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Adoption and transfer

Improve and increase adoptions—discover new adoption marketing ideas, best practices in transfer, inspirational stories of unlikely adoptions, resources to improve the adoption process and more.

  • Just the facts, ma’am … or maybe not!

    We are truly living in a remarkable age, when new studies and data on sheltering are shaping and confirming best practices seemingly every day. For the first time ever, we can truly set policies based on what we actually know, not what we think we know.

    But no matter how much science and evidence is produced to dispel a myth (like “black dogs are overlooked for adoption”) or support a new best practice (such as eliminating adoption barriers), our field is often slow to embrace new information and make change.

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  • Transporting to the future

    Ten years ago, in a small, tidy shelter in one of the poorest areas of Mississippi, that was one of the first questions I heard. I was in Mississippi working on a project to assess the severity of the overpopulation issue, helping develop effective spay/neuter messaging and provide hands-up help in training, networking and some funds working on a project launched in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

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Most recent Tools and Resources > Adoption and transfer

  • Magazine Article

    Making a change for the better

    All nine available dogs from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay were adopted in the first two hours of Super Pet’s grand reopening event in February.

    Pet store program helps boost adoptions and fight puppy mills

    by Julie Gray

    “Whether the economy is good or bad,” says Randy Housley, the general manager of Polly’s Pet Shop in Universal City, Texas, “people seem to want puppies.” And San Antonio Animal Care Services draws from such a wide area that his store is rarely without them.

    Since August 2013, the shelter has been the store’s sole source for puppies. In fact, the store now adopts out about 150 puppies a year, more than it used to sell.

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  • Magazine Article

    A rose for Colton

    The ladies of Front Street Animal Shelter vie for handsome Colton’s affections.

    Sacramento shelter combines 'The Bachelor' parody with adoption promotion

    by Julie Falconer

    The catfight starts in the dog yard at Front Street Animal Shelter in Sacramento, California. Four women in high heels and bodycon dresses vie for the affections of Colton, a handsome hunk of a dog. As the competition escalates, there are tearful recriminations, backstabbing asides to the camera and an ugly confrontation over a leash.

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  • Magazine Article

    Love on a lease

    A New Jersey shelter lets visitors (including reporter Bill Duhart, pictured) take shelter dogs on short-term outings.

    Shelter’s rent-a-dog program enriches lives

    by Pamela Babcock

    A New Jersey shelter makes dogs available for short-term rentals.

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