Adoption Forms... and What Will Get You Denied

So, if you've talked with me in any depth about adoption forms, you've probably heard me say that they're not meant to be difficult... and they're not.  They're not meant to see how many hoops I can make you jump through to get a rescue animal, but rather, they're to check that you have a basic idea on how to care for the animal you're trying to adopt, and that you have the appropriate cage / accessories for this animal.  That is all. 

Short of major red flags, most people do get approved.  Some people seem horrified at that thought, but again, I'm not asking if people are going to be stay-home-chin-moms, but rather, if they can afford vet care, what kind of cage they have, and so on.  Most people are approved, and I honestly believe that that is because... the average person can care for the average small pet that we have up for adoption.  If you have the appropriate cage and accessories (or are willing to get those... as we do sell them or can point you in the right direction if you'd rather), and are willing to learn, we are willing to help.  It's really that simple.

So what gets people denied?  There's a few things that unequivocally will get you denied -- keeping the animals outside or in some area that's unheated / un-cooled.  Having an inappropriate cage (not as in, it's too small, but rather, keeping chinchillas in an aquarium).  Lying on the adoption form and myself finding out.  You lie once, you don't get a second chance.  I think I have a blog post from years ago about how someone told me they had all these wonderful cages to use... showed me pics even... and turns out, the pics were all random cage pics off of google.  Not even stock pics, like the one pic was a cage that had an animal in it, and the person went as far to say something along the lines of, well, don't mind the poos, I will clean it first.  When confronted with the fact that these cages were not, in fact, theirs... the person told me, well, they didn't have a cage yet, but didn't want to get denied due to that.  Sad to say... but I would have helped them get a cage in whatever way I could... but lying to me, especially in this case, multiple times... nope.  Done.  Because how should I know the next thing isn't a lie?

With many things people put down on adoption forms, I will send questions back.  If there's any doubt regarding an answer, I will ask for more info about it.  Because of this back and forth, this is why many people get approved to adopt, because with more information, I'm satisfied that the home would be great.

But some people are just... difficult.  I had one case from about a week ago that I wanted to share with you all, and I snapped a screenshot of the one part that just made me shake my head.  First off, they didn't put their name or contact information.  They also didn't sign the bottom of the form.  You might think, oh no big deal, but get the form from a generic email address... so should you not fill out a phone number or email... even if your form is wonderful, I have no way of contacting you.  And in case you're thinking, oh, well maybe they just missed it -- the questions on these forms all require an answer.  You will not be able to submit the form without them being answered (well, there's a few that have a different setting, but not most).  This person in question, for every question they didn't want to answer, put a dash ( -- ) for the answer.  So this had to take a little time to do!  But let me share with you the fun screenshot:

So... "I know all of this but why would I need to write everything down?" -- how about... because I asked for it?  Because you won't get to adopt without you writing down an answer?... and by reading those answers, I approve the adoption form?  Maybe this is difficult for people, I don't know.  But if there's a question, it needs to be answered.  If the question isn't answered in a way that I think is complete enough, and I want more info, you better bet that if I ask you for more info, you're not getting any farther in that adoption until you give me that additional info I asked for.  Why is this so difficult?  This is how adoptions work! 

This is one of those things -- I'm happy to help people.  Really I am.  If I can help, I'm glad to.  Even the people who I whine about, I'd rather help people learn than not.  But... I'm only human as well.  These things wear on me, and I get more adoption forms that are like "I don't have to tell you what cage I have" than I should.  And I restrain myself from responding back, "I don't have to let you adopt..." I just delete and move on.

Most people get approved... but the ones that don't... make the best stories.  lol