Adoption Process

What to Expect

When you adopt from TLC, you become a part of our family. We will be there for you with continued support even after adoption.

1. Complete the Online Application

At TLC, our adoption process is simple and straight-forward. We want you to find a new family member and we want our rescue dogs to find their forever home. There is no cost to apply and we do not require you to put a deposit on a dog to be able to meet a dog. An application does not obligate or limit you to adopting the dog listed on the application.

A link to the on-line application is located at the bottom of this FAQ page. Please familiarize yourself with the rest of this process prior to completing the application.

2. We Review All References

  • If you have owned a dog or cat in the past 10 years, we require a veterinary reference. The purpose of this reference is to confirm the veterinary care provided to the pet(s) you currently own or one(s) you previously owned, so please provide the name and phone number of the veterinarian who has treated your pets. 

    At a minimum, we expect that any current dogs have been spayed/neutered & kept up to date on rabies (which is required by law) & distemper, regularly tested for Lyme Disease & Heartworm, and maintained on Flea/Tick & Heartworm preventatives year-round. Where applicable, we expect that family cats are spayed/neutered and kept up to date on Rabies vaccinations.

    Please contact your vet’s office to grant them permission to speak to us.

  • If you do not own your home, we will need to speak to your landlord to confirm you can have a dog and discuss any pet restrictions on your lease; adults living in a home owned by their parents will need to list their parents as landlords.

    It is important you review your lease and/or speak to your landlord about your plans to adopt a dog in advance; that way you will be aware of any restrictions and any fees that may be imposed in your lease.

    We recommend you have this confirmation verifed prior to completing the online application

  • We require you provide at least 2 personal references. Please confirm the phone number you provide for your references are in service and accurate. You may want to check with your references in advance to let them know to expect & return our calls.

3. Additional Considerations

We require that all dogs and cats in your household are spayed or neutered, kept up-to-date on legally mandated vaccines and that they are seen annually for a veterinary check-up.

We do not require a fenced in yard and don’t have restrictions regarding children for all dogs but may have additional requirements or restrictions where appropriate/necessary for a specific dog.

Depending on the dog you are interested in, or any special needs consideration, we may also schedule a home visit.

We do not adopt siblings to the same household.

While we work around an approved applicant’s schedule to set up a meeting/adoption appointment, we do not hold dogs that are ready for adoption for someone to adopt at a later date. If you are unable to adopt the dog when it is ready for adoption, we will allow another approved applicant to meet & adopt that dog if it is a good fit for their family.

Please understand that it is in the dog’s best interest to move into his/her forever home and start bonding with its new family, and that keeping that dog in foster for even an extra week longer than necessary means we would not have open foster space to save another dog at risk for euthanasia.

We conduct our adoption appointments in Malvern, PA. While we will adopt to applicants that do not live in our local area, we do not ship animals to adopters. We work hard to try to ensure that the match between our adopter and the dog is a mutually good fit and feel it is important that a potential adopter’s family, including children and any resident dogs, meet the dog in person prior to making the commitment to adopt

Since we are a foster-based rescue and we need to coordinate with foster families, we only set up private appointments/adoptions with approved applicants

  • We bring a selection of our dogs to “Meet & Greets” at local pet stores & community events to meet the general public (in compliance with PA Dog Law, adoptions cannot be conducted at these public events)

  • If you are approved by us, you are approved for any available dog (who is not already committed to meeting someone) that we, mutually agree might be a good fit for you. If the dog you apply for is still available at that time, and is a good fit for your family, the adoption coordinators will work with you to schedule an appointment; if s/he is not, they will work with you to find another dog.

4. Applicant Interview

Applications are carefully considered and processed by our applications team. After submission, an adoption counselor will contact you to conduct an interview where together you will assess your needs and work to find the right match. We speak to veterinary references, landlords and personal references before approving an application.