F.A.Q.

We are open by appointment only; no walk-ins.

Please email adoptions@angelsretreat.org with your information and the dog’s name you are interested in.

Adoption donations vary for each dog and usually range from $300 – $800. Each dog’s adoption donation is listed on our website.

As offensive as this question can be to a person who works in rescue, we understand some people are genuinely curious how we assign adoptions fees.

First, you will pay double (if not triple) the cost of an adoption fee at a breeder and get little to no vetting, whereas we provide vaccines, microchips, deworming, and spay/neuter as a baseline for all our animals.

Second, when you pay an adoption fee you are supporting the cost of saving other animals in need, instead of putting that money in someone else’s pocket. We know there are responsible breeders out there who are in it for the right reasons, however imagine how much better the world would be for dogs if those breeders focused their efforts on helping the dogs currently in need, rather than focusing on creating more dogs that take up homes a shelter dog could have.

Your adoption fee provides us with the funds to feed, shelter, transport, and medically and behaviorally treat all of the dogs in our care. This doesn’t only include the cute puppy you adopt, but also the 10 year old senior dog who has been overlooked time after time, or the 3 year old dog who was given up because the family wasn’t exercising them enough, leaving us to solve all their behavioral problems; or even more importantly our hospice dogs who are in foster homes enjoying every minute of whatever time they have left.

You also support community care practices we do in our local community. We provide low-cost vet clinics that include discounted vaccines, microchips, and spay/neuter. We also assist those with special circumstances, such as the elderly woman who called us because her husband passed away and she had his service dog who was a 19-yr old lab and suffering. As this woman lived on VA (veteran) benefits, she had no way to get the dog to the vet, let alone to pay for the euthanasia. She was on the phone crying with one of our volunteers just begging for help, and we were able to tell her of course we’ll help, because we are a rescue and we take care of any dog in need, regardless of if it is ours or not. We found a vet who would do discounted home euthanasia for us, we paid the bill, and thus provided this woman and dog the peace they deserved.

Now think to yourself, what do you want your money to support? Do you want your money to support some random person’s lifestyle, or do you want your money to support helping animals in need? Finally, consider what it means to be a 100%-volunteer non-profit before you accuse a rescue of ever doing anything for any reason other than following their hearts. We are here because we love dogs, we want to help them, and the money we bring in from adoption fees is always put right back into the animals who need it.

Yes, we accept all major credit cards as well as cash, check, Venmo and PayPal.

When coming to meet a new dog, you should bring everyone who lives in your household including currently owned dogs. It is important that everyone is comfortable with the new dog you are adding to your home.

We require that you complete an application on our website, provide accurate information and a vet or personal reference. Certain animals may have special requirements such as a fenced in yard or no small children due to their specific needs.

We also offer a free behaviorist service to all our adopters through Petcademy. The service will reach out to you within a few days of adoption by text via the phone number on your application. This service includes free and unlimited virtual access to a behaviorist for 30 days. You will have access to courses from the behaviorists including adopting a dog, basic training of a puppy/adult, potty training, and many other classes. The service will check in with you throughout the first few weeks after adoption and see if you need help with any problems with your adopted dog and send immediate responses to help you work through any behavior and training issues. You can virtually connect with a behaviorist 24/7. You are never alone in getting your puppy acclimated to their new home. After 30 days you can purchase this service for a flat rate per year.

We will always take our dogs back.

If you surrender your adopted dog back to us within 72 hours of adoption, we will take the dog back immediately and issue you a full refund of the adoption donation fee and spay/neuter deposit (if applicable) to your original form of payment.

If you wish to surrender your adopted dog to us after 72 hours, there may be a wait for a spot to open until we can accept the dog, and we are not able to issue a refund.  The adoption donation helps defray Angel’s Retreat’s expenses for food, sheltering, spaying or neutering, vaccinations, and veterinary care, as well as the administrative burden for processing adoptions.

Angel’s Retreat does not have an on-staff vet to provide for care after adoption.  Adopters should plan to take their new dog to a vet within 72 hours of adoption for a new pet exam and to establish care.

If you are looking for a low-cost vet in the area, we suggest Providence Animal Center or Brandywine Valley SPCA.