Our mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home small breed dogs into permanent loving homes. To evaluate each dog and potential home with the goal of matching each dog to the best possible home. To provide education with regard to the Shih Tzu breed, the importance of responsible pet ownership, and the importance of spaying and neutering to help with the over-population of pets. To work in cooperation with shelters, rescue groups and other national breed rescues to help coordinate our efforts.
The first step in the adoption process is to submit an online application. Please do not ask us to call you before an application is submitted as the number of inquiries makes that impossible. We are an all-volunteer, foster home based organization and all of our dogs are in private foster homes throughout the state. We do not have a facility that you can come visit. We do not have a shelter. We do not schedule meet and greets until after an application is fully approved. Our volunteers are processing hundreds of applications at any point in time and it does generally take several weeks to process an application. Please refrain from requesting updates on your application if it has been less than 3 weeks. When you submit an application, you will receive an automated email telling you that your application has been successfully submitted. If you have not received this email, please check your SPAM folder. Adoption application is completed online on our Forms/Applications page and submitted automatically to Ohio Fuzzy Pawz. If the application is successfully submitted, the applicant will receive an automated email letting them know that their application has been received. OFP volunteer reviews application for completeness. If the application is incomplete, it will be returned to the applicant via email notification. Failure to provide references or reference contact information will stop any processing. We generally have hundreds of applications that are currently being processed so it is difficult to ask for additional information if not provided. Based on information provided on the application, the OFP volunteer does an initial assessment if applicant is good match for specified pet and proceeds to clarify any unclear information on the application. If the applicant fails to respond to adoption questions or provide requested information to the OFP volunteer, the application will be denied. If potential adopter and pet are deemed to be good match or if a dog was not specified, the volunteer proceeds to contact references and get their replies. OFP regularly receives multiple applications for a single dog. We do not adopt on a first come, first served basis. We always try to determine which home which be the best fit for the dog. Preference is always given to approved application and to those applications with a solid, verifiable veterinary reference. All pets in the home must be current on the rabies and distemper/parvo vaccines as well as have a current heartworm test and prevention, visit vet as recommended and altered. Your vet will need to provide to OFP verification if they recommend against a spay/neuter. If your current pets are NOT current on vaccines or heartworm testing/prevention, the processing of your application will not continue until we have confirmation from your veterinarian that the vaccines and/or heartworm testing/prevention have been updated. We are unable to hold dogs while you update your current dogs vaccines or heartworm testing. Once the references have been successfully verified, an OFP volunteer will contact applicant to set up the home visit. COVID-19 UPDATE: We have moved to an almost completely virtual process. We are currently conducting virtual home visits for many applicants. If there is no veterinarian reference that can be validated, an in-person home visit is required. If current pets were not up-to-date, an in-person home visit is required. No application is approved until a home visit has been completed. Everyone who lives in the household should be present at the home visit. The home check is an opportunity for a volunteer to see where a dog would be living, sleeping, playing, etc. as well as taking a look at your yard. It also provides an opportunity to meet the members of the household. We look at the application process, including the home visit, as a conversation with applicants to help determine what type of dog would work best in the home. If you have a fenced yard, the fence should secure enough to contain a small dog. Be sure to pay special attention to gates and the bottom of the fencing. Not all of our dogs require a securely fenced yard, but if you have a fenced yard, we do want to ensure that it is secure enough for any dog you might adopt. Once the home visit is completed, the volunteer will provide their notes back to the Directors. The entire application is reviewed and the application will be notified. Sometimes this last step can about a week, depending on schedules and volunteer availability. If applicant is not considered a good match for the specified pet indicated, OFP may suggest other pets that are available and considered a better match. If applicant is considered a good match, a meet and greet is scheduled. In most situations, the adoption can take place at the time of meeting the dog. At the time of adoption, the applicant will sign the adoption contract and pay the adoption donation. OFP cannot hold dogs once an adoption has been approved. We are fortunate to receive multiple applications on many of our dogs. It is not fair the dog or to other adopters to hold a dog. Additionally, we generally have a wait list of dogs needing to come into rescue and since we are a foster-home based organization, every space matters. Please keep in mind that our organization is made up completely of volunteers, who work regular jobs and have other commitments. We all work as quickly as possible but it is not unusual to have around 200 applications currently being processed, so while we say that it generally takes less than two weeks, it can also take several weeks. If your application is incomplete, if we have questions or are unable to reach your references, your application will be delayed.
Heath OH 43056 | 10.5 miles away
Licking County Humane Society is a non-profit organization devoted to the humane treatment of animals. We have served Licking County since 1966 and work to improve the lives of animals, and people, through advocacy, education, and support.