ADOPT AN ANIMAL

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR ANIMALS!

Get to know our wonderful animals before adopting!

As you know, adopting a pet is a serious, lifelong commitment. To help you find the perfect animal companion for you and your  family, Santé D'Or offers adoption, fostering, and personal counseling services to the Southern California community.  

By adopting an animal from a no-kill rescue like Santé D’Or, you are also helping us provide space to save more animals from suffering and being euthanized at city and county animal shelters.  

Feel free to come by as often as you like. To ensure a good fit, we encourage several visits to our space before adoption, so you and your family can spend time with the animal you are thinking of without any pressure. And if you enjoy spending time with all the animals, but can’t decide just yet, consider fostering an animal or even volunteering with us! Many of our most involved volunteers started by “just looking around.”  

Since our animals stay with us until adoption, we learn their personalities, preferences, and quirks. And we have found we are better able to place animal companions into the correct new homes by taking the time to understand a client’s needs, as well: does the client’s lifestyle suggest a quiet, older animal, or a young, energetic animal? Is he or she ready for a pet with special needs? Are there young children in the home?

What do you get by adopting through Santé D'Or?

When you decide to adopt an animal from us, you will be given a short overview regarding the importance of caring for an animal using natural and holistic food and treatments when possible. Counseling and behavioral advice is also available, prior to and post-adoption. It is our policy to adopt out healthy animals to the best of our ability. However, if an animal has any medical condition of which we are aware, potential adopters will be informed about the condition in advance so that they can make a fully-informed decision whether or not to adopt. Before going home, each animal is spayed or neutered (unless the animal is too young, in which case we will require a refundable spay/neuter deposit and will provide a voucher for spay/neuter) and vaccinated. When the adoption is completed you will receive:  

A clean animal. In addition to flea bathing (when necessary), nails are trimmed and ears cleaned. We are against the de-clawing of animals because of the pain involved during and after the process; however, some of our rescued animals have already had this procedure prior to their arrival. Please speak with the adoption counselor if declawing is an issue for you.

An ID tag and collar. Our phone number is listed on the ID tag to ensure a safe return if he/she is lost. 

How to Adopt

1. Investigate: Check our listings frequently by clicking the “See Our Animals” link above to determine which animals are available. We rescue and adopt so many animals during the week that we sometimes cannot update our website immediately. For the most up-to-date information, visit us in person at Santé D’Or Foundation, 4511 West Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Our adoption hours are: 12-5 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We are closed on Mondays and Thursdays. Adoptions at other times during the week are available by appointment.
2. Apply: Fill out an adoption application and contract. This form includes questions about your readiness to adopt, such as whether you already have a vet, if roommates/family are aware of your adoption plans, and so on, as well as all of our policies. This form can be filled out on the spot or taken home and returned at a later date. We will be happy to discuss our policies with you.
3. Schedule: The application will be reviewed usually within one week, and upon approval a home check appointment (which is required for all adoptions) will be scheduled at a time convenient for you.
4. Home check: If not already being fostered by you, the animal you’ve chosen may be brought to your home at this time. During the visit, any interactions between other animals, young children and surroundings will be monitored and observed. Safety considerations such as screens and fences will be addressed.
5. Finalize: If the home check goes well, the animal companion is there to stay for good! The adopter will pay the adoption fee, and a copy of the animal’s medical records will be given to the adopter.
6. Adoption process is complete. Congratulations!
    

Adoption Fees

For many reasons, we strongly discourage purchasing animal companions from pet stores. Please go to our Resources/Education section to read more about issues relating to animal overpopulation and welfare. Our fees are average for a rescue organization, and often include more than is provided when purchasing an animal at a pet shop.

Kitten & Adult Cats: $125
Puppies (under 5 years old): $250
Dogs (over 5 years old): $215
Rabbits: $75

Adoption fee includes:

• Medical records
• First set of standard vaccinations 
• FELV Testing
• Treatment as necessary for worms, fleas, etc.
• ID Tag and collar
• Spay/neuter if not already completed

This fee alone does not cover the costs of medical treatment, food and general maintenance of an animal during his or her stay at Santé D’Or. For other ways you can help contribute to the ongoing care of all of our animals awaiting adoption, please go to our Donate page. (link to Donate Page with active and static rollover). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

RETURNING AN ANIMAL TO US:

While we hope that each adoption is permanent, we know that, for a variety of reasons, at some point keeping your animal may no longer be an option.  No matter the circumstance, if at any point you cannot keep an animal you adopted from Sante D’Or for any reason, the animal must be returned to us.