Thank you for your interest in adopting from New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue. Please read the below information, adoption FAQ and adoption agreement for information on our terms and conditions. The dogs we have available can be found at the above link under "available dogs".
When re-homing our dogs our main aim is the welfare of the dog and to find the most compatible home for them. It is not a case of first in, first served. We work first and foremost for the dogs in our care and strive to ensure we find the best possible match in terms of a new home. We appreciate your patience and respect of our decisions relating to the dog adoptions.
Generally, with timid or wary dogs, our preference is to seek homes in the cities that our dogs are being fostered in. This reduces the stress for the dog, means they can easily be placed back into trust care if the trial does not work out and/or foster carers that are familiar with the dog(s) can assist in their integration into their new home. We can also easily provide the vet care should something go wrong during a trial.
THE ADOPTION PROCESS - CANTERBURY ADOPTIONS:
STAGE ONE - Submit an Adoption Application and Supporting Information:
Simply complete the adoption form below and submit this via email to the Trust, together with photos of your property. If you are renting, we require written consent from your landlord or Housing New Zealand.
Failure to supply the required information or incomplete forms will result in a rejected application. Please read the Agreement portion of the application form for your obligations and ensure that you are able to agree to these. If you cannot email the application, it will need to be printed and sent to our PO box with the photos of your property and written landlord or Housing NZ consent (if applicable).
Please Note: We do not accept applications via Facebook messenger or phone. We also do not contact prospective applicants via phone to discuss individual dogs without the adoption forms and supporting information. As you can appreciate, we receive a large volume of queries and would not be able to personally contact each and every prospective adopter. The forms streamline the process for our organization and all of the information we require is noted on the form. As volunteers who work full time outside of the Rescue, it is a more efficient way of us confirming whether you and your family are a match for any particular dog.
If we feel that you are a match for a dog in care, we will be in touch to progress this. If we do not have a match for you currently, we will email you back and confirm if you have been placed on the database. We reserve the right not to enter into arguments or reasoning in terms of why we have not selected a particular adopter. As noted above, we are looking for the most suitable match.
If you have any queries, please see our adoption FAQ first. Then email us via the contact form on our website if your question is not answered by our FAQ.
STAGE TWO - Meet and Greet and Home-check:
If you are considered a good match for a particular dog, a team member will be in touch to organize a "meet and greet" with your prospective dog and you at your home. At the meet and greet we will also conduct a home check and make sure fencing is complete.
If there are no dogs that currently match your criteria but you are approved, we will advise you that you have been added to the database in the event that a match is found.
What happens after a meet and greet?
Once the meet and greet has been completed the foster carer will liaise with the Trustees and confirm whether or not they believe the home to be the best match. If other applicants are being considered for the same dog, this may take a week or so. We are all Volunteers who fit rescue commitments around normal full time working schedules. If you are waiting to hear as to whether or not you have been successful, please email the trust email and either the foster carer that you met or a Trustee will respond to you.
We are looking for the home that best matches the dog at hand. If we do decline you, please do not take this personally. This does not mean you are not a great dog owner or cannot provide a great home for the dog. It simply means that we do not feel the dog is a perfect match for your circumstances.
We do not enter into arguments backwards and forwards or provide in depth explanations as to why your circumstances are not the best match in comparison to others. We are simply trying to choose a home based on the limited knowledge we have of each applicant and our dogs. Please do remember this and treat Rescue team members with respect and courtesy, even if their news is disappointing to you.
STAGE THREE - Trial:
If successful, the dog will go on trial with the prospective Adopter. At this time the adoption fee is to be paid to the Trust and will remain in the trust account throughout the duration of the trial period. Please ensure the fee is paid into the trust account prior to the day the dog is organized to be dropped off as the account is checked prior to changeover. If you wish to pay via cash, please inform the Rescue prior.
We will send you out our "adoption handbook" prior to the beginning of the trial. Please ensure you read the information noted inside as we do expect that you have done so, once we bring the dog to your property.
