How to Adopt
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Am I eligible to adopt?
In order to be considered for adoption you must:
• Be 21 years of age or older
• Have the knowledge/consent of all adults living in the house
• If you rent, provide your landlord’s name and phone number or a copy of your lease
• Understand if you have children under 8, you will be eligible to adopt dogs 6 months old or older
• Understand if you live outside of Wisconsin, all members of your household, including any other dogs, must travel to the foster home to meet the dog
• Understand that JRs does not, under any circumstances, ship dogs
• Understand if all adopters are 72 or older, you will be eligible to adopt dogs 18 months or older
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Complete an application.
Adoption starts with simply filling out one of our applications:
Cat & Small Animal Application
For dog applications, a $5 non-refundable application processing fee is due at the time of submission.
After you submit your application be sure to reach out to your vet if you have/have had animals and give them permission to talk with our volunteers. Doing so ensures that we won’t be delayed doing your vet check.
JRs application process is not for a specific dog. Due to our rigorous approval process the dog you are interested in may or may not be available by the time you are approved. If the dog that originally drew you to JRs has been adopted prior to your approval we would like to continue to work with you to complete the process. Your approval, once given, is good for a year provided you don’t add any new family members (including animals) or move.
Please watch your email, especially your spam folder, for your confirmation email.
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What will JRs do with my application?
Within two business days after you submit your application, our volunteers get to work to complete the following:
• Input your information into our system
• Complete a background check on all household members age 18 and older
• If you rent, they contact your landlord to make sure that you are allowed a pet, and if there are any restrictions in place by your landlord
• If you already have pets, or had pets in the past 10 years, we’ll call the vet you provided to ensure that they were/are up-to-date
They should be:
• Spayed/neutered
• Current on the DAPPV vaccine
• Current on rabies
• Current on heartworm testing & monthly preventative
• Current on yearly wellness exam
*Annual titer testing is acceptable in lieu of annual vaccines
They should be:
• Spayed/neutered
• Current on the Feline RCP vaccine
• Current on rabies
• Had a FeLiv test in the last two years
• Current on yearly wellness exam
*These requirements are for ALL cats including barn and indoor only. Annual titer testing is acceptable in lieu of annual vaccines.
• If there are any issues with any of the checks someone will be in contact with you
• Once these checks are completed and passed you will be added to the list for one of our home visit volunteers to contact you
It may take our home visit volunteers 2-3 weeks to contact you. Please watch your spam and answer unknown phone calls as many times our volunteers find their emails and calls are unanswered.
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Almost there..... waiting on a home visit
A home visit volunteer from the rescue will contact you via email or phone to set up a time to meet with you.
The purpose of the home visit is to meet all family members talk through things like the responsibilities of owning a dog, what kind of dog you’re looking for in terms of age, personality, activity level, etc. We’re going to take a walk around to ensure that the environment is safe for the addition of a new dog (or puppy) Don’t fret! While they will look around the house, this isn’t to make sure the beds are made and the dishes are done. It’s just to make sure that there isn’t anything that may be unsafe for a dog.
Please be sure when you schedule with the volunteer that you allow for approximately an hour and that all members of the household, including any dogs and cats, are able to be present and engaged in the discussions.
Once your home visit is completed, JRs will review your application, all checks and the home visit report. Within 2 business days you should get an email from us with your approval and any conditions.
Families with children under 8 will be restricted to dogs 6 months or older.
Families where all adopters are over 72 will be restricted to dogs 18 months or older.
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I′m Approved! How do I meet and adopt a dog?
Congratulations, you made it through our adoption application process! We’re excited for you to start meeting our available animals.
Now that you’re approved, you’ll want to check out our available animals on our website. Once you’ve found one that peaks your interest, you’ll want to reply to your approval email asking to get in touch with that animal’s foster. Once you do that, the foster will reach out to you to talk about the animal and potentially set up a meet for you to come meet the animal.
Don’t see one that peaks your interest right away? No problem! Your approval is good for a year provided you don’t add any new family members (including animals) or move.
*Please note that all household members, including dogs, will have to travel to the foster’s home to meet the animal.