The Valley Reporter reached out to the Central Humane Society for details about its adoption criteria and its year.

Erika Holm, co-executive director of programs and operations, reported that 118 dogs were adopted in 2023 and over 500 cats.

“We are not a foster-based organization, and only use fosters for dogs in situations like a dog recovering from surgery. Even if we used fosters more often, they would not be counted in outcome results, because it’s not actual placement; the dogs in foster are still property of CVHS, and still pending adoption,” she explained by email.

“Our adoption process is commonly referred to as “Open Adoptions” or “Conversational Adoptions,” and it’s recognized as the best way to get animals matched to the right home in an amount of time that is appropriate for the animal (not a fast turnover of animals staff haven’t worked with, but animals are not waiting in shelters or foster for homes because of unnecessary criteria imposed on adopters). The majority of brick and mortar shelters, and the larger animal welfare organizations, subscribe to this philosophy,” she added.  

The CVHS adopter information form has questions that tell organizers what people are looking for in a pet in terms of energy level, activity requirements, temperament, etc., and that helps them match to the animals in their care, based on what they know about them from their time at the humane society, as well as from any information obtained from prior owners.

FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS

For the Love of Dogs Vermont which works throughout Vermont and into New Hampshire also has an application process and volunteers interview prospective pet owners and talks to them about the needs of the animals.

“We provide information about vet costs and pet vaccines and medicines. We talk about the workload of a puppy. We really look at people and talk about what they want and what their expectations are. We want to make sure that the dog you’re adopting is well suited for you,” explained organization co-director Melissa Goldberg.

“If they’ve had a pet, we do a vet check to make sure THE dog has been seen on a regular basis and has been provided and cared for. We don’t need perfection and every single vaccine, but we want to know that prior pets have been cared for. We learn a lot from the vets and a vet reference is a big one,” she added.