The mission of Collie Concern Rescue is to facilitate the adoption of displaced collies into loving and responsible homes and to provide a good interim quality of life for homeless collies. Our focus is on matchmaking the right collie into the right adoptive home. Collie Concern Rescue will seek to educate the public on responsible dog ownership through mentoring and post-adoption services.
Collie Concern Rescue will work with adopters and fosters in neighboring states.
Collie Concern Rescue is a non profit self funded organization established in Nov. 1994. All members of Collie Concern Rescue are unpaid volunteers and are doing this for their love of the breed.
This is not a 100% inclusive list. We are a growing rescue and as such, we are always learning and refining. Sometimes situations arise that we have not encountered and our policy in those situations is to look at the issue on a case by case basis and have a Board of Directors vote. Votes can sometimes take a couple days. The spirit of our policies is to ensure the "forever" part of "forever home" to the best of everyone's ability. We stand behind our dogs and want what is best for everyone involved.
\* We cannot do "one day" adoptions. Due to the detailed nature of our process, it usually takes between two weeks and a month to get your dog home to you. The approval process takes around 5 days depending on many factors. We even require our foster parents and Board Members to submit an application with references to have on file in the event that they decide to adopt so that we have complete paperwork on file for every adoption.\* We keep applications on file and active for 6 months. After 6 months, we happily reactivate applications, but have to touch base to identify changes in the home (new pets, new vet, etc).\* Applications are good for dogs in our program in general and not tied to particular dogs. If you do not see a dog on our website that you connect with, we encourage you to put in an application anyway - we get new dogs regularly.\* Adopters must be at least 18 years of age.\* All adults in the home must agree on the adoption of a collie.\* An adoption application must be completed and a non-refundable application fee of $10 paid to the rescue. If the prospective adopter adopts, then this application fee will be credited to your adoption fee of: o $175 for adult dogs o $225 for puppies under 6 months of age o $100 for scholarship dogs (denoted by a star on the website)
This helps to defray the costs that we incur in the dog's vetting. It includes spay/neuter, heartworm test (and treatment if necessary), heartworm prevention while they are here, Rabies vaccine, distemper vaccine, bordatella vaccine, at least 2 dewormings, Flea Treatments while they are here, any necessary grooming, full vet exam, and any other necessary veterinary work deemed appropriate by the vet. In addition, senior dogs may receive extra bloodwork and dentals. \* A fenced yard is a must for almost all collie homes. As a herding breed, collies can be car or animal chasers--it's a natural instinct. Board approval is required for collies to be adopted to homes without fences and a plan for the collie to be an indoor only dog with a leashed exercise plan will be expected. Please read this article on electric fencing to understand why we cannot approve homes that plan to leave dogs unattended in electric fences. Electric fencing used for supervised play may be considered on a case by case basis with Board approval.\* Adopter has a financial responsibility to their adopted collie to provide health care. They are expected to provide annual vaccinations and vet exams, monthly heart worm preventative, flea and tick preventative and vet care in emergencies and non-emergency situations that may arise.\* Adopter is expected to provide a good quality diet consisting of food that has good nutritional value and to stay away from “bargain” dog food that may be detrimental to any canines health.\* Adopter's existing animals must be vaccinated per their Veterinarian's protocol.\* Collies can not be given as gifts to other families. You can give a donation fee towards an adoption.\* Until adopters are through our full approval process, we cannot reserve dogs.\* We cannot reserve dogs for longer than one week. During the approval process, we encourage the potential adopter to prepare their home, yard and lives in general for the arrival of a new family member whether it is from CCR or elsewhere. An additional week may be given on a case-by-case basis due to situations such as the installation of a fence. If an adopter will be out of town or has a vacation planned, we ask that the adopter wait until they return in order to inquire about dogs.\* Dogs are housed with individual foster parents. Interviewers will not give out foster parent telephone numbers or addresses without specific, written foster parent approval. Interviewers will put prospective adopters in touch with foster parents through email. Visits are arranged through the foster parents based on the foster parents availability and their choice of location (might be at foster home or at a park, etc).\* Collies require a certain amount of grooming. They aren't extremely high-maintenance dogs, but an owner should plan on once weekly brushing and monthly bathing to maintain their beautiful coats.\* The pre-placement interview is for the adopter as much as it is for Collie Concern Rescue. We want to learn about what you want in your new family member in order to make the best possible match to your home. We will ask you lots of questions about your past experiences with dogs and other pets, what your current family dynamics are and your hopes for the future with your new dog. Expect for this conversation to take around an hour.\* An inspection of the new home may be requested to check the yard and environment and offer help if we see any stumbling blocks.\* If the prospective family meets all of the requirements for adoption, then they may begin inquiring about and meeting dogs in our program. If the adopter, the foster and the coordinators of Collie Concern all agree that a dog is a good fit for the family, a contract will be signed, the adoption fee will be paid to Collie Concern, and transportation will be arranged.\* On the day that the dog goes home, the adopter will meet at the prearranged location with a collar and a leash. The tags will be transferred, the paperwork given, pictures taken and maybe a few tears of happiness shed, and the dog will go home to live with his/her new family.\* Follow-up emails will be sent to make sure the dog is doing well. If there are any problems, mentors are available to help. Visits can be made to help with training difficulties. We will always be here for you. If for any reason the adoption does not work out, Collie Concern requires that the dog be returned to our organization (not given away or turned in to a shelter).