Animal Welfare Professionals

I'm interested in finding out what shelters/rescues are putting in their adoption contracts concerning future spay/neuter of very young puppies (roughly 9 weeks - 5 mos) and if/how you enforce those spay/neuter requirements in the contracts. We consider spay/neuter a very important part of our mission and want to do all we can to enforce the spay/neuter portion of our puppy contract. 

The rescue I volunteer for will only adopt young puppies out with a spay/neuter addendum to our regular adoption contract. We also attach a several hundred dollar spay/neuter fee to the normal adoption fee. The spay/neuter fee is refunded when we receive proof of spay/neuter by the date listed in the signed contract. We've had a couple of puppy adopters basically tell us recently, "I don't care what I signed, I'm not getting my dog spay/neutered until I think it's the right time - not by the date in the contract." These folks are fine with forfeiting their spay/neuter fee.  In addition to forfeiting the spay/neuter fee our contract states we have the right to take the dog back if the adopter doesn't comply.

We're trying to determine how we want to move forward with our spay/neuter puppy contracts ... spay/neuter at 8 weeks so the adopter has no chance to break the contract; raise the spay/neuter fee to increase the likelihood of them complying with the contract they signed - knowing that the increased fee could price some people out of adopting; or just stop bringing young puppies into the rescue.

Please share what your group is doing to try and ensure everyone complies with their spay/neuter contracts and how you enforce the contracts if they don't comply. Have you taken any adopters to court? Have you taken any dogs back from adopters who haven't complied?

We basically do the same thing as your organization, although we have them write a separate $125 check for the guarantee. We are getting more responses from the adopters that their vet won't S/N until the dog has her first heat, or is 1 yr old at least, etc. Once in awhile we request confirmation from the vet but not always. We don't take their $125, though, as technically we could. We also provide a $50 voucher for S/N and depending on what the adopter or vet has told us, we will still honor if it goes past the date on the contract. As far as I know, our shelter hasn't gone out to take the dog back, as again, technically we could per the contract. There are two of us who do the follow-up on the contracts and admittedly, we need to do that sooner. Plus it can take several calls, emails or texts to get some to respond.

It can take 2-3 months to get a vet appointment in our rural area, so that is also an issue. Maybe at the time of adoption, we should have them make the vet appointment while at our shelter and then schedule calls prior to the appointment date. 

Unfortunately, I obviously don't know the answer. We do try to alter them before they are adopted, but we get so many puppies and people are anxious to adopt them, that we still do several foster-to-adopt contracts. I'd love to hear what other shelters are doing.

I'm interested in finding out what shelters/rescues are putting in their adoption contracts concerning future spay/neuter of very young puppies (roughly 9 weeks - 5 mos) and if/how you enforce those spay/neuter requirements in the contracts. We consider spay/neuter a very important part of our mission and want to do all we can to enforce the spay/neuter portion of our puppy contract. 

The rescue I volunteer for will only adopt young puppies out with a spay/neuter addendum to our regular adoption contract. We also attach a several hundred dollar spay/neuter fee to the normal adoption fee. The spay/neuter fee is refunded when we receive proof of spay/neuter by the date listed in the signed contract. We've had a couple of puppy adopters basically tell us recently, "I don't care what I signed, I'm not getting my dog spay/neutered until I think it's the right time - not by the date in the contract." These folks are fine with forfeiting their spay/neuter fee.  In addition to forfeiting the spay/neuter fee our contract states we have the right to take the dog back if the adopter doesn't comply.

We're trying to determine how we want to move forward with our spay/neuter puppy contracts ... spay/neuter at 8 weeks so the adopter has no chance to break the contract; raise the spay/neuter fee to increase the likelihood of them complying with the contract they signed - knowing that the increased fee could price some people out of adopting; or just stop bringing young puppies into the rescue.

Please share what your group is doing to try and ensure everyone complies with their spay/neuter contracts and how you enforce the contracts if they don't comply. Have you taken any adopters to court? Have you taken any dogs back from adopters who haven't complied?

