Our Adoption Policy

Adopter’s Options

For those interested in adopting from us we offer 4 options for all animals over 6 months of age

• Home Trial for 1 week
• Immediate Adoption
• Foster to Adopt
• Golden Adopter

*All puppies and kittens 6 months or younger are not available for home trial option.

Adoption Fees

Our adoption fee structure differs from most shelters or rescues. The fee structure reflects a discount for our Rush County residents, as a portion of their county taxes covers the costs associated with adopting animals out. Scroll further down for frequently asked questions regarding our adoption policy to further understand the why behind our fees.

We only allow adoptions of animals not already fixed to Rush County residents, except for a Golden Adopter. Scroll down to read more about how to qualify as a Golden Adopter. This restriction is in place due to our inability to enforce impoundment of an animal that does not return for their scheduled spay or neuter appointment. Already fixed animals or if you qualify as a Golden Adopter can be adopted by anyone from anywhere.

A LOCAL adopter is determined by their Photo ID that shows they are a Rush County Resident. A NON-LOCAL adopter is anyone who does not live in Rush County.

LOCAL ADOPTERS

NON-LOCAL ADOPTERS

Cats	OVER 4 months old	$100
Kittens	UNDER 4 months old	$140
2 Cat Package	OVER 4 months old	$150
2 Kitten Package	UNDER 4 months old	$210
Dogs	OVER 4 months old	$140
Puppies	UNDER 4 months old	$190
Bonded Pair	Cats and Dogs required to be adopted together OVER 4 months old	Cats $100 Dogs $140

OTHER ADOPTION PACKAGES

The following adoption fee packages are available to anyone from anywhere and are not determine by if you are a Rush County Resident. The only restriction applied is if the animal(s) are not already fixed, then only a Rush County Resident can adopt, unless they qualify as a Golden Adopter. Photo ID is required to provide proof of Senior Citizen age and Military Service.

Senior Citizen (65+)	Cats and Dogs 3 years or older	$25
Military Service	Cats and Dogs 3 years or older	$25
Barn/Shop	Cats restricted to working homes, but are friendly and 6 months or older	$25
Golden Age Pets	Cats and Dogs 8 years or older	FREE
Feral / TNR	Wild/Unsocialized	FREE

WHAT YOUR ADOPTION FEE PAYS FOR:

Adopters will receive a printout of the animal’s medical history at the time of adoption.

All dogs/puppies will receive the following from us before adoption

• At least one Distemper/Parvo vaccination
• Bordatella vaccination
• A Rabies vaccination if they are 3 months or older at the time of their spay or neuter
• Flea Prevention
• Intestinal Parasite Prevention or Treatment
• Heartworm Test if over 6 months of age
• Lifetime Registration Microchip (PetLink) if not already microchipped
• Spay and Neuter Surgery

All cats/kittens will receive the following from us before adoption

• At least one FVRCP vaccination
• A Rabies vaccination if they are 3 months or older at the time of their spay or neuter
• Flea Prevention
• At least one dewormer treatment with 3 different dewormers
• Lifetime Registration Microchip (PetLink) if not already microchipped
• Spay and Neuter Surgery

All feral/tnr cats will receive the following

Due to feral cats being by nature not safe to touch, we are unable to microchip them.

• Spay or Neuter Surgery
• 3-year rabies vaccination
• 1 dose of flea treatment applied during surgery
• Left Ear-Tip (1/4 ear tip removed)

Adoption Requirements

• We do not have an application process; all adoptions are first-come, first-served. We do not offer holds
• Adopters can be from any county or state *with restrictions
• You will need a photo ID
• You will need to be 18 years or older
• All cats MUST leave in a carrier
  • We do sell collapsible fabric cat carriers for $20 and Cardboard Carriers for $5
• Cash, Check, and Card are accepted for payment (card has a 3% fee)
• We do accept and encourage monetary donations above and beyond the adoption fee so that we may afford the cost of the adoption benefits and spay and neuter of animals.

What is the Adoption Process?

For all adoptions, visit our shelter anytime during open hours to meet our available animals. If you would like to have your dog(s) at home do a meet and greet before bringing a new dog home, bring them with you. We do not require an appointment for dog to dog meet and greets. Note, that we may require some of the dogs we have available meet your dog(s) first.

