STEPS IN THE ADOPTION PROCESS
1) Our Adoption Coordinator reviews your application the day it comes into Southern States Mastiff Rescue and then immediately forwards it to the Adoption Committee.
2) The committee members review the applications and usually meet weekly by Zoom to discuss the applications and match them with available dogs.
3) The committee carefully considers potential adopters’ requests as to age, gender, demeanor, etc.; for the desired dog; however, the committee reserves the right to make matches based on what they know of the breed and the individual dogs. Potential adopters are, of course, under no obligation to adopt the dog selected by the committee. If the potential adopters reject the match, they will be immediately placed back in the potential adopter file.
4) If there are suitable matches, a member of the Adoption Committee then checks the personal and veterinarian references the applicant submitted on the application. Delays may occur in this part of the process if the listed references do not immediately answer or return phone calls. Please tell your references to accept our call or return our call as soon as possible.
5) If all references are positive, the Adoption Committee member calls the potential adopter to discuss the dog, answer questions, and send further photos and information if they are available.
6) The adoption committee will contact local volunteers to complete a home visit. The potential adopter will be contacted for scheduling by the volunteer who will do the visit (This step may vary due to COVID status).
7) If there are no current matches, the adoption committee will send the potential adopter an email saying that there are no matches with currently available dogs.Potential adopters with no current matches are put in an active file so they are reconsidered at each subsequent meeting.
8) If there have been no good matches at the end of six months, the adoption committee will put the potential adopter’s file in the inactive file and email the potential adopter. If the potential adopters wish to be retained in the active file, they should reply to that email stating their desire to remain active and include any changes in their situation; such as moving, marriage, retirement, etc. There will be no additional fee for extending the time.
CURRENT ISSUES
National and local news sources have published many recent articles about the unprecedented number of animals currently being surrendered nationwide.
People in animal welfare believe this huge influx of dogs is primarily caused by four factors:
SSMR is one of the organizations struggling hard to meet the needs of the dogs who for no cause of their own are being surrendered.
Our first responsibility is to protect the lives of mastiffs. Consequently, we are spending an inordinate amount of our time and money on retrieving dogs from high kill shelters and other dangerous situations. We are a small group of volunteers responding to a huge need, and our organization’s resources are close to being overwhelmed. Of course, transport, veterinary expenses, and housing of surrendered dogs drain our finances. Additionally, our volunteers are spending many hours on reviewing the situations and arranging the intake, transport, and care of potential rescues.
We carefully review each dog’s adoptability. Some of the dogs offered for surrender have medical or behavioral issues. We screen carefully. When issues are treatable, we take in the dogs and treat them. Arranging for and paying for these treatments also requires funding and volunteer time.
Because of the current situation, our response to you may be slowed. We regret this, but we know that moving dogs out of danger is our most important task. Of course, to be successful, we must also move them into loving homes, so we are trying to streamline our processes. Please be patient with us. We want what you want: a gentle giant in your loving home.
Please Note: It has become necessary to collect a non-refundable application fee of $25 to help defray the increasing costs of veterinary care of the mastiffs coming into rescue. The fee must be paid when you submit your application. Your application will not be processed until we receive this fee.
We strive to find each Mastiff that comes into our care the perfect home. If you and your family are ready to provide that perfect home please fill out our application and we will be in touch with you.
Please Note: It has become necessary to collect a non-refundable application fee of $25 tohelp defray the increasing costs of veterinary care of the mastiffs coming into rescue. The feemust be paid when you submit your application. Your application will not be processed untilwe receive this fee.
On September 1st 2016 we began a new three tiered adoption rate:
$500 ($513.00 if paid by paypal) for puppies under one-year
$450 ($462.00 if paid by paypal) for adult dogs up to age seven
$200 ($210.00 if paid by paypal) for seniors and mixes
Dogs are vet checked, spayed or neutered, brought up to date on shots, tested for Heartworm and started on a preventative before being placed in adoptive homes. When paying by paypal, please note the dog's name that you are adopting and the state that the dog is located in in the comments section of Paypal.
Fees can be paid on paypal below.
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