Trials are for one month. During this time our Team will check in regularly with you, please feel free to make contact with us also to provide updates or ask for any support or advice you may require. It is important that you are honest and communicative with us, so we can assist where needed.
How do we confirm the adoption?
At the end of the one month period, all going well, you will be advised in writing that the trial period has concluded and the trust is happy to deem the dog successfully adopted! At this time, we will change the registration with the Council and add you to the microchip of the dog. We will courier out to you the letter confirming adoption and your Adopter pack!
What if it doesn't work out?
In the event that the Adopter, or the Trust, terminate during the trial period, the dog is to be returned into the care of their foster carer and the adoption fee is refunded to the Applicant in full. Unless there are travel charged incurred by the rescue. These will be deducted from the adoption fee, any surplus returned to you. All items supplied with the dog must be returned.
Please let us know if things aren't working out. We can provide contact details of a trainer or organize to have the dog taken back into care. If there is a genuine reason why this dog is not the right fit for your family, this will not prejudice your application for another dog. We have swapped dogs out for another in the past and had the second dog be successfully adopted. The family needs to be a right fit for the dog, but also the dog needs to be a correct fit for your family too! Keep in touch with us and be honest about how things are going.
Please Note: We do NOT provide harnesses, leashes, bowls, crates and the like when dogs go on trial. You will need to ensure these are available at the time of trial. These items are retained by our foster carers for other dogs in the care of the Trust. It is the Adopter's responsibility to purchase these items prior to the dog arriving for it's trial.
PLEASE SEE BELOW FAQ FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ADOPTION ON THE ADOPTION PROCESS, FEES, COMMON QUERIES, REGISTRATION AND MICRO-CHIPPING, AMONG OTHER THINGS.
OUT OF CHRISTCHURCH ADOPTIONS PROCESS:
Although we do not have an adoption center at present, New Zealand Chihuahua Rescue is based in Canterbury where our Trustees and many of our experienced foster carers reside. However, we take in dogs from all over New Zealand, have foster carers located all over the country and have adopted dogs to as far away as Auckland. We do not adopt outside of New Zealand.
Generally, our preference is to seek homes in the cities that our dogs are being fostered in. This reduces the stress for the dog, means they can easily be placed back into trust care if the trial does not work out and/or foster carers that are familiar with the dog(s) can assist in their integration into their new home. We also have a local vet that heavily discounts their prices for our Rescues that is also based in Canterbury. From experience of using North Island based clinics in the past, it is actually cheaper for us to fly dogs to Christchurch and have them treated by our vets than it is to treat them in the North Island! This is why dogs are often transported to Canterbury when they come into the care of the trust.
As a small charity that survives solely from donations and the sponsorship of generous businesses, we often struggle to meet essential costs. As a result, we cannot pay the costs of transport for dogs up and down the Country. This includes the cost of bringing dogs back into the care of the Trust if they fall ill during a trial, or their trial does not work out. Please note, the onus is on the Adopter to travel to meet the dog and pay all costs associated with this travel and the travel of the dog to their location.
STAGE ONE - Check that the dog you are interested in is available to be adopted outside of Canterbury. If so, submit your application:
See the "dogs in our care" page for individual adopter requirements and to ensure you meet ALL of these requirements. If you are a match for the dog and it is one that is able to be adopted outside of Canterbury, please complete the adoption form below and submit this via email to the Trust, together with photos of your property. If you are renting, we require written consent from your landlord or Housing New Zealand.
Failure to supply the required information or incomplete forms will result in a rejected application. Please read the Agreement portion of the application form for your obligations and ensure that you are able to agree to these. If you cannot email the application, it will need to be printed and sent to our PO box with the photos of your property and written landlord or Housing NZ consent (if applicable).
Please Note: We do not accept applications via Facebook messenger or phone. We also do not contact prospective applicants via phone to discuss individual dogs without the adoption forms and supporting information. As you can appreciate, we receive a large volume of queries and would not be able to personally contact each and every prospective adopter. The forms streamline the process for our organization and all of the information we require is noted on the form. As volunteers who work full time outside of the Rescue, it is a more efficient way of us confirming whether you and your family are a match for any particular dog.