Already fixed:

For already fixed animals, the process is very simple. Anyone, anywhere, can adopt our fixed animals. You will sign the adoption contract, receive the medical history for that animal, and take them home the same day. You can read what the document says here: Adoption Contract

Not already fixed:

For our available animals, the process is a little more complicated. We do restrict adoption of these animals to Rush County Residents Only, unless you qualify for Golden Adopter – scroll a little further for more information.

Adopters will follow a Foster-to-Adopt process. The adopter can take the pet home the same day, but they will need to bring the pet back on a scheduled day for their spay or neuter appointment. During this time frame, the adopter will be fully responsible for the pet as if it were legally theirs, but they will not have legal ownership of the animal. The Rushville Animal Shelter will maintain legal ownership of the animal until the pet’s spay or neuter is complete, as evidenced by the microchip being registered to our shelter. You can read what the document says here: Foster to Adopt

The adopter will also sign a surgery packet. This packet covers the risks involved during boarding, transportation, being at a clinic, and the surgery itself. You can read what the document says here: Surgery Packet

The adoption fee will be due at the time these documents are signed.

The return date for the pet will be set for the day before the appointment, between 10am and 4:30pm. It will be a quick process: just let us know the animal’s shelter name and hand the pet over. Anyone, friend or family, can do the drop-off appointment.

Picking the pet up after their surgery is complete will be scheduled for the day after the surgery appointment, between 10am and 4:30pm. For the pickup, we will need the adopter(s) to be in person and to allow time to complete the adoption step. The adopter will sign the adoption contract, go over the post-surgery instructions, and receive the pet’s medical history documents. Once this is complete, the adopter will now have legal ownership of the pet.

If, during the Foster to Adopt period, you need the pet to be seen by a veterinarian, you can have the veterinarian clinic request the medical history directly from us.

Golden adopter Program

The Golden Adopter Program is for those who prefer their adopted pet to be spayed or neutered at their full-service veterinarian clinic, rather than at the clinic we use.

Golden Adopters do not have to be a Rush County Resident to adopt an unfixed animal.

To qualify as a Golden Adopter, you will need to provide the following at the time of adoption:

• Show documented proof of vet care for other animals in current care, such as with receipts or other medical care documents, OR
• Provide a letter written by your veterinarian documenting that you are an active client in good standing

Golden Adopters will also follow a Foster-to-Adopt process, except for bringing the pet back to the shelter for the spay or neuter appointment and you will receive the medical history of the animal before leaving.

The adopter can take the pet home the same day. During this time frame, the adopter will be fully responsible for the pet as if it were legally theirs, but they will not have legal ownership of the animal. The Rushville Animal Shelter will maintain legal ownership of the animal until the pet’s spay or neuter is complete, as evidenced by the microchip being registered to our shelter. You can read what the document says here: Foster to Adopt Golden Adopter

The adoption fee will be due at the time the agreement is signed. This fee WILL NOT be refunded or treated as a deposit. If there is any part of the fee that wasn’t used on your specific adopted animal, it will instead be forwarded to cover the costs of other animals. The reason we will handle the adoption fee this way is that we are placing a lot of trust in the Golden Adopter to follow through with the spay and neuter surgery, which may be done much further in the future, as recommended by your veterinarian.

The Golden Adopter will be required to have their adopted pet examined by their veterinarian within 30 days and at that exam schedule the spay or neuter. You will need to provide proof of the spay or neuter appointment to us either by dropping it by the shelter, mailing a copy, emailing a copy, or through Facebook Messenger.

Once the spay or neuter appointment has passed, we will contact your veterinarian clinic for confirmation. Once we receive confirmation, we will then change the ownership on the microchip from the Rushville Animal Shelter to the adopter.

WHAT CLINIC DOES THE SHELTER USE?

Primarily, we will use the Low-Cost Spay Neuter Clinic for spays and neuters. We have an agreement with them where they will send their transport van to the shelter once a month to collect the animals from us and return them that evening to our shelter. We have 40 spots available for this appointment, so we should be able to schedule animals quickly. If there is any delay beyond 30 days until an appointment, it will likely be due to kittens not being 3 pounds or more by the first available appointment, or to the height of the summer kitten season, or simply having too many animals to schedule at once.

Occasionally, as appointments are available, we may have Buck Creek Veterinarian Clinic perform spays and neuters for us. As they are a very busy clinic, they cannot always be available to us in this manner. Generally, if we have Buck Creek perform the surgery, we will do this for animals that are not in a Foster to Adopt status.

