Safe Harbor Farm 

Occasionally, SHF has room for one more, but we NEVER kill an animal to make room for another.

Hoping that Safe Harbor Farm has room for a pet you're looking to surrender?  When space allows, we're willing to house one more but, like most rescues, WE GET 1000% MORE CALLS TO SURRENDER ANIMALS THAN WE DO CALLS TO ADOPT (roughly 45 animals each week!), especially cats.  The sad truth is, this area doesn't have enough homes for all the cats & dogs being born!  

    Below you will find...

• SHF's process for owner surrender
  
• A note for cat owners
  
• Our favorite breeds (yes, we have a few favorites!)
  
• Dogs better handled by breed-specific rescues
  
• Helpful hints to find a great new home for your pet
  
• A note about Pit Bulls, Hounds & Lab mixes
  
• SHF's "Please help to find my pet a new home" application
  

Process for owner surrender and inclusion in
SHF's Adoptions Program

1.        application review (this can take a day or two)

2.        temperament testing at Safe Harbor Farm (to be
              included, a dog must get along with other cats & dogs and
              pass 3 out of 4 simple temperament tests)

3.        vaccine & heartworm test update

4.        spay-neutering (if not already done)

A note for cat owners

   When a family's bond with their beloved cat must be broken because of serious health problems or death, all of us want to be in the position to help.  It's the forty calls each week we get from folks who are looking to "get rid" of cats because "they're moving," "just had a baby," or they let a cat have kittens that they couldn't dump on friends, neighbors or the local pet store that make us want to scream!
   We just don't have the room for this number of cats!  No one does, and that is why EACH OF the local shelters puts down more than 100 innocent cats per week many weeks of the year.  These callers need to take responsibility for CAREFULLY re-homing their cats themselves (beginning, the way we do, with checking a vet reference for each potential adopter - see our helpful hints, below).
   So...if you want SHF to find the purr-fect home for YOUR cat, we must have YOUR help to do so.
   To get into our program, a cat must:

  1.  be spay-neutered (or the funds provided so we can do this);
  2.  be up-to-date on vaccines (or the funds provided so we can do this);
  3.  get along with other cats;
   4.    have a recent negative FeLV test;
  5.  have a $20/month sponsor for a minimum of 8 months 
           (NOTE: Eight months is the average time it takes for us to
                          find an excellent home for a cat).  

A few of our favorite cat & dog breeds

Bostons & most other Terriers
Pugs
Cocker & Cavalier King Charles Spaniels
French Bulldogs
Dobermans
Pekingese
White Shepherds
Persians
American Curls
Scottish Folds

Dogs we do not handle
(For these breeds, we recommend you contact
rescue organizations specific for the breed.)

Akitas               Bouviers
Chows               Collies
Dalmatians        Newfoundlands
Mastiffs             Shelties
Rottweilers          Huskies
St Bernards        Samoyeds
Old English Sheepdogs
Pomeranians

A special note about Pit Bulls, Pit mixes, Hounds,
Hound mixes & Lab mixes

     Sadly, the number of these dogs far outnumber the homes interested in them.  Ask any municipal shelter across the country what the #1, #2 and #3 breeds of dogs killed at their shelter is, and the answer will be Pits, Chows & Lab crosses, together with Hounds and crosses of Pits, Chows & Hounds. Tens of thousands of them are killed in this state each year.
       Safe Harbor Farm is no better than any other rescue group at finding good homes for these dogs. They can be terrific pets, but allowing them to breed when so many of them die for lack of interested homes is unethical and irresponsible.
       At this time, Safe Harbor Farm is not accepting pit bulls, pit crosses, hounds, hound crosses or lab mixes.

Helpful hints for finding a great new home for your pet

• Always ask potential adopters for the telephone number(s) of their veterinarian(s), then call each vet's office for a reference. You'll find that most are very helpful!  This will quickly eliminate those horrible types that wish to acquire animals for dog fighting bait, laboratory experimentation & feeding to their snakes. (YES, this all happens in this area!)
• Copy one of SHF's adoption application forms, and ask all potential adopters the same questions.
• Post pictures of your pet at all vet's offices, together with a description of their qualities and needs.
• Don't lie about your pet's faults (and be willing to recognize that some of these faults might be your own, if you haven't provided good, consistent, reward-based training).
• Be prepared to update your pet on all vaccines and lab tests (leukemia or heartworm testing, stool sample) prior to placing. 
• Request that potential adopters bring pictures of previous pets and their home if you're not willing to visit their home directly.

  Click HERE for SHF's Surrender Application