Adopting From Wags
All adoption decisions are based on what we feel is in the best interest for each dog. We reserve the right to decline any application if we feel the dogs health, safety or wellbeing may be at risk.
Home checks may be required before approval and post adoption.
A complete list of dogs available for adoption can be found on our dogs page or you can use the petfinder banner to the right.
When inquiring about a dog, please be sure to reference the dog's full name (first and last) and litter name if it's a puppy. Failure to reference the complete name will significantly delay our response time. Thank you for your cooperation.
You must be approved in advance in order to adopt from Wags. Your approval is then valid for 90 days.
Our Adoption Area - WAGS RESCUE is based in BUCKS COUNTY. Therefore, a majority of our volunteers live in the Bucks County area. WAGS will consider adoption applications for people living in the BUCKS and MONTGOMERY areas. On a case by case basis (depending on distance and availability of our volunteers to do a home visit), we may consider applications in the PHILADELPHIA area as well as parts of CHESTER county.
How We Determine What Breed a Dog is - Quite simply, we really don't. Our dogs, most commonly, are magnificent mutts. The breed listed on the website is always a "mix" and is completely based on a guess of one person (usually shelter staff). There can be endless varying opinions as to what a dog is really mixed with. For example, a dog may be marked as a lab mix and if you get a DNA test done, there may not be any lab in the dog at all.
The reality is, if it's important to you to have a certain breed (or it is important that your dog NOT have certain breeds in its makeup), try a breed-specific rescue group. If breed is not a concern when choosing a fit for your family, try to focus on traits that make a difference in daily life such as personality/temperament, size, health, activity level and age. When it comes to choosing a rescue dog, they most often are very watered down mutts and should not be judged based on any specific breed stereotypes.
As stated in our adoption agreement, please remember before you commit that WE CAN NOT/DO NOT REPRESENT THAT WE REALLY KNOW WHAT BREED/MIX A DOG MAY BE.
Application Review Process - Once we receive your application, we will review it to see if you meet our adoption criteria.
- If we find that your application responses are not as truthful and honest as possible, we will decline your application. Please be aware that we do leverage third party services to validate many of your responses.
- If you have pets that are not properly vaccinated, we will decline your application. This includes cats that are kept indoors at all times.
- If you have pets that are not spayed/neutered, we will decline your application.
- If you listed a vet reference, we will call your vet to verify your information.
- If you do not have a vet reference, we require 2 non-family, personal references.
We often receive several applications for the same dog during an adoption event or from online postings. We do not base our decision on the order in which the applications were received. We review each application and make our decision based on what we feel is the best fit for each dog. We reserve the right to decline any application that is not in the dog's best interest.
Adoption Agreement - After your application has been approved and you have chosen your new family member, you will be required to initial each item on our adoption agreement and have all adopters sign before we can finalize your adoption.
Once your adoption agreement is received and medicals emailed, you have 48 hours to pick up your new dog.
Adoption Fees - Below are the standard adoption fees. There are instances where special adoption fees apply so please check the PetFinder listing for a dog to see the adoption fee that applies.
| Dogs and Puppies that | Dogs and Puppies that | |
| Age | are spayed/neutered | are not spayed/neutered |
| Under 1 yr | $400.00 | $300.00 + $100 Spay/Neuter deposit* |
| 1 yr - under 4 yrs | $350.00 | $250.00 + $100 Spay/Neuter deposit* |
| 4 yrs - under 6 yrs | $250.00 | $250.00 + $100 Spay/Neuter deposit* |
| 6 yrs and over | $150.00 | $150.00 + $100 Spay/Neuter deposit* |
*Your $100 spay/neuter deposit will be returned once we receive proof of the spay/neuter within 6 months of the adoption. Please email the certificate of Spay/Neuter to refund@wagsrescue.org.
- You must include adopter's name on the agreement, dog's original Wags name and preferred method of refund: PayPal or check via U.S. mail with your request. If choosing PayPal, please include the PayPal account/email. If choosing check, please include a mailing address for U.S. mail.
- Should you choose to donate your deposit, please email a copy of the spay/neuter certificate, include the dog's original Wags name and intentions to donate deposit to refund@wagsrescue.org and for that we thank you.
In case of a returned check, Wags will require the fees paid plus a $30.00 NSF fee.
At events, we accept cash or checks for the adoption fee.
If you would like to pay the adoption fee via PayPal, the payment must be made 3 days prior to finalizing the adoption.
About the Adoption Fees - The Adoption fee is a NONREFUNDABLE donation given to Wags so that we may continue our mission of saving dogs. If the time comes that an adopter can no longer care for the dog, it is understood that NO REFUND of adoption fees will be given and that the dog must be returned to Wags.
If you have any questions, please email our Adoptions Coordinator.
Forgive us if there is sometimes a delay in getting back to your inquiries. We are all volunteers doing our best to meet the demands of our own lives, families and jobs, in addition to helping these dogs. If you feel that your email or application has been overlooked, it is quite possible that email or server problems deleted it accidentally. Please try again!