We strongly encourage you to try to place the animal directly into a new home using the guidelines described in the Best Friends guide, "How to Find Homes for Homeless Pets," which you can download from their website at:
This guide gives specific instructions on how to word ads and screen potential adopters.
A few tips about advertising: It makes a huge difference to include a photo of your pet. Also, whenever possible, describe the traits, likes and dislikes, habits, and some of the little things that make him or her special. Photos and descriptions really help people form a connection to an animal.
We strongly suggest that you use the tips for writing eye-catching adoption ads, shared by Best Friends writer Elizabeth Fowler, which you can download from the Best Friends website at: In our experience, we’ve found that well written adoption ads and flyers grab the readers’ attention, and even if they are not in a position to adopt a pet, they often inform their friends and family members who may be interested in adopting.
You might also try posting your pet on the following adoption websites:
(see instructions at the bottom of the home page for information on how to post to the site)
If you're trying to place a dog of a particular breed or breed mix, you can find local listings of breed rescue groups by performing an internet search on a search engine such as or one of the other many search engines. Here’s a sample search combination: Cocker Spaniel+breed rescue+Montana.
You might also want to contact the national breed rescue club. To locate the national breed rescue club for your particular breed, try searching: Bassett Hound (your dog’s breed) + national club
You may also wish to contact the no-kill groups in your area. All no-kill groups are space-limited, but some are able to offer other assistance when they are not able to accept an animal. Ask them if they can provide a courtesy posting on their website and Petfinder.com listings or if they would be willing to let you and your pet join them on their adoptions. You might also ask if they could provide access to low-cost spay/neuter surgery if your pet hasn’t been fixed yet. You can find local rescue and shelter listings by calling 1-888-PETS911, visiting the Pets 911 website at or by visiting
If you have not already done so, we encourage you to have the pet spayed or neutered before placement. Puppies and kittens can be neutered as early as 8 weeks old. Visit the following link or call 1-888-PETS911 for low cost or free spay/neuter resources in your area:
Please screen any possible home for your pet very carefully; we also strongly recommend charging a reasonable adoption fee to help weed out anyone looking to take pets for unkind reasons. Many people who seem perfectly nice are actually fronts for adopting animals that they then sell to pit bull fighting rings (as bait dogs) or to labs for testing. FREE TO GOOD HOME ads are almost always hunted by these types of people. For more suggestions on how to protect the pet you are trying to place, see:
Better than placing your pet because you are moving why not find a place that will accept pets? Wouldn't that be better for you both?
The following websites list pet-friendly apartments:
Other helpful resources include:
A factsheet on locating pet-friendly housing is available on the Best Friends website, at this link:
Renting With Pets: The Online Resource for Rental Managers and Pet Owners. Provides helpful information for tenants seeking pets-allowed housing and a model program for landlords.
Best Friends for Life, Humane Housing for Animals and People
This booklet covers:
• How disabled individuals may be eligible to keep pets even in "no-pets" housing
• A new federal law that allows pets in federally assisted housing
• Arguments that may allow animals in "no pet" privately owned housing
• Responsible pet guardianship
• How to convince your landlord to adopt a "pets welcome" policy
• Model rental guidelines that protect the rights of renters and animals
Available through the website of Doris Day Animal League,
or by calling (202)546-1761, by e-mailing , and thru Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals by calling (617)522-7400 or faxing (617) 522-4885. -- The first book is free, additional copies are $2.95
FIREPAW, Inc., an Albany, New York organization has an excellent booklet on securing a pet-friendly rental at this link:
Pets in People Places Booklet (for residents, managers, housing boards for public and private multi-unit housing complexes, and elected officials) This booklet does not contain information on pet-friendly landlords or realtors.
For more information about the booklet, see
If you would like a copy, please write to Pets in Housing, MSPCA, 350 South Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02130 or e-mail .
We wish you good luck in finding a home for your pet. Please do all you can to keep your pet with you. You and s/he will be better off for it!
Thank you to Best Friends for allowing us to use these help sheets.