Pre-visit

It is ideal when potential owners come in with a sense of what kind of pet they are looking to adopt, but there are always a flood of questions at the beginning. Provide an overview of the adoption process and a forum of frequently asked questions that are available on the shelter’s website or publicly posted somewhere. A great example is the Seattle Area Feline Rescue. This way, potential owners are already briefed on what to expect and are familiar with the policies and regulations specific to your shelter.

During visit

The goals of a visit to the shelter should be: educating someone about pet ownership, finding an ideal pet-owner match, and building trust through honesty.

• Allow serious potential owners to interact with dogs/cats so that they can get a sense of owner-pet chemistry. Allow staff to get a sense of what animal personality suits the owner: playful, calm, needy, etc.
• Be mindful about making this an efficient and productive process, but still cover all the bases. You want owners to be confident that they have found their new best friend, we want to lower the chance of owner relinquishment.
• This coincides with educating the owner, being honest about specific pet needs and general expectations of the owner are important to ensure transparency and owner-shelter trust. For example, if an owner is looking to adopt a cat, but they don’t like scratching and are asking to declaw them. For cats, be clear on NO declawing: As it causes tissue damage and can cause long-term problems. More information can be found here.
• It is important to balance expectations and be realistic with owners, even with sensitive topics such as: spaying/neutering (why it’s necessary) and declawing (why it’s harmful). The desired outcome is to educate the owner, not criticize them.