Southern Roots Rescue Inc. - Knoxville Pet Shelter

Southern Roots Rescue (ROOTS - Re-homing Orphans Of The South) is a small, non-profit, volunteer run organization based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 2013, ROOTS mission is to rescue dogs throughout the Southeast from shelters that have to euthanize animals due to overpopulation in the shelter. We pull dogs from overpopulated shelters in our region and find them permanent loving homes. We are not breed specific, but are committed to the breeds and mixes that tend to be overly abundant in the southern states. We adopt to both local families and families in the Northeast. We place most of our orphans in homes in the northeast by offering USDA certified transport services.we are a group of volunteers who devote our energy and resources to find safe, loving, permanent homes for the dogs that come into our care. We get dogs from owners who, for whatever reasons, are no longer able to care for them and trust us to find their dogs new and loving homes. We also get dogs from shelters who contact us to rescue dogs they might otherwise have to euthanize. Very often, these dogs have serious medical problems which we discover after they are examined by the veterinarian and the veterinarian’s office is the first place any dog that comes into our care goes. Our adoption fees help to cover the medical expenses that are required for each dog. Often those costs are high–far higher than what is covered by our adoption fees. Because of the sometimes dire circumstances these dogs may come from, they have often not had regular and routine veterinary care. We make sure they get it–whether they come in with heartworm, serious dental issues, or tumors. Every dog in our rescue is also spayed/neutered before being adopted. We do not receive government funding as public shelters do, so we must rely on private donations and seek assistance from organizations in order to help as many dogs as possible. We are very grateful to our donors and to these foundations for their support. We are also particularly grateful to those people willing to open their hearts and their homes to foster these dogs until we are able to complete the process of locating loving individuals or families looking for a new (even if the dog they want is a senior) best friend. If you decide to adopt from us, please understand that the application process is designed to assure that this dog never has to again endure whatever circumstance that brought the dog to us and to assure that the adopters get the dog that will meet the need that brought them to us. Our goal is to reduce the number of dogs sent to shelters.

Adoption Process

This is a ridiculous process and some folks may think we have way too many questions and requirements. Adopting a dog should not be this hard! To those folks we say… Please visit your local shelter and save a dog! We often have the unfortunate duty of disappointing an applicant when we have a more suitable home for the dog. Please do not take offense, but realize that we are doing what we feel is best for the dog. We have a lot of wonderful dogs that need homes and will be happy to help you find a more appropriate match. Some folks get their feelings hurt when they fall in love with a picture of a dog and are heartbroken when we tell them that they are just not a good candidate. We understand, but as a rescue, we have to think with our heads and not our hearts when it comes to finding the best home for a dog. Though you may not agree with our decisions, we are choosing adopters based on more than a picture. We strongly suggest not telling young children that they are getting a specific dog before you know for sure. We do not like to disappoint anyone, but especially children. Please know that just because you applied for a certain dog, it does not mean that you are going to be the chosen adopter. One dog may have 10 applications. We are more than happy to provide personal references. We have hundreds of adopters in the Northeast that would be glad to tell you about their experience. We also work with several rescue groups and veterinarians that are happy to speak to you. We are also a proud network partner of the Best Friends “no more homeless pets” Network. www.bestfriends.org. All of our dogs receive age appropriate vetting. They are neutered/spayed, dewormed, micro chipped, and current on heartworm and flea prevention. All of our dogs are delivered to their adopters with medical records. Their tax deductible adoption fee of $450 covers their basic vetting as well as a health certificate and transportation to your area. Adult dogs will receive rabies, distemper combo, and bordatella (kennel cough) vaccines. Puppies will receive a minimum of 2 distemper combo boosters, deworming, and a bordatella vaccine and will be at least 8 weeks old. These are required by the USDA certified transports for the dogs to cross state lines, however there are additional (optional) vaccines that your veterinarian may suggest such as Lyme, and canine influenza after you have received your new pet. Beyond the basics, we provide “necessary” vetting for special needs dogs such as heartworm treatment and emergency care for the ill. $250 covers the above mentioned vetting and a rescue issued martingale collar. $200 covers health certificate (required) and USDA certified transport. Because we are not able to do a home visit in person, we ask our applicants to email us pictures or video of the home and yard. This should give us a good idea of where the adopted dog would be spending most of its time – therefore, a picture of every room is NOT necessary, just the logical places. If you have a fenced yard, show us. If you live in a city setting with no yard, but use a park, show us. We also love to see pictures of our adopters and/or their families and pets. And finally, if we feel like you are the best match, we will have the foster home contact you to answer any questions you might have about the dog you are interested in adopting. If after learning more about the pup you are interested in, you still want to move forward – the last step is a phone interview to clear up any questions we might have on your application as well as answer any questions you might still have for us. At that point you will receive a contract and a request for payment. We ask that you return both to us as soon as possible in order for us to book your new pup’s transport and remove them from our website. We offer PayPal as an option for those who need to use a credit card if you do not already have a PayPal account, we will gladly accept a personal check or cashier’s check. Your adoption fee is tax deductible because we are a federal 501c3 nonprofit organization. Please keep a copy of your check or PayPal transaction as your receipt for tax records.

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