Owner Surrender

Owner Surrender

Helping the Homeless, and Stray Pets in Peoria, Illinois

Foster Pet Outreach is a small group of dedicated volunteers who have joined together to help homeless and abandoned pets. We bring these neglected creatures into our personal homes to nurture and guide them back to good health. Because of the personal attention we choose to give to each animal, we are very limited in how many animals we can accept. Our policy is to first help the truly homeless, stray animals who have no advocates, and usually, no other options. When space allows, we do our best to serve the community by accepting animals in need due to their owner's death, nursing home confinement, or grave illness. If the animal you are relinquishing meets these standards, please fill out the following application to help us decide how best to help this animal. Please click here to review our mission statement.

Surrendering your Pet

If this is your personal pet that you need counseling about, we know this is a really hard decision for you. There is nothing more tragic than facing losing a member of your home. If we could serve every pet in need, we would gather them all in. Sadly, our homes and wallets aren't big enough. Sometimes, the only way we can help your pet is to ask you to do what we would if we were able to. We have found that most pet problems fall into one of two categories: People Problems or Pet Problems. We'd like to try to help you solve some of these problems yourself.

Common Problems

Moving "We're moving - we can't find a landlord who will let us keep the pets."... Many landlords don't allow children either, but you'd never give up one of your kids if you couldn't find the right apartment. Affordable rental homes that allow pets are out there if you work to find them. Most people give up too easily.

1. Widen your search. Don't just check the classified ads. Call real estate agents, ask friends and coworkers and relatives. Many apartments are rented via word of mouth before they are ever advertised in the papers.

2. A home that allows pets might be in a different neighborhood than you'd prefer. It might be a few more miles from work, or not as luxurious as you'd like. It might cost a few dollars more. Are you willing to compromise if it means keeping your pet?

3. "No Pets" doesn't always mean "no pets, period". Many landlords automatically rule out pets because they don't want the hassle. Many landlords are pet owners themselves. Just because the ad says "No Pets" doesn't mean you shouldn't go see the apartment anyway. During the interview, ask if pets are absolutely out of the question. You might have a chance! Hint: you'll have better luck asking this question in person than over the phone - it's harder for people to say no to your face.

4. In difficult times, people often have to move in with relatives or friends who don't like dogs or cats. This doesn't have to be an impossible situation. Use a dog crate for your pup while you aren't home. A portable kennel can be set up outside for exercise and can be sold later when you have your own place.

Encourage a landlord to let you keep your pet.

1. Bring your well groomed, well behaved pet to the rental interview. Show your landlord that your dog is well cared for and that you are a responsible pet owner. Bring along an obedience class diploma.

2. Offer an additional security deposit to be able to keep your pet.

3. Use a dog crate. Landlords are much more receptive to dogs they know will be crated when their owners aren't home.

4. Bring references for your dog from former landlords or neighbors, as well as the dog's trainer. Invite your landlord to your current home to show him that your dog has not damaged the property nor has been a nuisance to the neighbors.

Most important, don't feel that you are being unfair to your dog by moving into a smaller place than he is used to. Dogs are very adaptable. They often adjust faster than people. Where he lives isn't as important to him as who he lives with. He wants to be with you and doesn't care where that is!

Lack of Time

"We don't have time for the dog"... As a puppy, your dog took far much more of your time than he does now. Are you really that busy? Can other family members help you care for the dog? Will getting rid of your pet really make your life less stressful? Doggie Daycare, or pet sitters are widely available in the Peoria Area. A lonely neighbor or energetic student may enjoy coming to play with your pup.

New baby

If introduced correctly, there shouldn't be any problems with your pets and the baby. Remember that your pet was there first, and may react just like a first child would. Give your pet the same amount of love and attention that you did before the baby was born and you will be fine. Yes, there are precautions you'll need to take when having a baby, but getting rid of the dog isn't one of them. There's no better way to teach a child how to be loving, compassionate and responsible.

Allergies

Giving up your pet could be a last option, not the first. Intense emotional issues surface when people are told to give up their pets, and can be especially traumatic for children. Allergists estimate that 75% to 90% of patients keep their pets after being told to give them up. In selecting an allergist, look for a physician who is sensitive to your feelings and will do everything possible, within reason, to help you keep your pet.

Behavior

If you got your pet as a puppy or kitten, and now there is a behavior problem you can't live with, you must accept the fact that you are at least partly responsible for the way your dog is now.

You have 4 options:

1. You can continue to live with your pet the way he is now.

2. You can get help to correct the problem.

3. You can give the problem to someone else.

4. You can have the animal destroyed.

Obviously, the first option is out, or you wouldn't be reading this. You're probably most interested in Option 3, so let's talk frankly about that for a moment.

