Complete our adoption application form:

After receipt of your application:   

• You will be advised when we have received your application form.

• When we have a collie available that may be suitable for your family/home, we will contact you and set up a home visit.

The home visit:

• The purpose of the visit is to meet all family members and to see the physical environment the collie would be living in. This gives us the opportunity to learn more about what sort of character traits you are looking for in a collie.

• It has been our experience that home visits are critical to ensure a good ‘match’ is made between the rescue collie and the interested adopter.  We do our very best to ensure a good fit, so that the collie finds himself/herself in their forever home, and the adopters are happy and committed to their new family member.

• The majority of our collies are in foster care prior to adoption. This gives us the opportunity to get to know each dog and determine their needs and personality traits. This background information, together with the home check, gives us the ability to make educated decisions about the ‘match’ between a collie and adopter.

• If you are renting your home, we may require a written letter from your landlord stating he/she is in agreement with a dog being on the premises.

Following approval of an adoption:

• All information we have regarding any collie we think would be suitable for your household is shared with you (the adopters). This includes its general history, medical history, temperament/behavioral issues, etc. This information is then written into our adoption contract for your future reference.

The adoption contract:

• An adoption contract must be signed as part of the adoption process. It includes all background information on the collie (as outlined above). It also outlines the basic requirements of caring for a collie, and it transfers all responsibilities and legal obligations to the adopters.

• Although our collies are assessed prior to adoption (most have been fostered in private homes), OCR cannot guarantee the personality or temperament of any collie placed in any home.

• If at any time during the life of the collie, the adopter cannot keep the dog for any reason, the conditions of adoption require that the collie be returned to OCR. We have made a lifetime commitment to the dog, and as such will be responsible to find another home for the dog if he/she is returned to us. All returned collies will be accepted back into our care without judgment.

Adoption donations:

• We are a registered charitable society, run entirely by volunteers.

•  All donations go directly to the care of the rescued collies.

•  All our collies are examined by a vet prior to adoption and they receive all necessary medical care. This includes spay/neutering, inoculations, MDR1 testing, and medical care of any issues specific to each collie. Our largest expenses are for the medical care of our collies.

• As part of each adoption we ask for a donation. There is no set fee, but our average cost of care per rescue collie in 2009 was $564.  We are not able to care for the next incoming collies without your donation, so please consider this when you are donating to us.

Thank you.