Animal Welfare Professionals

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  • 1.  Are medical adoptions treated differently than regular adoptions at your organization?

    Posted 11-17-2021 11:04 AM
    What does your organization do when you have an animal with a broken leg, or other injury or illness that requires advanced care? Do you allow public adopters to adopt? If so, are there forms they must sign, veterinary reference letters required, or follow-up checks on medical care conducted?

    We are trying to balance being open about adoptions but also ensuring the adopter is prepared for the medical expenses they may face, and that the pet will receive the needed care. and would love to hear best practices from other organizations that are doing this well.
    #AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms
    #Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization

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    Alexis Pugh
    Director, Memphis Animal Services
    www.memphisanimalservices.com

    Organizational Management
    & Pet Support Services Specialist
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  • 2.  RE: Are medical adoptions treated differently than regular adoptions at your organization?

    Posted 11-17-2021 01:12 PM
    Alexis,

    This is an awesome question.  I will be honest these cases are very tricky to deal with especially since we are in roles where we try not to pass judgement on anyone willing to provide a loving home to a pet. Typically in these situations we have a few people that  we know will foster "medical " cases until the animal is well enough to make it to the adoption process.  We try to consider all aspects of the situation when it comes to these medical cases.  We try to focus on asking certain key questions when considering medical adoptions.  Once these core questions are asked then we try to make the best decision for the animal. Majority of the time when we have these cases we tend to take a FTA ( foster to adopt) approach until the animal is healed, treatment is complete and/or all rechecks are finished and the animal is better shape.

     If an animal has a broken leg these are some of the questions we ask:
      1. Do you have stairs?
      2. Have you ever dealt with an animal with a broken limb?
      3. Do you have an active lifestyle (hiking, climbing,running)? If so, do you agree to not allow this pet to participate in these activities until it is healed?
     4. Do you agree to bring this animal to all future medical, recheck appointments?
    5. Are there other pets in the home?
     We add anything else we think is important to ask.

     I think that overall I have not found a right or wrong way to handle these situations. Most often we try to use our best judgement and make sure that we are making the best decision for the pets.  I hope that this information is helpful to you even though it's not a lot. 








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    Marissa Reid
    Clinic Director
    LifeLine Animal Project

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    Access To Care Specialist
    Clinic Management Specialist
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  • 3.  RE: Are medical adoptions treated differently than regular adoptions at your organization?

    Posted 11-18-2021 06:55 AM
    If the condition is something we plan to treat (say, a broken leg, dental work, etc) we let the animal go home as a pre-adopt, or foster-to-adopt, and have the adopter return to our clinic for services. We have a contract addendum outlining what those medical services are that we will (and will not) provide, and the adopter meets with a DVM or the clinic manager at the final stage of adoption to ensure they have received responsible medical advice and have all of their questions answered.

    For animals with serious ongoing conditions we are treating and the adopter will need to continue, we have a medical consult process in which the adopter also gets to meet with a DVM for the same process. We find it helps the adopter feel confident about the care and condition, and it helps us feel secure that we've provided the right education and any training the adopter might need.

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    Monica Frenden-Tarant
    Maddie's® Director of Feline Lifesaving
    American Pets Alive!
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