Information on adoption

Information on adoption
2009.01.01.

In our „Seeking homes” column you may find the animals recommended for adoption. Apart from them there are a number of other animals who have not been uploaded there. This could occur due to several reasons, e.g. they are still in their quarantine period, they suffer from a chronic illness, they cannot bear the proximity of humans as a result of a trauma in their past; or they are simply not animals fit for companionship, but are wild or domestic animals; or we simply did not have the time to take a picture and upload them yet. There are further dogs waiting for adoption on the www.minimenhely.hu and www.boxermentes.hu websites, which have their own separate pages, so if you are considering adopting a dog you might want to check out these sites as well.
www.minimenhely.hu www.boxermentes.hu www.bulldogmentes.hu, www.canecorsomentes.hu www.csaucsaumentes.hu www.noeallatotthon.hu/schnauzer/Please note! Our foundation does not want to get rid of these animals – we merely would like to see all our protégées find a safe home with the right owner. Therefore we select where we give our dogs and cats carefully, we do not give out our animals to anybody. Mutual liking between pet and potential owner is essential but so are a number of other factors, especially at an adoption, that is why we only give out the animal to the owner-to-be (who is of age, and has a valid ID) and only after we have met him/her personally. We consider whether the animal would require living outdoors or indoors; how old the owner-to-be is (we do not give out pups and kittens to elderly people) as well as a number of other conditions. We ask of you to be patient and understanding with our colleagues when they are following the policies and guidelines of the shelter – after all it is in every participant’s best interest to find the perfect owner – animal match, so that the animal does not have to go through another trauma after a few weeks or months and does not have to come back to the shelter.

If you would like to adopt a dog found in our „seeking homes” list you can contact us on the +3630 221 1299 mobile number (Monday to Saturday between 8 am and 3 pm), for our cats on the +3620 540 5562 number (Monday to Saturday between 8 am and 4 pm). The age and date of birth you might find on our animals’ sites are only estimates as we scarcely know anything about the pasts of the animals we take care of. The same goes to breeds: even though we try to determine the breeds of our doggies as specifically as possible but even our many-year-long experience does not guarantee that we can guess the possible mums and dads correctly.

In case you have not found an animal to your liking on the list on our site, we also recommend calling the numbers mentioned above. It is possible that the animal you are looking for is on the waiting list waiting for an opening in our shelter or still in its compulsory quarantine period, but already ready for adoption.

Out shelter does not charge an adoption fee but in each case the owner-to-be has to sign our Adoption agreement. (Similarly when someone gives an animal into our shelter s/he has to sign a disclaimer, signing away all rights to the animal.) We usually give out our animals already vaccinated and in all possible cases neutered we highly appreciate if the new owners can support our remaining little protégées with a donation, if only with an amount equalling the cost of the procedures of the adopted animal. Thank you!

Adopting a dogThere are several million stray animals in Hungary today, with no chance of ever finding an owner and a home. This is why, like most Hungarian shelters, we are also one hundred per cent pro neutering (unless there is some veterinary-certified reason against it). Therefore we always give out our dogs already neutered and in case of pups the future owner is obligated by the adoption agreement to have it/them neutered as soon as possible.

This is not only a way to prevent any unwanted litters in the future but also beneficial for the dog’s health as the chances of a future malignant genital tumour are reduced to practically zero. This type of cancer kills tens of thousands of dogs each year even though it can be prevented by neutering. Pseudopregnancy can also be such eliminated.

Many think that keeping puppies is easy but that is not true – shelters are filled with them and every spring thousands of unwanted, disposed of puppies flood them. A dog can give birth to up to 12 puppies, which is not only very demanding for the dog but also reduces the chances of survival for the puppies. Even if the owners try and find homes for the „babies” and even if they had managed to give them out in advance to friends and relatives, many of the future owners change their minds or by the time the puppies are big enough they had already adopted another found little dog. Having puppies in the household, even for a few months is a substantial financial burden: the vaccinations, the vermifuge and other treatments and supplies can cost tons of money. The vaccinations protocol of a pup in its first four months costs app. 18 000 HUF (parvo virus – combines – corona virus diarrhoea – combined rabies reminder – combined parvo virus reminder); in case of several pups it can cost up to hundreds of thousands of Forints! Not to mention the fact that cleaning up urine and excrement after a litter of pups is no easy task; and puppies tend to chew everything they can get in their mouths.

