Adoption Process

Before you apply for the adoption please think it over carefully and really set your heart to it. These animals have been through a lot and can't afford to go through another heartbreak. The volunteers, love mamas/rescuers and the foster have spent a great deal of time and effort to care and nourish these animals back to adoptable state. Please make sure you are ready and able to make this commitment to provide the animal(s) a forever loving home.

 

Ready to adopt the animal(s) you want and welcome him/her home? Let's get started! 

Please fill the Application Form and press submit. We will contact you as soon as possible.

*Second Chance In Life Foundation has the right to refuse any applicant if they do not feel the applicant meets the requirements*

Step 1. Fill & Submit the Application Form

The adoption process starts with an adoption application. Kindly fill and submit an 'Adoption Application Form' to proceed. The applicant must be over 23 years of age. Note that we review applications in the order that we received them in. Please only apply when you are ready to welcome a dog home right away. If you plan to welcome a dog home in the next few weeks, please apply then when you are all settled and ready.

Step 2. Home check & Interview

A scheduled home check will be made to ensure the environment is suitable for the animal(s) and during this time a short interview will take place. Pictures of the common area, such as living room, kitchen, backyard (if any) will be taken for our records as well as to show the rescuer/love mum if the adoption goes through. Pictures will not be shown to a third person. Approval of the application will be decided either on the spot (only by experienced volunteer) or in the next few days.

Step 3. Meeting the potential adoptee that you applied

As our organization is operated 100% by volunteers and we don’t have a physical facility with opening hours, meetings will be scheduled after application screening and home visit for pre-approval for individual potential families. Kindly note as the application is reviewed/processed in the order received in, therefore, the person meeting the dogs prior to the process does not necessary has the priority to adopt anyways. Pre-approval will still be valid for future potential adoptee if the meeting with this particular dog falls through. 

Step 4. Contract & Payment & Welcome the Adoptee Home

If the application is pre-approved and meeting with the dog goes well that you have decided to adopt a specific dog, you will need to sign the adoption contract and pay (cash/cheque/e-transfer) the full adoption fee prior to picking up the adoptee or by the time picking up the adoptee.

Step 5. Keep In Touch

We would love to hear from you! Please keep us updated with pictures and stories because we would love to share them with the rescuers who are dedicated in saving lives. The best reward for them is to know the dogs are having a great life with their new families! We also have a private Facebook group solely for our adoptive families/rescuers/volunteers to share information/experiences and arrange playdates! 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How much is the adoption fee?

The standard adoption fees are as follows, unless otherwise specified: For puppies under 8 months: $500 For dogs 8 months of age to 5 years old: $450 For dogs 5 years of age and over: $300 Fostering will ALWAYS be free. : ) The adoptee will be vetted with up to date vaccinations, neutered/spayed, flea treated, dewormed, and has done examinations such as PCR and CBC blood test as well. A copy of the medical record and report will be provided to you.



Why is there an adoption fee and what’s included?

Second Chance In Life Foundation is a 100% non-profit organization which operates completely by volunteers who devote their time and passion to help homeless animals in need. The adoption fee goes to medical care, medical examinations and transportation for the rescued dogs. Medical care/examinations include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Sterilization
  • Microchip Implant
  • Rabies Vaccination
  • Up-to date vaccine (3 sets of shots for puppies and 2 sets of shots for adults) with the following
  • Canine Distemper
  • Infectious Canine Hepatitis
  • Infectious Tracheobroncheitis
  • Canine Parainfluenza
  • Canine Coronavirus Enteritis
  • Canine Parvovirus Enteritis
  • Canine Leptospirosis Canicola
  • Leptospirosis Icterohaemorrhagiae
  • PCR Polymerase Chain Reaction Test for the following
  • Babesia Canis
  • Babesia Gibsoni
  • Ehrlichia Canis
  • Anaplasma Platys
  • Anaplasma Phagocytophila
  • Haemobartonella Canis
  • Borrelia Burgdorferi (Lyme Disease)
  • Heartworm Test or SNAP® 4Dx® Test
  • Complete Blood Count (CBC)
  • Clinical Biochemistry Analysis
  • De-worming
  • Fleas & Ticks Treatment
  • Teeth examination & Dental Cleaning



What are your adoption requirements?

We require to go through an adoption application, home visit and interview to make sure the environment is safe and the family is a match with the potential adoptee. We look for adoptive families that are ready for the commitment and aware of the responsibility of caring a pet. Other requirements that we look for varies from dog to dog and applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis in the order that we received them in. For example, some dogs are best to be with families who have an active lifestyle and some dogs might not be suitable in a family with young children. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. If you like, you can submit an application first to make sure the application will be reviewed before others. :)



Can I meet the dog before signing the adoption contract?

