We are a small group of friends and animal lovers in the Washington, D.C. metro area who volunteer to save homeless dogs primarily from Turkey. We have family and friends in Turkey who contact us to find homes in America for the dogs that have no hopes of finding anyone to adopt them. Turkish dog shelters are typically no-kill. On the face of it, this seems like a good thing, however, dogs who are not adopted are subject to 1 of 2 fates: they are either dumped in rural areas, left to fend for themselves against the harsh elements and acts of abuse and cruelty from street vagrants, the small and the young sometimes used as bait for fighting dogs, and to compete with wild dog packs for food and water; or, if not released, the dogs remain in grossly overcrowded, under resourced shelters receiving minimal care and attention, often with little food or water. We seek to bring these homeless, hopeless survivors to families in the United States that are willing to open their homes and hearts to these wonderful dogs. We ask potential adopters to complete an application and to give a fee for each adoption. The fee helps Kyra's Rescue with transportation costs, veterinary care and providing for the well-being for all our rescues while finding them a good and loving home. We want to ensure that each adopted dog goes to a home that truly wants to make them a part of their family. Because we are an entirely volunteer run organization, we ask for your patience. Each decision is made with the dog's best interest in mind and in an effort to find the best match between each dog and family. This decision is made solely at the discretion of the KR Team and is done to ensure that our dogs are placed in the most safe, caring and loving home.
THE FIRST STEP in the adoption process is to submit an online application. We do not answer specific questions or respond to call requests until your application is submitted. “Arriving Soon” dogs are still in our boarding facility in Istanbul while they wait for their opportunity to come to the U.S. All of our “Available Now” dogs are in private foster homes throughout the Washington DC metro area and surrounding states. We do not have a facility that you can visit. We do not have a shelter. We do not schedule meet and greets until after an application is approved and a home visit has been conducted. The adoption application is located on our website under “Our Dogs” and needs to be completed online. We highly recommend using a computer (versus a tablet or phone) and a browser such as Chrome or Firefox to complete the application. Do not include more than one email address on the application, and please avoid using semicolons. A Kyra’s Rescue volunteer reviews each application for completeness. If the application is incomplete, we will move on to the next application. Failure to provide references or veterinary contact information will stop the processing of an application. We generally have dozens of applications that are currently being processed so we cannot afford the time to ask for additional information if not provided. Based on information provided on the application, the Kyra’s Rescue volunteer performs an initial assessment as to whether the applicant is a good match for the specified dog and proceeds to clarify any unclear information on the application. Kyra’s Rescue regularly receives multiple applications, sometimes dozens and dozens of applications, for a single dog. We do not adopt on a first come, first served basis. We always try to determine which home will be the best fit for the dog. We cannot stress this enough and ask you to not take offense if you are not contacted about the dog you applied for. We simply cannot approve every application we receive due to such high volume. Please keep in mind that our organization consists completely of volunteers who work full-time jobs and have other commitments. We all work as quickly as possible, but it is not unusual to have in excess of 50-75 applications being processed simultaneously, so while we say that it generally takes less than two weeks to process an application/photo, it can also take several weeks. NOTE: Due to the dramatic increase in adoption applications we're receiving during the coronavirus pandemic, it may take 4-6 weeks for our review process. Please be patient. Because we are an entirely volunteer run organization, we ask for your patience. Each decision is made with the dog's best interest in mind and in an effort to find the best match between each dog and family. This decision is made solely at the discretion of the KR Team and is done to ensure that our dogs are placed in the most safe, caring and loving home. Please keep in mind that you are not the only person who has applied for the dog. THE SECOND STEP In the adoption process is to request photos of you and your home. If the application is found to be favorable, Kyra’s Rescue will request photos of you and your home. This is a very valuable screening tool for us as it helps to ensure (1) our safety, (2) that our time will be wisely spent if we choose to move to the next step of the application process (the home visit), and (3) it provides valid information as to not only where our dog will be living but also we get an idea as to your lifestyle and your home dynamic that helps us to understand whether or not your application is a good match for the dog you have applied for. Our applicants span an enormous geographical area and we spend many, many hours driving to conduct home visits. Your photos help us to