SEND A CUTE PHOTO AND BIO TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW

Make everyone aware of the pet needing a home: Every co-worker, family member, friend, business associate, E-V-E-R-Y O-N-E. Create posters and post them at your workplace, school, church, local library, community bulletin boards and elsewhere where allowed; use tear-off tabs at the bottom with your contact info.  Check this site for tips on creating and posting flyers, and use this tool for automatically generating flyers.  Be creative, and think like a salesperson (check this site for articles on "guerilla marketing" techniques).

Beg everyone you email to pass the information on to others on their own email list. Of course, be sure to interview and check references for anyone that contacts you. If you do not get a response after a week, send it again. KEEP sending it until you find a home. We suggest you use your email address as your contact information, not your telephone number.

In addition to email, use internet social media resources such as Facebook and Twitter to get the word out about your pet.  Ask your Facebook friends and Twitter followers to spread the word that you have a pet who needs a home.  However, avoid posting on Craigslist and other sites that lack any type of identity checking and accountability.  See this story about people who have used social media to find homes for pets.

Begin doing this work as soon as possible!  Don't wait until a few days before you have to move, for example, to begin finding a home for any animal.  It may take weeks or even months to find a good home... and even then, that home might not be able to take the cat in immediately.

SEND A CUTE PHOTO AND BIO TO US TO PLACE ON PETFINDER.ORG

We will be happy to post the animal and YOUR email contact info on our website. Of course, you will be responsible to interview and check references for anyone who contacts you. You will need to include ALL of the following:

• At least one super cute photo of the animal, preferably in JPEG (.jpg) format.  Also send a video if possible; even a 10-15 second clip taken with a camera phone will do.  If you have a video posted on a site such as YouTube, forward that as well.
• Your full name, address, email address, and telephone number with area code (only your email address will be posted on the Petfinder ad: not your name, address or telephone number)
• Basic info:  Name, breed, color, size, age
• Description of Personality of Pet (likes/dislikes); including whether the pet is comfortable around dogs, cats and/or small children
• Disabilities, chronic health conditions or other special needs
• Vet care status: Is the pet spayed or neutered? Is the pet up-to-date on its rabies and distemper vaccinations? Has the cat been tested for FIV/FELV? And do you have the paperwork from a veterinarian to verify this?
• A modest adoption fee (highly recommended)
• Email to info@furreverfriends.org - Title your email: PETFINDER REQUEST

Once your cat has been adopted, please contact Furrever Friends so that we may remove that cat from our website.

HINT:  To protect your privacy, consider setting up a special email account for contacting adopters, using a free email service such as Gmail or Yahoo.  Once your cat is adopted, you may close out the account.  Choose an account name that does not contain your name or any other information about you.  Also, avoid using your workplace email as a contact, as doing so could violate your employer's email use policy.

SEND US COMPLETE DETAILS FOR OUR WAIT LIST

We currently do not have any space for intakes.  Please check this page for any changes to our status. However, submitting to be on our wait list COULD result in a home for your pet.  If we get a request for a certain type of cat, a cat of a certain age, or perhaps one that is already declawed, we do refer to the wait list to see if a match can be made. 

To apply for the wait list, you will need to include ALL of the following information. Incomplete requests will not be honored.

• Your full name, address, email address, and telephone number with area code
• Name of pet, Breed of Pet, Color of Pet, Gender of Pet, Age of Pet
• Description of Personality of Pet (likes/dislikes)
• Reason(s) you are giving up the pet
• Vet care status: Is the pet spayed or neutered? Is the pet up-to-date on its rabies and distemper vaccinations? Has the cat been tested for FIV/FELV? And do you have the paperwork from a veterinarian to verify this?

Remember: we require a minimum donation of $50 for you to surrender an animal to us.

Email to info@furreverfriends.org - Title your email: WAIT LIST REQUEST

CONTACT OTHER RESCUES

Most people prefer to send an animal to a "no kill" rescue that does not put animals to sleep to make room for new ones. There are very few true no-kill rescues. Do your research; the No Kill Network has an online directory that lists no-kill shelters and rescues throughout the US. Petfinder.com is another good resource; there, you can search for rescues and shelters by city/state or ZIP code. 

A donation is usually required to surrender an animal... but it's money well spent if it gets the animal into a good no-kill rescue or shelter (plus, the money will go toward the care of the animal as well as others in need). In New Jersey, two rescues that we recommend you contact to get on their wait list are:

AWA in Voorhees (www.awanj.org; 856-424-2288) and Animal Sanctuary in Mt. Laurel (http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ312.html; 856-642-0004)

Remember that an animal should NEVER:

• Be abandoned on a "farm", in the woods or on the doorstep of a store or shelter. NEVER.
• Be given away for free (see this story for reasons why).
• Be given to a stranger UNLESS references are obtained and interviewed (again, see this story).