Adopt / Foster
Stafford Rescue Africa does not adopt on a first-come first-served basis, and we do not hold dogs in hopes that a potential adopter passes all components of our adoption process. Only after an applicant has moved through the outlined adoption process are they considered approved to adopt.
Our adoption fee is R1500 for an adult dog and R2000 for a dog which is younger than a year old. This covers up-to-date vaccinations and vetting, including deworming and flea preventative; spay/neuter; microchipping.
Owning a Stafford
We can help you find a Stafford or Amstaff that fits in with your lifestyle. If you haven’t owned a dog before you will need to adapt to adopt as a dog in your life will change the emphasis. You become a carer where life’s decisions will also need to take into consideration your dog’s needs as a part of your family. A dog will open up regular wonderful walks; you’ll meet new friends and there is nothing like the loyalty you’ll receive from your very own canine companion. Staffordshire Bull Terriers and American Staffordshire Terriers offer that all in bucket loads and will be a wonderful addition to the life energy of your family. The decision needs to be thoroughly discussed with the whole family first.
Preparing for Adoption
To adopt one of our Stafford’s or Amstaffs you must first complete our Homing questionnaire. Read and understand the questions as well as the facets of your life which affect and will be affected by the type of dog you own.
Check your garden boundaries and gate locks. Begin to list items you will need. You don’t need anything expensive especially in the beginning. Two marked cereal bowls; a single duvet with a cover folded in four will serve as a bed; a car harness or travel crate; good quality foods.
Don’t buy the supermarket own or cheap coloured treats. Dogs don’t cost a lot to feed but giving them poor quality food can affect their health. Finally do some research with regards to a Pet medical so that you have a quote ready to put into effect when you take your dog home.
To Adopt:
- Fill out and submit the adoption application (Download) – Incomplete applications will not be considered.
- Please note that we require you to have any current dogs in your home for a minimum of 6 months before we will consider your application. We believe this is an acceptable amount of time for you to get to know your dog and its needs before adding to your family dynamic.
- You must be at least 25 years old to adopt.
- Once we’ve received your application, we will complete a series of pre-checks before approving your application, including vet checks to ensure all current pets are up-to-date on all vetting, landlord checks for renters.
- Once approved, you will be assigned to an Adoption Coordinator, who will reach out to schedule a home visit. The home visit allows us to meet any pets currently in your home, discuss the specific needs of Stafford’s, and discuss the kind of dog you’re looking to add to your home.
- Once the home visit is complete and approved, we’ll schedule a meet and greet to ensure the dog you are interested in is a good match for your home and current dog(s).
- If the meet and greet goes well, we move forward with your adoption and welcome you to the Stafford Rescue family!
After adoption
Once a dog is adopted, we make use of behaviourists if there’s an existing dog at the new home to ensure it will be a good match. Several “meet and greets” are set up in order to do a slow introduction. We never want to just “dump” the dog in front of the existing families dog as it may not be impressed with the new situation. This could lead to fights and an adoption disaster. All in all, the adoption process is pretty time-consuming and some people might not understand it. But we want to ensure that the home chosen is the best possible home for the specific dog and avoid returns to kennels.
Our goal is to find the best possible match for our dogs and for you. Please understand that our adoption process can take 2-4 weeks depending on the individual circumstances of each case.
Foster Information
If you are interested in becoming a foster for Stafford Rescue Africa, SRA provides all supplies, food, and vetting for all fosters. All we ask of our foster homes is to provide a warm, loving home for them, work on basic obedience, and get them to vet appointments & adoption events. We realize you can’t make every appointment or event, so we will arrange transport if you can’t make it.
- We need the applicant to download and fill out our Foster Application (Download)
- Once you complete the application, please email it to staffordrescueafrica@gmail.com
- We will call you to talk to you about your application, your current pets (if you have any), get an idea on what type of foster you would be open to (puppy, adult, senior, special needs, mother with puppies, etc.) and answer any questions you may have about what fostering entails. Please give us some time to get back to you, we are all volunteers with full time jobs.
- If you have other animals (cats/dogs), it is our policy that they must be spayed/neutered, up to date on vaccinations, and current on Flea/tick and deworming prevention. We will ask for your veterinarian’s contact information to do a reference check.
- If you are a renter, we must have expressed permission from your landlord to allow a power breed dog in your home.
- Once the above steps are complete, we do a home visit – this visit’s purpose is solely to verify what is on your application, look for hazards for puppies (we help puppy proof) or for the new dog, and get an idea of the environment the dog would be placed in. If you have other pets, we would like to meet them as well. We want to get to know their temperament, so we can find the right foster for your family.
- Once you are approved, we would move forward with finding you a foster.
We can’t stress enough that we really, truly appreciate all of our adopters, fosters, and volunteers. We know the policies above might seem strict, but we have tweaked our process due to experience. Thank you!
Donate
Stafford Rescue Africa is non-profit corporation NPC 2020/184688/08
We do not receive any government funding, nor do we have a paid professional fundraiser or paid administrative staff. Our organization consists solely of volunteers. Our support comes directly from you and goes directly towards the feeding, medical care, spaying/neutering of the dogs in our care.
There are many ways you can help: monetary donations, monthly sponsorship of a dog, other donations (food, beds, blankets, toys, treats etc), volunteering, fostering, and even adopting!
Please support our work with your contribution, no matter how big or small; it really makes a difference. We always need funds, which can be donated to:
First National Bank SA
Account name: Stafford Rescue Africa
Current Account number: 628 494 102 70
Branch Code: 250-655 (global)
Ref: Donation or Dogs name
Donate Food / Blankets / Towels
Any donations of dog food, blankets or towels and indestructible toys will be very much appreciated by the dogs in kennels of foster care.
Please contact us and we can arrange to get them from you.
Our Monthly Costs:
Kennelling: R120 per dog per day
Food +/- R600 per dog per month
Tick and Flea Treatment +/- R150 per month
Training / Behavioural if required R500 per session
Spay / Neuter R800 per dog
Vaccinations R250 per dog