These are just a few of the many arguments for neutering our animal – and it also should not be overlooked that if our dog is a bitch when she is in heat twice a year, keeping the male dogs away from her is nigh impossible (no fence is high, wide or solid enough); and if our dog is male he would bolt the first opportunity he can when smelling the sign of a bitch in heat even from miles away.

Before adopting one of our dogs please consider all aspects of the huge responsibility that goes with having an animal!

You should already know what you plan to do with the doggy when you go on vacation, have to move, etc...
Think over carefully whether you can deal with the expenses (like the vaccinations and parasite immunization, treatment in case of a sickness, precautions against ticks, and so on) as well as whether you will be willing and able to take care of your dog even when s/he is old, tired and entirely dependent upon you.

If you already know the answers to these questions do not hesitate but come and visit us and choose your four-legged companion at our pound.
If the liking is mutual you will need a collar and a leash (perhaps even a muzzle) or a cat carrier in case of a cat – please prepare for your safe journey home with your new best friend.
PLEASE NOTE! On adoptions we only deal with the future owner personally, we do not give out animals to a proxy (i.e. for a present, etc...). You will also need your ID for the adoption process.

Adopting a cat
We only give out a cat if the owner-to-be comes prepared with a secure cat carrier. We do not part with a cat to be transported in a cardboard box, a bag, a basket, in your lap, on a leash, etc... – regardless if you come by car or on foot as a cat you do not know yet (the same goes to kittens) can bite or scratch you rather severely when in panic and could thus easily escape, or cause an accident in a car, i.e. by trying to hide under the pedals.

The cat carrier might become useful later on as well, like if the cat has an accident in the middle of the night and has to be taken to the vet immediately (and so borrowing a carrier from the neighbours is out of the question) – a bleeding, screaming and panicking pet can only be transported safely in a secure carrier. Having a cat costs money and so if the owner-to-be is not committed enough to invest in a cat carrier it is most likely s/he would not be able to pay for the annual vaccination and parasite immunization, feeding and other handling costs of a cat. These expenses can reach tens of thousands of Forints each year not to mention the fact that a more serious illness or surgery can require over a hundred thousand Forints! If your financial status does not allow responsible caring of a cat please consider virtual adoption of one of our protégées via our website instead of the actual adoption, and visit your chosen one in our pound from time to time: our doors are always open for you.

In case of full-grown cats we only give them out neutered, in case of kittens we request the owner-to-be to sign our form, thus acknowledging the obligation to neuter the kitten within the next six months as well as to send a vet’s certification thereof to our shelter.

The neutering of cats is even more important than in case of dogs as there are more fatal and incurable feline illnesses that infect via the reproductive organs, like cat-AIDS, leucosis, etc... You may find further information on these conditions as well as on the necessity and benefits of neutering in our information brochure we give to every new owner at the time of the adoption. You are also welcome to call us if you have any further questions.

The vaccination protocol of cats in our pound includes two combined and a leucosis vaccination as well as full anti-parasite treatment. The owner-to-be has to repeat this protocol on a regular basis: the vaccinations have to be repeated each year, the anti-parasite treatment in case of house cats each year and in case of house-and-outdoors cats every three months.

If you wish to let your cat out of the flat or house we suggest a full vaccination protocol, that is: two combined, two leucosis, two infectious peritonitis, two fungus and one rabies vaccinations before letting the animal out the door. The kitty will not be one hundred per cent protected even then as one bite from a stray during some territorial dispute is enough for our cat to catch AIDS or any other fatal illness. As 85-90% of all outdoors cats is a carrier of one of the three incurable feline illnesses there is a good chance that our cat will not live a long and healthy life outside: even if s/he is not run over by a car or does not wander off never to come back; even if s/he is not hurt by a mean neighbour or does not eat a poisoned mouse there is a huge risk of him/her getting infected by a disease with no cure or no preventive vaccination against it. Therefore we suggest that you keep your cat inside so that s/he can live a long and happy life!