Frequently Asked Questions

Where are you located?

We are a foster based rescue. Meaning we do not have a kennel facility to house our dogs. We have foster homes all over the state of Michigan. After rescue some may have a short stay at a veterinarian or boarding facility then they are off to a foster home where they are made comfortable and can receive the best care possible until they find their forever homes.

How can I see your dogs?

If you are interested in a specific dog, fill out an application online. The foster parent will review the applications and set up a meet and greet with applicants that are a good match for their foster dog. If you are just browsing, check out our adoption days on the 'events' page and find an event near you. This link lists the dogs that are planning to attend.

What is the adoption process?

  1. Fill out an adoption application.
  2. We will contact your vet for a reference check, verifying all present pets are up to date.
  3. The foster parent will review the application and set up a meet and greet if the applicant is a good match.
  4. A home visit will be completed in order to match the right dog to the right home.
  5. An adoption contract, with applicable addendum and agreements, is signed and adoption fee collected.

Can I read the contract before I make the decision whether to adopt?

Yes, please click on the links below to access our current contracts.
Click for Dog Contract  |  Click for Cat Contract

How can I help?

We are always in need of assistance, and there are many ways you can help!

Donations:  We are a nonprofit organization and can always use monetary donations. Please email ourlastdaydogs@gmail.com or see our Donate page for various methods. You could also help by buying something off our our Amazon Wishlist. We are always in of supplies and material donations, please check out the Wishlist page for more information. Every little bit helps!!!

Fostering:  We can only save lives if we have foster homes! Please consider opening your home and heart to a dog dying for a spot! LDDR covers all costs, including supplies, vetting, and food. You just need to give them space, love and time.
Click for More Foster Info  |  Click for Foster Application

Volunteering:  If you can't foster but want to help, we can certainly use your help! Just some of the needs we have are:

  • Dog walkers for our dogs in the board and train programs
  • Home visit volunteers
  • Fundraisers
  • Transporter to help our freedom rides or move dogs from boarding to events, foster homes, and vets
  • Adoption event planners and hosts
These helpful roles can be done when you have the time and you can commit to only those that fit your schedule. Please consider taking some time out to help!
Click for Volunteer Application

Where do your dogs come from?

We receive most of our dogs from the Michigan and Ohio shelters, and some further, who find themselves unfortunate enough to be on the shelters "urgent" list. To see our Animal Data Matrix for 2016, click here.

Do you euthanize?

Very rarely. We have rescued these dogs from being killed in various shelters and other situations where their life is at immediate risk. However, sometimes their health is so declined that quality of life is not there, or in a few incidences, after working with a couple of our trainers and our best seasoned fosters we have to make the hard choice to protect people and end a dogs fear and anxiety and let them go. This is very, very rare.

Are your dogs up to date (UTD) with shots?

Yes, for the majority. We vaccinate all our dogs, however, some may be adopted while still going through their vaccine series. If you adopt such a dog we will give you directions of what they need to receive to have the series complete. This cost will be the adopters cost after adoption. We spay or neuter all of our dogs when over 6 months old and healthy. Some dogs because of health reasons we hold off until they are healthy and can best recover. If they find their home prior to that taking place, they can be adopted with a spay/neuter contract and deposit.

Don't dogs that come from shelters have something wrong with them?

Very few dogs that come to us have issues. The volunteers and staff at the shelters we pull from take great effort to beg for the lives of those dogs that are easily acclimated into homes. Often times there are family pets that were betrayed and abandoned at the shelter, vacant homes, and road sides. Because LDDR picks our dogs on personality over breed or looks, we get some of the sweetest souls in peril. If a dog comes to us and issues are seen we disclose what we observe and work with them to get them past those issues as if they were our own dogs. LDDR believes that all dogs need love and care regardless of their past. We find many would benefit from training and with a little time and patience by the people willing to give them their second chance at life. These dogs can be great family members!

ADOPTION FEE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How does LDDR set their adoption fees for adult dogs?

A lot of factors are taken into consideration when an adoption fee is set, such as age, special needs (physical, emotional, behavioral), medical or training rehabilitation costs incurred, or the dog may be part of a special we are running on a particular type/color/age of dog. For example, Fido, a 3 year old dog who came from a high kill shelter and needed a great amount of medical care, grooming, and training when he joined LDDR may be priced around $285. Fido will have a higher adoption fee than Foxy who is an 8 year old dog that came into LDDR as an owner surrender and was already partially up to date on vetting and was spayed. Foxy would qualify for our Seniors for Seniors Program, and her fee may only be $35 if a senior citizen over 65 years old adopts her! All LDDR adult dogs will come to you with vetting up to date (boosters may still be needed), up to date on preventatives, microchipped, and altered. Most adult dogs cost LDDR around $350 each. That includes pull fees, transport fees, sterilization, vaccines, deworming, microchipping, preventatives, food and toys while in foster care. This does not include if a dog needs surgery for an injury or treatment for an illness.

What it takes to rescue a dog

How does LDDR set puppy adoption fees?

Adoption fees for puppies cover many costs including, age appropriate vaccines, deworming, feeding, microchipping, and personal care, plus being socialized in our dedicated foster homes care, etc...

