Looking Glass Animal Rescue is an award-winning nonprofit volunteer-based animal welfare organization dedicated to rescuing animals from high-kill shelters, hoarding situations, puppy mills, animal fighting rings and more. While we welcome all animals in need, we specifically focus on animals that are often overlooked due to age, breed, special need, illness or injury and frequently requiring immediate, often costly medical attention that shelters are unable to provide. Without a rescue outlet, these animals would otherwise be euthanized due to their issues. Looking Glass Animal Rescue looks past these issues, seeing these animals not for what they are today, but what they can become tomorrow - healthy, happy family members with tons of love to give.
Step 1 – Fill out an Adoption Application. The first step is to have you complete an adoption application. This application will tell us about you and your lifestyle, training beliefs and background with animals. The contract will lay out the requirements you must agree to in order to be considered as a legal adopter of one of our dogs or cats. Step 2 – Application Preliminary Review. Our placement team will initially screen your application to determine if all necessary information was provided. If not you will be contacted to either complete another application or provide additional information. Step 3 – Landlord Approval Verified. If it is determined that you rent your home, your landlord will be contacted to make sure you have approval to have a pet in your home. We will also ask about any breed or size limitations. If your landlord does not allow for a dog or cat in your home, your application will be denied at this point in the process. Step 4 – Veterinary References Contacted. An adoption coordinator will contact the veterinary reference(s) you provided to determine if all your current pets are spayed/neutered and up to date on vaccinations and preventatives. If you don’t have any current pets, we will ask about the veterinary care that your previous pets received. If you have never owned a pet, this step is skipped. If your veterinary reference(s) cannot verify the spay/neuter and vaccination status of current or previous pets, processing of your application will be stopped until you can provide this information. Step 5 – Personal References Contacted. An adoption coordinator will contact your three personal references (only one of whom may be family) and ask them questions in regards to whether they consider you to be a responsible pet owner. This is the portion of the process that can take the most amount of time. It is helpful if you contact your references and ask them to return our calls in a timely manner. If our reference checking volunteers have any major concerns about adopting a dog or cat to you, based on communication with your references, your application may be denied at this point in the process. Step 6 – Home Visit and Applicant Interview. Our organization requires home visits to determine that the pet will be living in a safe environment. This is an informal chance for us to get to know you, your lifestyle, home environment and determine which dog(s) or cat(s) in our program might be the best fit. The home visit volunteer will do a short walk-through of your home and yard to ensure its safety and to advise on any areas of concern. All household members must be present for the home visit. We will also ask for proof of ownership (if you own your home), and will ask for or take pictures of both the interior and exterior of your home. If our home visit volunteers have any major concerns about your home environment, or if you refuse a home visit, your application will be denied at this point in the process. Step 7 – Meeting between Approved Applicant & Requested or Available Animal. Our organization does not have a shelter where the dogs and cats can be visited. Our animals are in foster homes. We do NOT arrange meetings between interested individuals and our Fosters until an applicant has been approved via this adoption process. Once you have been approved, the adoption coordinator will contact you about scheduling a time for you to meet the dog(s)/cat(s) you are interested in. This meeting may occur at the foster’s residence or your home. Just because you are determined to be an approved adopter, you are NOT guaranteed a particular dog or cat. For some animals we receive many applications so we may allow multiple applicants to have a meeting with the dog or cat before we choose the home that we feel will be the best fit for all. Also, if the volunteer involved in the meeting with you and the animal does not feel you are a good fit for specific reasons, you may be denied adoption of that particular dog or cat but you may be allowed to adopt another animal deemed more appropriate. Step 8 – Adoption. If you are approved to adopt, you are required to provide payment of the adoption donation fee (and spay/neuter deposit if necessary). Once received, you become the owner of the dog or cat. We will try to provide a small supply of food that will allow you to transition your new pet’s diet to another food when possible. If at any time you are having issues with or have questions about your new pet, please email your contact person and inform us. A volunteer will be in touch with you ASAP. Step 9 – Notification of Spay/Neuter & Return of Deposit. If, at the time of adoption, your dog or cat was not already spayed/neutered (typically due to being underage or for medical reasons), you would have been required to agree to spay/neuter your dog or cat via a spay/neuter contract and provide us a deposit fee. Our adoption contract requires all dogs and cats to be spayed/neutered within 1 month of adoption or when age/medically appropriate. You are asked to notify us when you have scheduled this surgery and at what vet clinic it is being done. Our volunteers will verify that the dog or cat has been spayed/neutered. Once this has been verified, your deposit will be returned to you. If you fail to spay/neuter, as outlined in the adoption contract you signed, our organization will take appropriate measures to take back the animal. Step 10 – Optional Post Adoption Follow-up Visit. Our adoption contract contains a clause that allows one of our volunteers or a representative the ability to perform a follow-up visit. We may require such a visit if we feel that the terms of the adoption contract are not being met. Looking Glass Animal Rescue is committed to the life, health and well-being of every dog and cat we place for the remainder of their life. Should the adoption not work out or you need to rehome your new pet, we require by contract that the animal be returned to us. Please notify us ASAP by contacting your adoption coordinator or emailing adopt@LGARinc.org.