Furry Tales International Rescue Team
Our Mission
Furry Tales International, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) group of volunteers from Philadelphia, PA that dedicate their time and resources to rescue and find forever homes for the pets in need. Many countries around the world have an abundance of stray pets on the streets and in the overflowing shelters. These helpless dogs and cats have no hope for adoption and many of them get put down without ever feeling loved. Currently there are hundreds of pets on our rescue list. Some are here and ready to be adopted today, others await their turn in the foster homes in different countries. Perhaps, you would be interested in saving a life and gaining a best furry friend? We are looking for caring, patient and responsible families to adopt or foster our dogs and cats. If you are currently unable to adopt, foster or donate to this cause, please share this message, so it could reach potential families!
Adoption Policy
Every year we work with over 70 families to achieve successful adoptions. Our process may differ from your typical shelter, because most of our doggies are currently fostered overseas, but it has proven itself over and over again.
The first step to our adoption process is filling out an adoption application. Please, provide detailed information and answer questions truthfully. There is no fee to apply and no obligation to adopt.
Applications are reviewed and processed typically within 1-3 weeks (depending on when the dog is scheduled to arrive to the county or be available for adoption). Families that qualify will get a phone call from one of our team members. The applications get reviewed based on the order they were received. If you do not get a phone call from us, it doesn't mean that you are not worthy of a dog. Either we have enough qualified families or you're not the best possible match for this particular dog at this time. Feel free to contact us after a week either by email or phone to check on the status of your application.
The phone interview typically takes 20-30 minutes during which we get to know you and you can ask us any questions about the adoption. All known information about an individual dog is provided in the listing. We do our best to provide accurate information, but adopters must understand that each home is different and the dog may behave differently in a new home. Dogs are creatures of their environment and you help make the dog what it will be.
Once we go through all the applications and phone interviews, our team selects 1-3 families to move on to the next step. In pre-covid world we used to do home visits, nowadays we do video chats. If you are selected for a video chat, please, understand that you are seriously being considered for adoption with us. We ask that at this point you let us know if you have other pending adoption applications, going on other "meet and greets" or simply changed your mind. If you are not selected for a video chat, feel free to take a look at other possible adoptables on our website, Facebook page or Petfinder.
During a video chat one of our team members will sit down with you to virtually meet you and go over our adoption policies. Video chat usually takes about 40min-1 hour and it is best if most of the family members (especially adults) are present. We will go over safety measures, our leash policy and most common issues that may arise with any adoptive pet. We will also discuss dog's arrival plans and all necessary arrangements. After the chat we will ask you to send in the videos of a virtual tour of the house and yard, as well as contact your references.
The best-fit family is finalized and notified. We are an international rescue, so most of our doggies arrive to John F. Kennedy International airport. As of right now, all cargo arrivals are on Friday late evenings mid to end of each month. Due to covid, we do ask all of our adopters to be available and able to come to JFK on the day of the arrival. If the dog you are interested in is already in US (in a foster home or being rehomed) we will bring the dog over or you pick it up from us. We sign the adoption agreement and adoption fee is due at that time.
During the two week trial period, the dog is still under the ownership of the rescue and we have a foster spot (or other potential families) lined up. As outlined in our adoption agreement, you are required to send photos and/or videos every day of the trial period along with a brief summary of the day. We want to know what kind of issues emerged, dog's progress and successes, as well as any questions you may have. This period of bonding is essential in a truly happy relationship down the road and we are here to help you in any way we can. If you decide to surrender the dog during the 14-day trial, you will drop him/her off to one of our team members and receive half of your adoption fee back. If the trial goes well, you become a legal owner after signing adoption confirmation at the end of two weeks.
We are a private, foster-based rescue. This means that in addition to fundraising and paying for all of our dogs' medical care, training, food, and transportation with zero public funding, we don't have a shelter to house the dog that you could end up returning in a day, a week, a year, six years. We can only take in the number of dogs that we can place into foster homes and when we reserve a foster slot to take in returned dogs we are condemning another needy dog to death in a kill shelter or out on the streets. Our application process is intense because the stakes are so high. We want to do everything we can to ensure that you will want to keep our dog for the 10+ years of its life.
Thank you for understanding and considering adoption with us!
