If you want to welcome an animal into your home please ADOPT it, do not buy it.

Italian kennels, especially in the South, are full of pets waiting for a family. Among these also puppies of a few months, of breed and of all sizes, from 1 to 100 kg.

 

In fact, every year we see cruel and senseless abandonments: heartless people who leave unwanted litters on the street and do not even bother to sterilize their mothers, animals bought at a high price that get bored after a few months, abandonments due to transfers to homes where animals are not allowed and obviously the wicked public management of strays that causes out-of-control reproductions and speculation by those who earn a lot of money by keeping dogs in kennels and therefore have no interest in solving the problem.

 

Adopting a dog or cat that lives on the street or in a kennel is therefore an act of civil responsibility, as well as of enormous humanity, which compensates for the uncivilized behavior of some ignorant and selfish individuals. Furthermore, adoption manages in many cases to set a good example for friends and relatives, and to create a virtuous circle of subsequent adoptions. In fact, given the scarce resources available to volunteers, each animal adopted represents another saved from the street and from suffering.

 

Adopting a four-legged friend is easy but requires some small reflections:

Dogs and cats have physical needs linked to their character and breed, even if they are crossbreeds of different breeds, which must be understood, respected and cultivated

A furry friend requires some of your time, space and money

A pet is a friend forever and not an object that can be left on the street when no longer needed

 

If you have never had an animal, we recommend that you first talk to an acquaintance who has one, in order to understand the step you are about to take and clarify your doubts.

 

In order for your adoption to be aware and definitive, we recommend that you carefully evaluate the following questions:

 

Do you have time and space to welcome a furry dog ​​into your life and home?

Do you have a stable family and economic situation, or in any case that allows you to take care of your four-legged friend without having to give up basic necessities?

Are you ready to love your furry friend and take care of his needs forever, even when he gets sick or your situation changes?

 

If the answer to all of these questions is yes, then get in touch with the nearest charity that runs a shelter or that operates at the kennel in your area. Or look for your next four-legged friend among our appeals.

 

Many of the volunteers who work to find a family for stray animals are part of national associations such as ENPA, LIDA, AIDAA, OIPA and Lega del Cane, but there are thousands of shelters and small local volunteer organizations that operate thanks to word of mouth, country clubs and social networks. In many cases it is possible to obtain information by searching for the keywords "adoption" "dog" or "cat" and specifying the city, on a search engine such as Google, but you can also find valuable information on the bulletin board of a veterinarian in the area or a local kennel. Even on Facebook there are often announcements and appeals for adoption, but in this case you need to be friends with the right person. For example, if you know someone who has recently adopted a dog or cat, don't hesitate to contact them, they can probably help you find a volunteer in your area.

 

In general, the path to follow is the same for all adoptions:

• Look for the friend who makes your heart beat faster in the kennel, on flyers or online appeals. Be it small and short-haired or huge and furry, so call the phone number or write to the email accompanying the appeal.

• The volunteer you contact will ask you a few simple questions to help you make the best decision about your future four-legged friend. For example, it will ask you if you have a fenced garden, what area you live in, how much time per day you have available and if you have had experience with pets in the past.

• Once you have verified that all the adoption requirements are met, a volunteer from your area will come to do the pre-foster care, i.e. an informal chat to understand the truthfulness of the information exchanged on the phone and an inspection of your home to evaluate the spaces and some tips on how to prepare your home in the best way for the arrival of your new furry friend.

• Once the pre-foster care is successful, the friend you have chosen can come to your home. If the distance between your home and the shelter or kennel that hosts it is short, you will generally be asked to pick it up yourself, otherwise a so-called "relay" will be carried out, that is a transport with suitable and refrigerated vehicles, operated by a volunteer aware of the needs of the animals transported. In the latter case, you will then go and pick up your furry friend at the meeting point, which is usually a shelter run by volunteers from your area. Note that for the costs of vaccination, sterilization, registration and transport, you may be asked for a variable contribution from 50 to 200 Euros, depending on the intervention.

• A few days after the adoption, it is possible that a local volunteer will come to visit you to check the condition of the dog and give you advice on adaptation. This phase is called "post-foster care" and is sometimes simply done by sending photos and videos of your furry friend wagging his tail and running happily around your yard. The post-foster care checks can be multiple and surprising, in order to be sure that the animal's state of health is real and continuous.

 

Sometimes the person who approaches the adoption may have the impression that the procedure to be followed is too long and overly complicated. Too many checks! Too many questions! Too many requests! After all, you're just trying to save an animal that would otherwise "rot" in the kennel!

 

Instead, it is necessary to understand that in many cases that simple "animal" that you want to adopt has had a very sad and sometimes heartbreaking story behind it, and that a very strong bond has been created with the volunteer who saved him, rescued him. and cared for. So the latter / she wants to be absolutely sure / that all the suffering of the past are not repeated in the future.

 

In addition to this, it is important to underline that dogs are still used to guard, linked to outdoor chains even in extreme cold and heat conditions, for illegal fights or to train fighting dogs, for reproductions and sale of puppies. purebred, for scientific experiments and not least to be mistreated, tortured and killed by the mentally ill.

 

If you love animals and you really want to have a furry friend, every question and check, both before and after, will not be a problem and indeed will help the volunteer who entrusts him to feel comfortable and have the opportunity to save another furry one from the street.