We will also, on occasion, use the Indy Humane Downtown Clinic if we feel a female animal needs to be spayed sooner than the earliest available spot at the Low Cost Clinic. Again, we generally use them for animals that are not in Foster to Adopt status.

Who is available for adoption?

We encourage anyone considering adoption to stop by our shelter during our visiting hours. There are many times we have cleared animals for adoption, but have not posted them yet, and they are adopted within minutes of someone just stopping by.

We post regularly on our Facebook page, Rushville Animal Shelter, about who is available for adoption

We also post regularly and update our page on Adopt A Pet

FAQ on our adoption policies

Why are the animals not always spayed or neutered before they are available for adoption?

There are a few reasons why we are unable to fulfill this expectation. One is that we are an animal control facility and need to be able to take animals in without notice and have kennels available for them at all times. We also accept owner-surrendered animals from our Rush County residents, which we do not charge a fee for surrendering or turn them away. So, to always keep kennels open, we need animals to move out as quickly as possible to their adopted homes.

Unfortunately, we do not have many local spay-and-neuter options that offer affordable prices and can handle large numbers of animals in a very short period of time. So our only option is to use the Low Cost Spay Neuter Clinic’s transport bus, which picks up and drops off shelter animals directly at the shelter. But this is offered only once a month and for 40 spots.

We also want to keep the animals as mentally and physically healthy as possible by not keeping them at the shelter longer than necessary.

To balance everything, we are using the Foster-to-Adopt method. But, we do have the goal of one day being able to have all animals fixed before they are placed up for adoption. We are just not there yet.

How do you determine the adoption fees?

Aside from offering a reduced fee to Rush County residents due to their local tax support, we determine the adoption fee based on the average cost we incur for each animal placed for adoption.

Contrary to some beliefs, we do not get medications, vaccinations, or services for free. We may receive a discount in some cases for certain things, but generally we pay what the public pays, especially for spaying and neutering.

The average cost WE PAY for CATS is the following:

• FVRCP Vaccination, 3 different dewormers, flea prevention, and microchip: $21.99
• Rabies Vaccination: $25
• Average cost of spay or neuter: $87.50

Total average cost we pay to get cats ready for adoption: $134.49

The average cost WE PAY for DOGS is the following:

• DA2PPV vaccine, Bordetella vaccine, 2 different dewormers, flea prevention, microchip, and heartworm test: $27.99
• Rabies vaccination: $25
• Average cost of spay or neuter: $133.33

Total average cost we pay to get dogs ready for adoption: $186.32

*Costs can swing up or down depending on the increase in pricing for medications, vaccinations, and clinics. For dogs, the cost of spaying or neutering ranges from $100 to $160, depending on the dog’s weight and sex.

As you can see, when compared to the adoption fee, in many cases, the money adopters pay is half to three-quarters of the costs we invested in each animal. If there is any “profit” from an adoption it is quickly absorbed by another animal.

How does the shelter afford the costs?

We depend on our local Rush County property taxes to fund our yearly budget, and the costs are only increasing each year.

To help stretch the dollars we get from taxes, we charge an adoption fee to share the costs with the adopter.

We will also cover costs with the funds received from monetary donations. But again, the adoption fee helps us stretch our dollars as much as possible.

Why are kittens and puppies under 4 months old more?

Puppies and Kittens are cute and small, making them more highly desirable than their adult counterparts. Every individual has their reasons for wanting to adopt the young ones. But because they are highly desirable to the community, the adults tend to remain in the shelter longer. To encourage adopters to consider adopting an older animal, we offer a lower adoption fee.

Are there any other discounts on adoption fees?

Aside from our set adoption fees, yes, there will be times when the fee will be discounted. We accept sponsorship donations to either lower the adoption fee or have the adoption FREE. We will also still participate in adoption events that offer a discounted adoption fee. And most importantly, we automatically apply a reduction to the adoption fee based on the length of time the animal has been with us. The longer the animal is in the shelter, the cheaper their adoption fee. Ultimately, our goal is to find homes for all the animals available for adoption, but we also need to balance the costs related to getting that animal prepared for adoption.

Are you able to offer the shelter’s spay neuter slots to the public?

At this time, those slots are reserved for animals currently at the shelter or under a Foster to Adopt agreement. If you need a low-cost spay-neuter option, please visit our Low Cost Spay Neuter Options. The Low Cost Spay Neuter Clinic offers a separate public transport service that picks up and drops off at CVS in Rushville.