We basically do the same thing as your organization, although we have them write a separate $125 check for the guarantee. We are getting more responses from the adopters that their vet won't S/N until the dog has her first heat, or is 1 yr old at least, etc. Once in awhile we request confirmation from the vet but not always. We don't take their $125, though, as technically we could. We also provide a $50 voucher for S/N and depending on what the adopter or vet has told us, we will still honor if it goes past the date on the contract. As far as I know, our shelter hasn't gone out to take the dog back, as again, technically we could per the contract. There are two of us who do the follow-up on the contracts and admittedly, we need to do that sooner. Plus it can take several calls, emails or texts to get some to respond.

It can take 2-3 months to get a vet appointment in our rural area, so that is also an issue. Maybe at the time of adoption, we should have them make the vet appointment while at our shelter and then schedule calls prior to the appointment date. 

Unfortunately, I obviously don't know the answer. We do try to alter them before they are adopted, but we get so many puppies and people are anxious to adopt them, that we still do several foster-to-adopt contracts. I'd love to hear what other shelters are doing.

I'm interested in finding out what shelters/rescues are putting in their adoption contracts concerning future spay/neuter of very young puppies (roughly 9 weeks - 5 mos) and if/how you enforce those spay/neuter requirements in the contracts. We consider spay/neuter a very important part of our mission and want to do all we can to enforce the spay/neuter portion of our puppy contract. 

The rescue I volunteer for will only adopt young puppies out with a spay/neuter addendum to our regular adoption contract. We also attach a several hundred dollar spay/neuter fee to the normal adoption fee. The spay/neuter fee is refunded when we receive proof of spay/neuter by the date listed in the signed contract. We've had a couple of puppy adopters basically tell us recently, "I don't care what I signed, I'm not getting my dog spay/neutered until I think it's the right time - not by the date in the contract." These folks are fine with forfeiting their spay/neuter fee.  In addition to forfeiting the spay/neuter fee our contract states we have the right to take the dog back if the adopter doesn't comply.

We're trying to determine how we want to move forward with our spay/neuter puppy contracts ... spay/neuter at 8 weeks so the adopter has no chance to break the contract; raise the spay/neuter fee to increase the likelihood of them complying with the contract they signed - knowing that the increased fee could price some people out of adopting; or just stop bringing young puppies into the rescue.

Please share what your group is doing to try and ensure everyone complies with their spay/neuter contracts and how you enforce the contracts if they don't comply. Have you taken any adopters to court? Have you taken any dogs back from adopters who haven't complied?

#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms

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Gigi Zoltek
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I'm interested in finding out what shelters/rescues are putting in their adoption contracts concerning future spay/neuter of very young puppies (roughly 9 weeks - 5 mos) and if/how you enforce those spay/neuter requirements in the contracts. We consider spay/neuter a very important part of our mission and want to do all we can to enforce the spay/neuter portion of our puppy contract. 

The rescue I volunteer for will only adopt young puppies out with a spay/neuter addendum to our regular adoption contract. We also attach a several hundred dollar spay/neuter fee to the normal adoption fee. The spay/neuter fee is refunded when we receive proof of spay/neuter by the date listed in the signed contract. We've had a couple of puppy adopters basically tell us recently, "I don't care what I signed, I'm not getting my dog spay/neutered until I think it's the right time - not by the date in the contract." These folks are fine with forfeiting their spay/neuter fee.  In addition to forfeiting the spay/neuter fee our contract states we have the right to take the dog back if the adopter doesn't comply.

We're trying to determine how we want to move forward with our spay/neuter puppy contracts ... spay/neuter at 8 weeks so the adopter has no chance to break the contract; raise the spay/neuter fee to increase the likelihood of them complying with the contract they signed - knowing that the increased fee could price some people out of adopting; or just stop bringing young puppies into the rescue.

Please share what your group is doing to try and ensure everyone complies with their spay/neuter contracts and how you enforce the contracts if they don't comply. Have you taken any adopters to court? Have you taken any dogs back from adopters who haven't complied?

#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms

------------------------------
Gigi Zoltek
------------------------------

I'm interested in finding out what shelters/rescues are putting in their adoption contracts concerning future spay/neuter of very young puppies (roughly 9 weeks - 5 mos) and if/how you enforce those spay/neuter requirements in the contracts. We consider spay/neuter a very important part of our mission and want to do all we can to enforce the spay/neuter portion of our puppy contract. 