Puppies are very sought after in the rescue world. Puppies draw interest to our rescue at events, web site, and social media. However, puppies are not easy to save because it takes special handing and relationships with rural shelters that have few volunteers. Most shelters in populated areas don't allow rescues to take their pups because they depend on adoption fees to support the shelter. So does LDDR. We often are offered highly adoptable pups by grateful volunteers because we do take those older, ill, injured dogs no other rescue is willing to take in. It's a balance. We would like to believe that pups come in healthy and their adoption fees can easily go toward the older, sick and injured dogs but in truth, it's a gamble to take in pups. One of the great heartbreaks LDDR takes on, which is unfortunately common in shelter puppies, is the parvo virus. Many shelters and rescues will not, or cannot, invest the funds to treat a serious contagious disease such as parvo, LDDR always does though. Parvo is very expensive to treat, around $1,000 a pup, and even though the best veterinarians and foster parents give them top notch care, they may still not make it. Example: If Sally has a parvo infected litter of 5 puppies, 4 may make it through and go on to live healthy happy lives, but one does not make it. LDDR will invest thousands of dollars to try our hardest to save the entire family, including mom. Some rescues are known to take in puppies only and leave mom behind to die, or may take the whole family into their rescue but once the pups are weaned, take mom to a vet to be euthanized. LDDR would never ever do this! We always take moms and even dads and older siblings if we can. If we help a family whose female has given birth. We pay for her to be vetted and sterilized so she will never add to the population.

We understand many adopters want to help out adult dogs that get less attention then pups, but for many reasons feel a puppy is a better fit for them. Don't feel bad, because by adopting a pup from LDDR your adoption fee may go to help their mom or other older dogs that we keep in our care much longer. Guilt free adoptions, puppies that don't support puppy mills or breeders making extra cash on the efforts of their own dog!

Why should I choose to adopt from LDDR when I can get a dog at the shelter for much less?

This is a personal choice you have the right to make. However, adopting with LDDR gives you peace of mind that no shelter can provide. LDDR dogs live with foster parents and are members of the family for their stay. This means you will know as much as the foster parent does about your rescue dog, down to the very smallest oddities of their personality. This gives YOU an advantage integrating your new dog into your home. Your dog will receive love, affection, training, socialization, and normalcy while with their foster parent. That's something shelters can't often provide enough of. You also have LDDR available for your pets entire life if you ever need assistance, or to return your dog due to an unforeseen circumstance. Shelters often know very little about the dogs, and the dog most likely will need more vetting, altering, and preventatives after you bring them home, which will cost you hundreds. Shelters also expose dogs to contagious diseases frequently. LDDR dogs are never adopted out before a strict quarantine period has expired. This ensures your new family member will not bring anything to your current pets at home.

So, where does the money go that LDDR collects from adoption fees?

LDDR is a 100% volunteer run, no kill, and donation based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our mission is to save dogs from high kill shelters including rescuing dogs from life threatening circumstances. Most dogs vetting and care cost considerably more then the adoption fee. In some cases, healthy young dogs they we pull from shelters that are already vetted and sterilize we may have come in adoption fees then his or her vetting cost us. When you adopt from LDDR you can feel good that your adoption fee is a vote for no kill! Your new family member will come to you happy and as healthy as we can make them, with as much knowledge as we have about him. You will have LDDR's support for the life of your dog as well. The adoption fee for your new dog may cover some or all of his expenses during his time with his foster parent, or some of his adoption fee may be used to help a dog in LDDR who is currently fighting for their life. The adoption fee may help cover the cost of a dog that was hit by a car and requires surgery. The fee may help a litter of puppies with parvo, or a blind senior requiring dental work. Either way, you can feel good knowing every penny of the adoption fee you pay for your new family member will go to helping fight pet over-population in our country!

How is Last Day Dog Rescue different from Humane Societies?

Many Humane Societies are publicly funded, have paid employees, do a great deal of fundraising, and gain large grants and endowments. LDDR is all volunteer based that works with each dog in our care to see that they find a loving home. Humane Societies keep their adoptions up and their cost low by adopting the best and killing the rest. When needed and LDDR is able we rescue dogs from their care. Tax records indicate most Humane Societies have a great deal in savings. LDDR is trying hard to raise funds so we can provide the best care for all our dogs and cats. We operate on adoption fees and donations.

Why should I rescue a puppy and not buy one from a pet store or neighborhood breeder?

Pet stores sell pups that were bred for profit and the early developmental life of the pup was in horrible living conditions. Also, the puppy mills they came from are where their parents are living a tortured life. Neighborhood breeders or backyard breeders are people that mate dogs to get a little extra money or because they thought it would be cute and maybe wanted to keep a pup for themselves. This is also not helpful for our efforts to become a No Kill Nation. A rescue pup usually comes from an unwanted litter with a dog that has owners who have not done the responsible thing and sterilized their pet. Often times they give up their female dog with the litter. Some of our pups may not have had a great start but we make sure they have a wonderful forever. Note: no responsible, serious breeder would have their pups sold at stores. They carefully place their pups to others that will be responsible and often times sell their pups for over $1,000.

Do you have a pricing system for the dogs you have listed?

The pricing for our dogs has a formula. Basically, supply and demand. We need to run LDDR as a nonprofit business because many dogs in the future depend on us to be around when their life needs saving. Below are the basic standard fees we go by, reflective of other rescues that provide similar care as LDDR does:

Cats and Kittens
  • Kittens (6 months and under):  $125
  • Young Cats (6 months to under 1 years):  $125
  • Adult Cats (1 year and older):  $100
Dogs and Puppies
  • Puppies (6 months and under):  $300 – $500
  • Young Dogs (6 months to under 2 years):  $275 – $350
  • Adult Dogs (2 years and older):  $250 – $300
  • Seniors (8 - 13 years and older):  $100 – $225 depending on age and health issues
Any thought to be popular, purebreds, small dogs, highly adoptable, etc may be specialty priced up to $500.

Seniors For Seniors
Seniors 65 years and older, adopting a select dog (age based on the following list), can adopt under our "Seniors For Seniors" program for a $100 adoption fee. The select dogs will be listed on our Seniors For Seniors page.

  • 20 lbs or less: 13 years old
  • 21 - 50 lbs: 11 years old
  • 51 - 100 lbs: 10 years old
  • over 100 lbs: 8 years old