Yes! Absolutely! Once we have gone through the pre-approval process (application + interview + home visit) and pre-approved, our volunteer will advise the next step in meeting the potential adoptee!



Do you offer ‘Foster-to-Adopt’?

Second Chance In Life Foundation does not offer ’Foster-to-Adopt’, but we are always in need of the volunteers to join the ‘Foster Program’. The fostering family can also adopt the fostered dog at any time if there is no adoption application in process for the fostered dog yet. The fostering family will have the priority over other applications to adopt the fostered dog, however, if there is a pending application or if the commitment cannot be made at the time, we will proceed with the application. We offer a 14 days trial period after adoption. Within 14 days starting from the day that the adoptee arrived at the family, we will refund the adoption fee, less the non-fundable $150 CAD deposit. In this case, we will keep searching for the most suitable dog for you and the deposit will roll over to the next adoption if you are still interested to adopt. The deposit is in place to ensure the family is serious in adopting and not just planning to tryout a dog.



Can I adopt my foster dog?

Yes, the fostering family will have the priority to adopt the fostered dog if there is no pending application at the moment. If you have decided to adopt, please let us know and submit an ‘ Adoption Application’,then we will go from there. If the adoption is successful, we will require to receive the signed adoption contract and the adoption fee. Trial period will start from the date that the adoption contract is signed.



What if the dog that I adopted is not suitable for my family?

In the case of the adoptee being unsuitable for the adoptive family, Second Chance In Life Foundation will gladly take the dog back to our care at any time.



Can I return the dog/cat to you if I am no longer able to take care of the adoptee?

Yes, please return your adoptee to Second Chance In Life Foundation if you are no longer able to care for the adoptee and we won't charge any surrender fee. We understand that sometime unforeseen circumstance happens and we won't judge. "If, at any time, you are unable or unwilling to care for this animal, please surrender back to us and not abandon them on the street, surrender to other organization or local shelters." It is also a clause on our adoption contract.



Where are you located at?

Second Chance In Life Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada and operates based in Vancouver, BC. However, we do not have a physical shelter facility with visiting hours. Our organization is operating by 100% volunteers and all the rescues are staying in volunteer foster homes. The rescued animals that we posted on our website page in "adoption gallery" are either in the foster homes in Vancouver, BC or arriving in Vancouver within a week!



Why do you rescue animals in Taiwan and bring them here in Vancouver?

Unfortunately, Taiwan has a huge problem with stray dogs all over the island with many of them getting caught in traps, getting abused, being poisoned, eaten or suffering from the elements of living on the streets or in the mountains. Many shelters and organizations in countries such as Taiwan are critically over-capacity and the conditions of the shelters are horrible. Some shelters have up to 200 abandoned dogs and they eventually end up on death row. The individual rescuers whom we called love moms and love dads save animals from the street or from the overcrowd shelters and care for them with their own salary in their homes, in the hope that those animals will find their permanent loving families one day. Because there are too many stays in Taiwan, the chances for them to be adopted is very seldom. Some of the love moms that we work with have over 100 rescued dogs with them in their homes! We are dedicated to help these homeless animals by rescuing them, rehabilitating them both physically and mentally and then finding them loving forever homes. Animals brought in by Second Chance In Life Foundation will have gone through the mandatory medical treatments/examinations and temperament assessment.



How do you choose which dogs are available for adoption?

We don’t choose which dogs deserve a second chance in life and which ones don’t. We don’t discriminate between breeds and majority (about 99%) of our rescues are mixed-breed. All the dogs that we rescued are placed in the foster homes prior to being placed up for adoption. Once the dogs have passed all the medical examination, completed all the vaccines/medical requirements, passed behavioral/temperament test and ready to start a new chapter in their lives, we will post them up for adoption and start to look for loving homes for them. Sadly, we have more dogs that are still in medical treatments or socialization trainings than those that are ready for adoption. We believe every rescue deserves a second chance in life and we hope one day, all the rescues will be ready for adoption.



How long does the adoption process take?

The processing time varies as the applications are reviewed/processed in the order received in. We will contact the first person in line to schedule the next step and if it falls through, we will contact the next person in line until a sutable family has found. For this reason, it could take minutes (if the application is the first in line) to weeks (waiting for the previous application(s) to fall through) for us to schedule the next step with you. Please feel free to contact us at admin@secondchanceinlife.com to find out the processing status of a specific dog after an application is submitted. Kindly note that we will only reply to those who have submitted an application with us. For people who are unwilling to spare 5-minute to fill out an application, we might not take the time to respond either. Due to the amount of applications and inquiries, we won’t be able to contact every applicant to update the status. If the dog is adopted, we will update the website/Facebook with an “adopted” note.