The rescue I volunteer for will only adopt young puppies out with a spay/neuter addendum to our regular adoption contract. We also attach a several hundred dollar spay/neuter fee to the normal adoption fee. The spay/neuter fee is refunded when we receive proof of spay/neuter by the date listed in the signed contract. We've had a couple of puppy adopters basically tell us recently, "I don't care what I signed, I'm not getting my dog spay/neutered until I think it's the right time - not by the date in the contract." These folks are fine with forfeiting their spay/neuter fee.  In addition to forfeiting the spay/neuter fee our contract states we have the right to take the dog back if the adopter doesn't comply.

We're trying to determine how we want to move forward with our spay/neuter puppy contracts ... spay/neuter at 8 weeks so the adopter has no chance to break the contract; raise the spay/neuter fee to increase the likelihood of them complying with the contract they signed - knowing that the increased fee could price some people out of adopting; or just stop bringing young puppies into the rescue.

Please share what your group is doing to try and ensure everyone complies with their spay/neuter contracts and how you enforce the contracts if they don't comply. Have you taken any adopters to court? Have you taken any dogs back from adopters who haven't complied?

I'm interested in finding out what shelters/rescues are putting in their adoption contracts concerning future spay/neuter of very young puppies (roughly 9 weeks - 5 mos) and if/how you enforce those spay/neuter requirements in the contracts. We consider spay/neuter a very important part of our mission and want to do all we can to enforce the spay/neuter portion of our puppy contract. 

The rescue I volunteer for will only adopt young puppies out with a spay/neuter addendum to our regular adoption contract. We also attach a several hundred dollar spay/neuter fee to the normal adoption fee. The spay/neuter fee is refunded when we receive proof of spay/neuter by the date listed in the signed contract. We've had a couple of puppy adopters basically tell us recently, "I don't care what I signed, I'm not getting my dog spay/neutered until I think it's the right time - not by the date in the contract." These folks are fine with forfeiting their spay/neuter fee.  In addition to forfeiting the spay/neuter fee our contract states we have the right to take the dog back if the adopter doesn't comply.

We're trying to determine how we want to move forward with our spay/neuter puppy contracts ... spay/neuter at 8 weeks so the adopter has no chance to break the contract; raise the spay/neuter fee to increase the likelihood of them complying with the contract they signed - knowing that the increased fee could price some people out of adopting; or just stop bringing young puppies into the rescue.

Please share what your group is doing to try and ensure everyone complies with their spay/neuter contracts and how you enforce the contracts if they don't comply. Have you taken any adopters to court? Have you taken any dogs back from adopters who haven't complied?

I'm interested in finding out what shelters/rescues are putting in their adoption contracts concerning future spay/neuter of very young puppies (roughly 9 weeks - 5 mos) and if/how you enforce those spay/neuter requirements in the contracts. We consider spay/neuter a very important part of our mission and want to do all we can to enforce the spay/neuter portion of our puppy contract. 

The rescue I volunteer for will only adopt young puppies out with a spay/neuter addendum to our regular adoption contract. We also attach a several hundred dollar spay/neuter fee to the normal adoption fee. The spay/neuter fee is refunded when we receive proof of spay/neuter by the date listed in the signed contract. We've had a couple of puppy adopters basically tell us recently, "I don't care what I signed, I'm not getting my dog spay/neutered until I think it's the right time - not by the date in the contract." These folks are fine with forfeiting their spay/neuter fee.  In addition to forfeiting the spay/neuter fee our contract states we have the right to take the dog back if the adopter doesn't comply.

We're trying to determine how we want to move forward with our spay/neuter puppy contracts ... spay/neuter at 8 weeks so the adopter has no chance to break the contract; raise the spay/neuter fee to increase the likelihood of them complying with the contract they signed - knowing that the increased fee could price some people out of adopting; or just stop bringing young puppies into the rescue.

Please share what your group is doing to try and ensure everyone complies with their spay/neuter contracts and how you enforce the contracts if they don't comply. Have you taken any adopters to court? Have you taken any dogs back from adopters who haven't complied?