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For aspiring pet parents, planning and searching for the perfect pup to adopt can be a daunting task. The most important step is to ensure you and your family are fully committed to owning a pet. After all, caring for a pup is rewarding but also challenging, and requires a lot of adjustment.
Always ensure you are ready for a dog before embarking on a responsible pet ownership journey. This includes everything from researching about dogs, to doggy-proofing your home!
With local pet adoption, there are several common steps that most places will require pet parents to accomplish. First, when you express interest in adopting at a shelter, you’ll typically go through an interview to assess your commitment to your new pup’s health and happiness.
Next, some shelters will also conduct home visits to check if your home is dog friendly. A few weeks after you bring your new furry friend home, they may also do some welfare checks to ensure your pup is adjusting well to their new environment.
While the whole process may sound tedious, it is absolutely necessary to help your pup find the right home, as well as helping you ease into your role as a new pet parent!
When you’re looking for the perfect pup, it’s important to think about whether their specific breed or personality fits in with your household. For instance, if you have children, make sure to pick a family-friendly dog. If you live in a HDB, make sure to adopt HDB approved breeds like Poodles and Border Terriers from local animal shelters. To find out more about adopting dogs in Singapore, read our article here.
Check in with the animal handlers in the shelter to understand more about each pup’s personalities. It’s also important to understand what kind of difficulties some of these dogs face. Because of their past experiences and traumas, some dogs may be more aggressive or timid. They may require more time and effort to acclimate to you and your home. Others may need additional medical attention or specially formulated food. Picky pups may also need extra tasty dog food and treats like The Barkery’s Bark Kwa Dog Treats.
Before adopting a dog, also check if the shelter will provide services like sterilisation, microchipping, vaccinations, de-worming and as well as treatments for fleas and ticks. These are essential for new pups, so you’ll need to get a veterinarian’s help if it’s not provided for by the shelter.
Basic necessities like food, a collar and leash, etc are also must-haves. A comfortable dog bed like Henry Hottie’s ARC Dog Bed can help your pup settle into your home fast. These could be an additional expense to consider.
Now, let’s take a look at 9 places with dogs up for adoption in Singapore!
Adoption Fee: Free
One of the largest animal charities in Singapore, Animal Lovers League houses more than 700 animals in their shelters. With their humane no-kill policy in place, you can be sure these dogs (and cats!) are being well taken care of. Here, pups can be adopted for free. However, the pups may still need to get sterilised, microchipped, etc. Check with animal handlers to find out more.
Adoption Fee: $70 - $250
With a strong community built around their trademark Stray Management Programme, Causes For Animals has been working for over 30 years to build a stray-free Singapore. Here, the dog adoption fee ranges from $70 - $250 depending on the breed and age of your new dog, as well as the types of procedures they need to get done. An optional add-on of $150 will take care of basic necessities like toys, food, shampoo, treats, a leash and collar.
Adoption Fee: $70 - $250
A household name, SPCA houses a wide range of animals from dogs and cats to small pets like hamsters. SPCA rehoming could be tough depending on the dog, as they may need more time to adjust. The best way to help them get used to their new environment is getting a large dog cage like Dr. Cage’s Foldable Dog Cage as it provides them with a safe environment to stay in the first few weeks. Adopting a pet at SPCA will cost around $70 - $250 as well, depending on the breed, age and duration of stay at the shelter.
Adoption Fee: $250 - $350
Specifically built to care for and rehome dogs, ASD even has an online portal so you can browse their Singapore Specials! Plus, ASD also organises regular adoption drives so you can interact with any pup of your interest prior to bringing them home.
Adoptions at ASD are slightly pricier, from around $230 - $350, but includes all the procedures you may require for your pup. If you need to get basic supplies like dog food, give Wellness’ Dry Dog Food a try as they’re great for beginner pet parents. This varies based on the age and type of dog you’re planning to adopt.
Adoption Fee: $250
If you’re willing and able to put in the time to care for dogs that require a little more attention, Voices For Animals has you covered. Rescuing mostly ex-breeding dogs who are typically over 5 years of age, VFA encourages more experienced pet owners to take on the challenge of caring for these pups.
On their end, VFA uses the $250 adoption fee to support the running of VFA, but may require up to $500 or more to cover mandatory medical check ups and blood tests. In addition, VFA can be strict with their adoption process, such as requiring all members of the household to be present during screening and adoption to ensure every member is equally committed and responsible.
That said, VFA pairs adopters with volunteers that will visit occasionally to check on your pup and help ensure they are being taken care of. This a great opportunity for pet parents to ask questions and get clarification on how best to care for your new pup.
Adoption Fee: $280
Oasis Second Chance Animal Shelter if focused on providing the pups in their shelter a second chance at happiness. Just like VFA and other shelters, they have an in-depth adoption process to not only better ascertain your readiness to be a pet owner, but also to help you get comfortable with your new role.
This procedure includes at least 2-4 bonding sessions with your potential new pup, 2 home visits before and after a 2-week long home stay with your new pup and occasional ad-hoc home visits from volunteers over the next 6 months after confirming the adoption. Through the regular visits and home stays, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know your new pup as well as ensure they are a right fit for your family.
Adoption Fee: $300 - $400 for dogs
Founded in 2009, Purely Adoptions is a network of foster care homes that look after animals waiting to find their new forever homes. Starting as a simple facebook page with the aim of sharing posts on pets up for adoption, Purely Adoption has since grown into a large following of over 15,000.
If you’re ready to start your journey of responsible pet ownership, Purely’s a great place to start. On their online portal, you can view available pups (and cats!) up for adoption. These puppy profiles include everything from their age, breed and medical conditions to some of their characteristics, positive and negative. These profiles help you make a better choice when finding the right pup for you.
Adoption Fee: $515 for Project ADORE and $300 for other adoptions
A volunteer-run organisation dedicated to the welfare of street dogs in Singapore, SoSD’s website has a lot of great resources on adopting and caring for pups. Plus, if you’re interested to help out the stray dog scene in Singapore, you can give sponsoring dogs or fostering a try through SoSD.
If you’re adopting, however, SoSD also provides excellent support through Project ADORE (Adoption of Singapore Specials into HDB). Large dog lovers will love Project ADORE as SoSD provides obedience training and other guidance to help your pup settle into their new home.
Adoption Fee: $350 for sterilization and microchipping
HOPE Dog Rescue is an animal welfare group wholly run by volunteers and supported by dog lovers. They have a soft spot for senior dogs in particular and believe in delivering hope and love to street dogs. At the same time, they also do their best to help animals who are abused, neglected and abandoned.
The seniors usually undergo dental, cardiac and abdominal ultrasound. All rescues also undergo a blood test for heartworm, tick fever, kidney and liver functions. The amount spent on these rescues often go into the thousands but they charge only $350 adoption fee. This is to ensure that the dog has no hidden health issues and the adopter will have a healthy and happy dog.
If you too want to give these seniors a loving home for the rest of their life, check out their blog or write in to them with your desired criteria and they will try to match you with a suitable dog.
Caring for a pup is extremely fun, but it requires a lot of planning and work, especially in the early weeks and months. For shelter dogs that need a better home, it’s absolutely vital that you consider your situation carefully to ensure you’re ready for a pup. Nevertheless, once you embark on this journey with your pup, it’ll be hard to look back!
TAMMI CHNG
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