ALF Animal Loving Friends Rescue

We're often asked to take in animals from the public who need to find a new home. ALF does not have a shelter or adoption facility. However, we will help you to find a suitable home for your pet, by posting a courtesy adoption biography, and sharing your request with our network of animal advocates and rescuers. We will not facilitate "free to a good home" adoptions. You must charge a reasonable adoption fee, and have the pet brought current on all necessary vet work.

We have occasionally adopted a dog into a new home, but we do not have a shelter or other facility. If you need to place a dog, we will post an adoption biography and share your request with our network of animal advocates and rescuers. You must foster the dog in your own home until a suitable, forever home is found. We will not facilitate "free to a good home" adoptions. You must charge a reasonable adoption fee, and have the pet brought current on all necessary vet work.

We require that all animals be tested, vaccinated, and spayed or neutered, at the owner's expense.

You will need to send us 1 to 3 web-ready pictures (.jpg, .gif, .png, or .bmp format, not more than 600 pixels wide, typically less than 150 kilobytes in size).

You will also need to send a bio with the following information for each pet:

Name
Age
Sex
Declawed (if a cat)?
Spayed/Neutered?
When/where tested and results
When/where last vaccinated
Good with cats/dogs/kids?
Known health or behavior issues
Description of personality
Reason for relinquishment
Your complete contact info

Our email address is alfrescue @ hotmail.com

Please do not send flyers or attachments, other than pictures formatted as described above. Most flyers are too large, and may contain viruses. Send us the text-only information, typed into an email, and attach pictures in the required format and size. Attachments other than pictures as described will not be opened.

You must agree to keep the pet safely indoors while it is posted with ALF, screen all interested parties, select a safe and loving home, and not give the animal away for free. There are some really slick operators out there who are unscrupulous and can be very good con artists. You must protect your pet from going to an abuser, a lab, or a dog fighting operation.

An application or contract, a home visit, and a fee of at least $50 is required to ensure that the adopting individual will not bring harm to the animal.

There is no charge to network your pet or post it on our site. However, all animals are required to be altered, tested, and current on vaccinations for us to list them, and this would be at your expense.

If you want to relinquish your pet to another rescue, each group has their own policies, and they may charge a fee. A donation to the group who takes your pet may help and would certainly be appreciated, especially if they'll have to provide any additional vet work.

Did you know that May is National Moving Month? It's the start of the period when Americans relocate the most. If you have pets, there is simply no excuse for not including them in your family's relocation plans. Please read this informative article to learn how moving affects your pets, and get some tips for success: click here to read.

There are many options for pet-friendly housing in Arizona. Most other states also allow pets. A quick Internet search produced this list:

http://pets911.com/pet-friendly-rentals/
http://www.mynewplace.com/
http://www.peoplewithpets.com/
http://www.waterfordatsuperstitionsprings.com/25/Pet-friendly-Apartments-in-Mesa/
http://www.petswelcome.com/milkbone/petrentals.html
http://www.petrent.net/phoenix.htm

If you are in the military and are being deployed to a trouble spot, you may find help with the following organizations:

Arizona Humane Society's Project Active Duty
Military Pets Foster Project
Humane Society of the United States
Tripler Army Medical Center
Operation Noble Foster

On the flip side, if you or someone you know is in the military and wants to bring a pet back to the US, contact the SPCA International and ask about Operation Baghdad Pups.

We are a nation overflowing with homeless, unwanted animals who were once someone's beloved family pet. Sadly, many of them relinquished to open access shelters will be killed. Please read questions 1 and 2 if, after searching the above listings for pet-friendly housing, you still feel you must rehome your pet.

We will not trap ferals or strays in order to relocate them, or to relinquish them to Animal Care & Control or another shelter, and we won't assist you in doing so. Approximately 1,000 animals are killed in Maricopa County shelters every week. Removing feral cats and taking them to a shelter is a death guarantee, and will cause the homeless cat population in that area to increase exponentially over time.

Please join the humane movement, the only method proven to provide a long-term, lasting solution to controlling the population of feral cats. Contact AzCATs today to establish TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) in your neighborhood. 602-943-SPAY(7729), info@AlteredTails.org, www.AlteredTails.org.

Feral cat overpopulation is everyone's responsibility. By living in a human society, you are subject to many things that result from the actions of other people who live in the same society. Unfortunately one of those things is a large population of homeless cats. They are in every neighborhood, in every city. Being homeless is not their fault, any more than it is yours. If the cats are removed, you will just get more cats who are unsterilized. Most of the nuisances caused by homeless cats are the result of not being spayed or neutered. Yowling, fighting, spraying are all behaviors associated with mating. To reduce or eliminate these behaviors, the cats need to be neutered, and then fed. This will keep new unsterilized cats from taking up residence and starting the breeding cycle over again.

Please read Maricopa County Animal Care and Control's position on living with feral cats in our communities at this link.

Remember, the problem was not created overnight, and it won't be resolved overnight, either. You can gradually reduce the population over time through TNR, or you can contribute to the ever-growing population of feral cats by choosing another alternative. Trap/Neuter/Return is the only choice we support.

Learn more about Feral Cats: click to view a video public service announcement from Alley Cat Allies.

All stray pets must be turned into the Animal Care and Control shelter or held by the finder for a minimum of 72 hours. During this time you must make every attempt to locate the owners. If you are unsuccessful in finding the previous owners, and the required hold period has passed, we will help you to find a suitable home. Please read the first few questions in the FAQ, and provide us the required items for posting the pet. Our Lost & Found page has tips and instructions, as well as shelter contacts and Lost & Found web sites.

Frequently Asked Questions