adoption application, the applicant must bring along a photocopy of his/her ID card and a proof of address issued within the last three months
- The applicant must sign an adoption agreement to proceed with the application.
- We reserve the right to reject applications. Terms are subject to change without further notice.
- When applicants confirm their choice of dog/cat, our staff will clearly explain the animal’s diet and nutrition requirements, date of the next parasite prevention and rabies needle injection. Immunity of dogs and cats may fluctuate under environmental and physiological changes, we are unable to fully guarantee you the absolute health of every one of them.
- The satisfaction of adopting an unwanted animal is to help giving an abandoned animal a second chance. We are a volunteer-based group that is self-funded and does not belong to any charitable organization, we hope that our adopters understand that any medical expenses incurred afterwards should be covered by the adopters themselves.
- Spaying/neutering is not only beneficial to the health of animals in general, but it also reduces the number of stray animals in the future that are abandoned due to over breeding. Therefore all adopters must bring their dogs/cats adopted from ARC to the vet for sterilization within 6 months of adoption at their own expense. If the adopter does not agree with this clause, the application will be rejected.
- Adopted dogs and cats may experience certain behavioural problems when they first arrive at their new homes. This may be due to the stress and pressure dogs and cats develop during environmental changes. But no worries, we welcome all adopters to give us a call any time during office hours to inquire about their beloved pets’ health, behaviour or other concerns. We are happy to provide suggestions and assistance to address the issue.
Formalities and Procedures for Adoption
- Browse the Adoption Area of our website, or pay a visit to our centre to choose your dog/cat. (book an appointment: Whatsapp +852 96919313 )
- All applicants must visit our centre in person to fill in the application form and take the examination.
- On the application day, images of the applicant’s household must be submitted to us through Whatsapp so that we can assess the amount of living space that can be provided to the pet.
- After taking the exam, ARC will conduct a preliminary assessment according to the answers, with animal welfare as the major considering factor. It will be assessed mainly on the following criteria: whether the declared address allows pets to be raised, financial status, number of family members, number of pets in the family, pet-owning experience, time available to be spent with the pet, knowledge on animal breeds and personalities, attitude towards animals and interaction with animals etc.
- After evaluating multiple applications (within 14 working days), ARC will select the most suitable owner out of all applicants by the dog/cat’s needs and personality. If the application is successful, the applicant will be notified by a call from our staff as soon as possible. If necessary, ARC will request to make a home visit. However, if you did not receive any notice from as about the adoption within 7 days of application, it means that your application has been unsuccessful as only successful applicants will receive the adoption notice. If we are unable to contact you, we will leave you a voice-mail, please get back to us within 24 hours. If we still don’t hear from you within 24 hours, we will regard your adoption as a voluntary forfeit and will assign the dog/cat to another applicant.
- Successful applicants have to make an appointment to complete the application procedure and bring their pet home during our office hours. Otherwise, your application may be revoked. Please be noted that for different animals, the entire adoption procedure may take up to 1-2 or more hours.
- On the day of adoption, you will sign the adoption agreement. Please bring with you your ID card and acceptable proof of address. Acceptable proof of address documents include:
– Bills or invoices issued by utility companies (water, electricity, Towngas or domestic piped liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) suppliers)
– Landline telephone, mobile phone, paid TV, Internet service bills
– Statements or correspondence issued by banks, licensed money lenders, insurance companies or Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Approved Trustees
– Documents issued by government departments or the Judiciary (Demand notes regarding tax payment, Demand for Rates and/or Government Rent, Student Loan Repayment Demand Notes)
- As for unsuccessful applicants, this does not mean that you are not suitable for keeping pets or are bad owners.
- We welcome you to come again and we’ll match you and your family with other animals that better suit your lifestyles.
- As the final decision maker, all decisions made by ARC is solely based on the optimisation of animal welfare.
- We reserve the rights to reject and terminate any application.
Adoption Fee
All adoption services are free. ARC will not charge any adoption fees. Adopters do not have to pay veterinary fees, food, transportation fees, etc. spent before the adoption of the animal.
Important
- The free adoption service provided by us is only eligible to Hong Kong residents only.
- We do not have a membership plan, thus there will be no compulsory membership sign-ups or membership fees.
- For further enquiries, please refer to Pet Adoption- Frequently Asked Questions.
If you would like to continue supporting our rescuing act for abandoned animals, feel free to make $10 donations daily to aid the medical and daily expenditures of the animals under our shelter, click the links below to donate:
❤ Support the “Animal Medical Plan” I am willing to donate $10 daily
❤ Support the “Animal Medical Plan”I am willing to donate $20 daily
▪ Faster Payment System (FPS): 9691-9313
▪ Direct donations with credit card (PayPal): https://www.paypal.me/donatetonpvo
Follow us on Instagram @arc.hk to stay updated with our latest news
– More than 400 families have successfully adopted from ARC
About ARC :
We are a non-government funded organization, a volunteer-based group that does not belong to any charitable organization and is not receiving any government subsidies and allowances. We welcome all of you to join us and help the abandoned animals, recruiting volunteers all year round!
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If you have any suggestions or feedback, please feel free to let us know so that we can make adjustments and improvement.