Public Partner Program

Animal Compassion Network’s Public Partner Program is designed as an alternative to surrendering a pet to the shelter. We understand that there are circumstances that may force a family to give up a beloved pet. We also know that there are also many people who rescue a stray cat or dog and want to see them go onto a good home. With the overwhelming number of animals entering local shelters, there is no certainty that an animal will actually make it into the shelter’s adoption room, and the alternative is inconceivable to the people who care about the fate of their animal. Not only does the Public Partner Program allow a family or rescuer to meet the adoptive family and feel good about our safe-for-life promise, it betters the odds for the shelter cats and dogs vying for the few available spaces in adoptions.

Because our Emergency Foster Homes are always full (with a wait list to take in animals from other dire circumstances), you will be asked to foster the pet you need to re-home as a Public Partner. The Board of Directors has recently voted to lift the limit on the number of animals in the program, so all animals who meet the criteria are welcome.

Once we have your completed intake form, the Cat or Dog Coordinator will contact you to tell you where to go for the next Intake Clinic. At this clinic, we will meet your cat or dog and ensure there are no aggression issues. Next, your cat or dog will be examined by our veterinarian and staff, weighed, tested for disease, administered all necessary vaccines, microchipped, dewormed, and provided flea treatment and heartworm prevention, as needed. If you have any medical records for the pet you are entering into the program, please bring them with you to the Intake Clinic. You will also receive a voucher for your animal to be spayed or neutered, if needed, at the Humane Alliance Spay/Neuter Clinic. You will be asked to schedule the appointment and transport your cat or dog to and from the Humane Alliance for that appointment.

While you are there, your pet will be photographed and you will be asked to write a description about your pet, their personalities and likes and dislikes so that we may market them for adoption. (It would be extremely helpful if you wrote the description ahead of time and brought it with you to the Intake Clinic.) You will also receive a welcome letter listing emergency contact numbers, instructions for adoption events, and resource information, such as how to access pet food for your Public Partner Pet.

The Public Partner Program is a free service. There is no charge to you for the medical work, spay/neuter surgery, pet food or adoption marketing. However, once you enter your pet into the Public Partner Program, you will be asked to sign a contract agreeing to only re-home that pet through Animal Compassion Network. We do encourage you to help us find a home for your cat or dog, but the animal may only be released to a new home after completing the ACN adoption process. This policy is in place for two reasons. First, we do not charge for our Public Partner Program, so it is imperative that we collect an adoption fee to offset our adoption preparation costs, so that we may invest it in the next animal in need. Second, and more importantly, our volunteers dedicate 500 hours a month to finding wonderful homes for our network animals. They come to love them as you do and commit to giving each foster cat or dog the best possible future. The only repayment our volunteers receive is the knowledge that each dog and cat they help will go onto a happy, healthy forever home thanks to the ACN adoption process. Over the course of a decade, our adoption volunteers have become adept at matching the expectations and lifestyles of potential adopters with the needs and personalities of our foster animals. Through a series of screening interviews and a home visit, we are able to find adoptive homes that will provide a lifetime of love, responsibility and care, and the contract signed by our adopters ensures our safe-for-life promise. It is a testament to this thorough adoption process that we have thousands of happy outcomes, as well as an extremely low return rate.

In addition to only adopting out through the ACN adoption process, Public Partners must also agree to remain financially responsible for their cat or dog. While ACN provides free medical care for adoption preparation, all other medical expenses will remain your responsibility. The same holds true for any expenses associated with permits and licenses or fees related to animal control violations.

You must also be willing to accept the return of your animal for foster care for up to one year after the initial adoption. While we do boast an extremely low rate of return, unforeseen events periodically necessitate the return of an animal. Because our Emergency Foster Homes are always at capacity, we do not have the means to accept a returned Public Partner Pet into one of these foster homes. However, in the event of a return, we will assist you to the best of our ability and move your Public Partner Pet to the top of our list for marketing and advertising opportunities. If the return occurs after a year from the date of adoption, you will be given the option to foster your returned pet again, but ACN will assume the responsibility for fostering your pet if you are unable to. That is our safe-for-life guarantee. Even if ten years has passed since an adoption, your cat or dog will always have a place in ACN.

We use extensive marketing tools to re-home our Public Partner Pets. We advertise them in the Asheville Citizen Times, Mountain Express, IWANNA, on our website www.animalcompassionnetwork.org and Petfinder.com, a national database advertising animals for adoption. You will be given the information about attending adoption events, but we also encourage you to talk to prospective adopters as they respond to these ads in between adoption events. The amount of effort you put in to helping us find a forever home for your cat or dog is directly related to our adoption success.

It is not uncommon for an 80-pound, black lab mix to find a home almost immediately and a frou frou purebred lap dog to take four times as long, based on the efforts of their Public Partner. Our most successful Public Partners respond to adoption inquiries, attend adoption events and stay with their pets to answer questions from potential adopters, and bring them for playtime (dogs only) at Pet Harmony, ACN’s pet store for rescued pets.

We are very aware that re-homing through ACN’s Public Partner Program takes more effort than surrendering a pet to the shelter or giving them away for “free to good home.” Read about the perils of Free-to-Good-Home ads here» However, if you are unable to keep a beloved pet or a rescued stray and finding them a permanent home where they will be loved, cherished and safe for life is important to you, ACN’s Public Partner Program is the best way to accomplish that. In fact, many of our Public Partners stay in touch with their pet’s adopters and continue to exchange emails, pictures and Christmas cards for years to come. If you cannot care for an animal you love, consider becoming a Public Partner; you can trust their future to us.

To enter a dog or cat into ACN’s Public Partner Program, you must please first call (828) 258-4820 to begin the intake process. A volunteer will return your call. You may also email our dog and cat coordinator for help re-homing a pet.