visualize who our dogs will be living with, and where they will be living. Your photos are kept strictly confidential and will never, ever be shared outside of our group. If you are uncomfortable with this step, we will not be able to move forward with your application. Also, please be aware that during our home visit we may take more photos so our group can discuss the home environment. We understand that you may have sent pictures already and we appreciate that, but additional pictures often assist us in the adoption approval process. THE THIRD STEP is a phone interview. If your photos meet our expectations, we will conduct a phone interview. In this interview, we will answer all of your questions providing all the information about adoption approval process and the dog you applied to adopt. NOTE: Once you receive a call from one of our volunteers, please do not use their personal phone numbers for further communication. All communication should be through email ([email protected]) or through Messenger. Exceptions to this rule are emergencies or during transportation/pick up of dogs. KR volunteers will not respond to general messages/calls on their personal phones. THE FOURTH STEP is calling your veterinarian and references. If the phone interview goes well and you want to proceed, we will check your vet reference and personal references. All pets in the home must be current on wellness visits and vaccines (unless otherwise recommended by your vet), have a current heartworm test and purchase of preventatives on file (or you can provide an explanation if your preventatives are purchased elsewhere), and must be spayed/neutered. Your vet will need to provide verification if they recommend against a spay/neuter. If your current pets are NOT current on vaccines or heartworm testing/preventatives, the processing of your application will not continue until we have confirmation from your veterinarian that the vaccines and/or heartworm testing/preventatives have been updated. Once all references have been successfully verified and, if they are favorable, a Kyra’s Rescue volunteer will contact the applicant to set up the home visit. THE FIFTH STEP is scheduling a home visit, if a Kyra’s Rescue volunteer is available, otherwise providing a home visit video (which we have implemented since COVID-19). All applicants, including previous adopters who adopted a dog more than a year ago, must complete a home visit or home visit video as part of the evaluation process. Note that all family members residing in the household must be present for the home visit or included in the home visit video. During the home visit, you will be able to meet with a Kyra’s Rescue team member and one of our dogs (either a Kyra’s Rescue alumni dog or a foster dog). Please be aware that during the home visit we may take additional photos based on our perspective to discuss internally with our group. We understand that you may have already sent pictures, but the additional pictures help our team to understand any positives, or on occasion, potential concerns, which helps us to determine the best home for our dogs. Only after completion of the home visit will we give you a verbal or written statement to let you know that you are officially approved for adoption. Simply completing an application and providing photos does NOT constitute an approved application. If the applicant is considered to be a good match, adoption can take place at the conclusion of the home visit if the Kyra's Rescue team member who is conducting the home visit is in possession of the dog. Due to our wide adoption radius, it is not always possible for the team member who is in possession of the dog to conduct the home visit. If the dog is being fostered by a different Kyra's Rescue team member, a meet and greet will be arranged, and the applicant will be asked to drive to the location where the dog is being fostered. **PLEASE NOTE THAT IT MUST BE MUTUALLY AGREED BETWEEN (I) THE KYRA'S RESCUE TEAM MEMBER IN POSSESSION OF THE DOG AND (II) THE APPLICANT THAT IT IS A GOOD MATCH.** If the applicant is not considered a good match for the dog listed on their application, Kyra’s Rescue may suggest other dogs that are available and considered a better match. During the phone interview/home visit period, we will also be working to provide you with additional information and photos/videos of the dog you are interested in adopting. We work very closely with our approved adopters, and we provide all the health records, videos and additional pictures of our dogs and the majority of our applicants are willing to adopt their dogs as soon as they arrive in the US. When we have an unplanned flight volunteer, and we do not have adequate time to post the dogs or complete the application process prior to their arrival, we place them in foster homes while we look for their perfect family. Kyra’s Rescue cannot hold dogs once an adoption has been approved. We are fortunate to receive multiple applications for all of our dogs. It is not fair to the dog, the foster homes, or to other adopters to hold a dog. Additionally, we have a waiting list of dogs needing to come into our rescue, so foster home availability is critical. Please note that on rare occasions the necessity arises to alter a portion of our adoption process to accommodate an extenuating circumstance, applicant or dog. Kyra’s Rescue reserves the right to alter the process solely at our discretion. Kyra’s Rescue has the right to refuse any adoption we do not feel is the best interest of the dog.