Our Adoption Process

Application
If you are interested in adopting from the Sighthound Underground, please fill out our application here. All of the information available to the public is on this site or on our facebook page. If you'd like more information, please submit an application first.

Process
SHUG has dogs in fostercare available for immediate adoption and also facilitates adoptions from around the country and around the world. There are different fees depending on the origin of the dog, please see below. Regardless of which dog you are interested in adopting, the first step in your adoption process will be the application. Once we have received your application we will send you an email assigning a volunteer to process your request. This person will contact your veterinary and personal references, conduct your phone interview, and schedule your home check. The length of time it takes to process an application depends on everyone's availability. All of our application coordinators are volunteers and may only be able to work on your application in the evening hours. If they can't reach you or your references after three attempts we will notify you via email and put your application on hold.

Once your application has been approved, you will work with an adoption coordinator to find your perfect dog. This may or may not be the same volunteer who worked on your application. If you're interested in a dog already in foster care, it may be that dog's foster parent. If you're interested in a dog in a particular shelter overseas, it may be the person who coordinates with that shelter. Once you have selected your dog, the next step is transport.

The Sighthound Underground works both domestically and internationally to adopts dogs to homes throughout North America, so chances are your dog is probably at least a couple of hours away from you. For dogs in foster care, we prefer that you pick up your foster at their foster home. In some cases an underground railroad transport may be needed and we will do out best to help you coordinate one. For dogs traveling internationally, you may need to pick your new dog up at the airport. Most of the SHUG dogs fly into New York or Chicago but dogs have also entered the country through Miami, Dallas, LA, DC, and Seattle.

Fees
The adoption fee for dogs originating from within the US (including Hawaii) is $350. Included in this fee are vaccinations, neutering, and any other necessary vet work. Dogs who have traveled to SHUG from overseas have an additional $400 transport fee. This fee includes plane fare, airline crate, and transport costs within their country of origin. Depending on the situation, your dog's travel expenses may have been a little lower or a little higher but we hope by standardizing the fee we make it easier for adopters to be prepared for the costs of adoption up front.

Adopting a dog is a lifelong commitment--and we hope that life IS a long one. The dog you adopt through SHUG may be with you ten years or more and over the course of his lifetime you will undoubtedly spend thousands of dollars on his care. Before you adopt, please make sure you are ready to make the emotional and financial commitment every dog deserves.