If we feel that you are a match for a dog in care, we will be in touch to progress this. If we do not have a match for you currently, we will email you back and confirm if you have been placed on the database. We reserve the right not to enter into arguments or reasoning in terms of why we have not selected a particular adopter. As noted above, we are looking for the most suitable match.
If you have any queries, please see our adoption FAQ first. Then email us via the contact form on our website if your question is not answered by our FAQ
STAGE TWO - Meet and Greet:
If you are selected, we will have another Rescue conduct a home-check on your property and then invite you to attend a meet and greet at the foster home of the dog, if approved.
Adopters will need to be willing to arrange and pay for their own travel costs to meet the dog, if it is not located close by. This is to a make sure the dog and Adopter are a match prior to the dog flying to their location. We do not send dogs to prospective Adopters that they have not met.
What happens after a meet and greet?
Once the meet and greet has been completed the foster carer will liaise with the Trustees and confirm whether or not they believe the home to be the best match. If other applicants are being considered for the same dog, this may take a week or so. If you are waiting to hear as to whether or not you have been successful, please email the trust email and we will respond to you.
We are looking for the home that best matches the dog at hand. If we do decline you, please do not take this personally. This does not mean you are not a great dog owner or cannot provide a great home for the dog. It simply means that we do not feel the dog is a perfect match for your circumstances. We do not enter into arguments backwards and forwards or provide in depth explanations as to why your circumstances are not the best match in comparison to others. We are simply trying to choose a home based on the limited knowledge we have of each applicant and our dogs. Please do remember this and treat Rescue team members with respect and courtesy, even if their news is disappointing to you.
STAGE THREE - Trial:
If steps one and two are satisfied, we will liaise with you about the trial phase. The trial is for a period of one month to ensure that the dog is a fit for your family and/or your family is a fit for the dog!
If you are within the South Island and traveling to collect the dog, we will need the adoption fee to be in our account prior to pick up. If, for any reason the trial is not successful - the adoption fee will be used to return the dog back to the Trust (if you are unable to do so yourself) and any remainder will be reimbursed to you.
If you are located in the North Island, at this stage, flights for the dog and an airplane compliant crate would need to be arranged, purchased and sent to the dog, at the Adopters expense. A pet exporter will need to be used as AirNZ no longer allow private clients to book airfares. We can recommend "Move My Pet" who organize flights for surrenders coming into Rescue.
We also need to keep the cost of return flights in our trust account, in the event the trial does not work out and dog has to be returned. We ask that the return flight “bond” is paid upfront so that the Charity does not have to spend its minimal funds getting a dog returned. If the one month trial period is successful, NZCR refund the cost of that additional flight to the adopter. Therefore, the Adopter will need to pay the flight cost, the cost of the crate, the adoption fee and the price of a return airfare fee to the trust account prior to the dog being placed on a flight. If successful, the latter fee will be refunded.
How do we confirm the adoption?
Trials are for one month. During this time our Team will check in regularly with you, please feel free to make contact with us also to provide updates or ask for any support or advice you may require. At the end of the one month period, all going well, you will be advised in writing that the trial period has concluded and the trust is happy to deem the dog successfully adopted At this time, we will change the registration with the Council and add you to the microchip of the dog. We will courier out the letter confirming the adoption to you and your Adopter pack!
What if it doesn't work out?
In the event that the Adopter, or the Trust, terminate during the trial period, the dog is to be returned into the care of their foster carer and the adoption fee is refunded to the Applicant in full. All items supplied with the dog must be returned.
Please Note: We do NOT provide harnesses, leashes, bowls, crates and the like upon adoption, these items are retained for other dogs in the care of the Trust. It is the Adopter's responsibility to purchase these items prior to the dog arriving for it's trial.
PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR TIPS ON OWNING A RESCUE AND ADOPTION FAQ FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ADOPTION PROCESS, FEES, COMMON QUERIES, REGISTRATION AND MICRO-CHIPPING, AMONG OTHER THINGS.