If you were looking for a pet, and could select from all kinds of kittens, puppies, dogs and cats, would you deliberately choose one with a behavior problem? No, certainly not, and neither would anyone else! To make your pet more desirable to other people, you're going to have to take some action to fix his problems.

Most behavior problems aren't that hard to solve. Please feel free to ask us for advice. If we can't help, we can point you to behaviorists and obedience classes that can.

Think hard about Option 2 before deciding it won't work for you - because the only option you have left is #4: having the pet destroyed. that's the bottom line. If you, who know the pet the best, won't give him another chance, why should someone else?

If your dog has ever bitten someone...

If your dog is aggressive with people, or has ever bitten someone, you shouldn't be giving him to anyone else. Could you live with yourself if that dog hurt another person, especially a child? Can you deal with the lawsuit that could result from that? You stand to lose your home and everything else you own. Lawsuits from dog bites are settling for millions of dollars in damages.

Our society today has zero tolerance for a dog with bite history, no matter how minor. A dog that has bitten - whether or not it was his fault - is considered by law to be a dangerous dog. In some states, it's illegal to sell or give away a biting dog. No insurance company will cover a family with a biting dog. And to be perfectly honest, no responsible person in his right mind would ever want to adopt a biting dog.

No matter how much you love your dog, if he has ever bitten anyone, you only have two responsible choices. Take him to a professional trainer or behaviorist for evaluation and maybe the dog can be rehabilitated. This could be costly and time consuming, but very rewarding. If this is not an option for you, take him to your veterinarian and have him humanely euthanized. Don't leave him at a shelter where he might be frightened and confused and put other people at risk. Don't try to place him as a "guard dog" where he might be neglected, abused or used for dog fighting.

As hard as it is to face, putting a potentially dangerous biting dog to sleep is often the only safe and responsible thing to do.

Surrendering your pet to Foster Pet Outreach

We understand very clearly how painful giving up a pet can be, and we know there are times in life that the above solutions just can't apply. Below you will find a link to the Pet Surrender Application. To be considered, you must fill out this application. Please carefully read and understand the following:

1. Foster Pet Outreach is a very small, volunteer organization. We have less than a dozen homes available to take on this commitment. Most of the time, those homes are already filled with another foster pet. Many times, we already have another pet lined up waiting to go into a foster home. Foster homes need breaks occasionally, also, so our number of available foster homes fluctuates.

2. Our first priority is to the truly homeless, abandoned pet. These animals are defenseless, with no one at all to care for them. Your pet is still lucky enough to have you.

3. Our second mission is to care for those pets in need of homes due to an owner's death, nursing home confinement, or serious illness.

4. Lastly considered are owner relinquished pets. We would love to find homes for each and every pet out there. It breaks our hearts to need to turn away any animal. You can help us by doing everything you can to find a home for your pet yourself. Place ads in newspapers, post flyers everywhere, call everyone you know. We know this is hard work. It's exactly what you are asking us to do for you. Please know that every single day, we are asked to take in many, many pets. Your pet may be just wonderful, but we might just not have room for one more. If we are unable to help you, please click on this list for other organizations that may be able to serve you.

5. Every animal we consider is temperament tested. If your pet has any serious behavior issues, such as biting, aggression or has wetting issues, we will not be considering them. We will not be able to find a home for a pet like this.

6. It's sad to say, but there are cats everywhere. In the spring, we may receive 10 to 15 calls daily to take in litters of kittens. If each litter is 4 kittens, that means we've been asked in a single day to take in 40 to 60 cats! It is just not possible to help every one of those kittens. Please, please, please Spay and Neuter your cats and dogs!! For low cost Spay and Neuter: Please contact Tracy McNaught at www.operationsafe.org

7. If time is a factor for you, we won't be your best option. After you return this application, it may take us 7 days to get back to you. From there, we would need to arrange for an evaluation, and find a foster home willing to help. Typically, this is not an extremely quick process, so if you are needing to rehome your pet quickly, you need to call someone else. For a stray dog, we make every effort to find solutions quickly, but an owner surrender is not our emergency - it's yours.

8. Each animal is matched carefully to the foster home. Some homes are only able to take in small dogs, or females, etc. By filling out the owner surrender application, we can better match the right pet to the right home. This does not guarantee your pet a place in a foster home!

9. It will not help to tell us that if we don't take in your pet that you will take it to the pound and they will kill it. In the first place, that is your choice, not our choice, and secondly, many fine animals find homes from the pound also. If you have failed your pet, that is your responsibility, not ours. Every year, we help hundreds of pets, and you are only responsible for the one you have now. Please do the right thing.

10. We will only accept pets from the Central Illinois area.

Click here for Pet Surrender Application