# Retroactive adoption contract--please advise



## Zlata (Aug 31, 2013)

Hi everyone,
I adopted a GSD mix from a GSD rescue back in April. This is my first time going through a rescue, so please excuse me if this is normal--it just is striking me as atypical.

The woman who runs the rescue, in my eyes, has been nothing short of flighty and borderline difficult. For example, when I inquired about adopting a dog, she sent me an application. I filled it out and emailed it to her within the same day. Two weeks later, she emailed me saying she had never received my application... you know, things like that. I also dealt with some problems with her refusing to give authorization to put my address on the microchip. She had the microchip registered with her address, but she is actually in a different state. If my dog were to get lost locally, it would've been a nuisance, IMO. I asked her if she could just add my address to the microchip, and she refused. I actually had to get our vet to write a letter in order for the microchip company to put my address on my dog's microchip. There was another crazily odd instance where she actually took a picture off of my Facebook page of my dog and used it on her rescue's cake without my permission (my Facebook is now private, for what it's worth.) I wouldn't have viewed this as a big deal, but combined with everything else, I was annoyed.

Anyway, one of her volunteers messaged me on Facebook yesterday asking if I had ever signed an adoption contract. I know that we didn't. For some reason, I have reservations about signing a contract for an exchange that took place about six months ago. Moreover, if I don't agree with everything in the contract, I'm not sure how ethical it is to sign it now (not to mention, I sure don't want my dog to be reclaimed!) I've heard of rescues putting in contracts certain factors like home checks are permitted at any time, etc. Like I said, the rescue is in another state, so I guess this wouldn't be a huge issue. Just the point that I don't want to be signing something that makes things legally enforceable that I might not want to follow.

Am I being ridiculous? I suppose I could have her send a copy of the contract so I can read it over first, but like I said, I don't want to get myself into a place where now I'm being pressured to sign a contract that I don't necessarily want. Do people just typically sign these things even if they don't follow the rules to a T? For what it's worth, I do have a copy of the check that shows that I paid for the dog (it was not a donation--she is not a 501(c) so I could not write it off at that time, either.)

I work in financial advising and do lots of legal work, so maybe it's the legal side of me that's making things more difficult than it has to be.  

I would appreciate any input and grounding in reality you can offer! :help:


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## Freddy (Apr 23, 2009)

Try googling "pet adoption contract". The two I checked had conditions like not keeping the dog on a chain, promising to keep vaccinations and health checks up to date, etc. Doesn't seem out of the norm or impractical. I think I'd look your rescue up on the web and see if they have an agreement posted that you can review. 

Based on what you feel might be strange behavior by your contact, I'd definitely review anything you sign but if you choose not to sign their agreement I doubt anyone's going to come after you.


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## trcy (Mar 1, 2013)

I would not sign a contract 6 months after the fact. It shoudl have been signed before money was exchanged. I had a difficult time working with a rescue also. They seemed nice, but very unorganized and difficult to work with. I decided not go through them.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Personally, I would simply ask why it wasn't given at the time. It's not your fault it wasn't done properly, it sounds like there are many issues with this "rescue" and I would cut ties as fast as possible.

I have nothing against rescues, I've dealt with some great ones through my parents who foster for a rescue and another which my sister adopted her little guy from but some are...less then reputable.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Did you sign any adoption papers at all? Did the rescue sign the dog over to you? I wonder if the rescue can still claim ownership of the dog without anything on paper saying that you adopted the dog. 

I'm not sure how all the legalities apply here - but I don't think that they can approach you after six months and ask you to sign a contract that you don't agree with AFTER you got the dog.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Did you 'adopt' the dog six months ago, or were you fostering it and decided to be a foster fail?


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

Personally, I wouldn't sign anything 6 months later. And not letting you put your address on the microchip? That's beyond weird.


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## katro (Feb 26, 2013)

I've dealt with both poorly and well organized rescues. With that, I've also dealt with contracts that are really strict and state they can come to your home for "well visits" any time etc. The one that had that in their contract, go figure, ended up giving me a cat that they said was perfectly healthy when he in fact had IBD and the vet records that came with him (the previous owner was deployed and couldn't find a home for the little guy but took very good care of him and took him to the vet often to treat/manage his condition) clearly stated this, but apparently they never looked at said records. They ignored my calls and emails for over a month until I threatened to take the poor kitty to another shelter unless they responded. Of course, their first response was, “Per the contract you signed, you CANNOT take this animal to any other rescue or shelter anywhere. It must be returned to our rescue. We can and will take legal action if you don’t comply.” Anyway, I returned the poor cat because I wasn’t prepared to take on a special needs kitty at that time and had I known in advance, I wouldn’t have adopted him. 

The rescue I got Ralphie from was completely different. All the info about the rescue, their 501(c)3 status, copies of their contracts/rules was on their website. They do have the microchip registered in their name, but they’re the ones that provided the chip in a syringe with all my paperwork and it was my responsibility to take that chip to the vet to get it implanted. Not a big deal for me since the rescue is local and I’m friends with the children of the lady that runs the rescue. If I ever moved out of state, then I’d have the chip info transferred and I’m 99.9% sure the rescue would not have a problem with that. 

Anyway, I wouldn’t sign anything 6 months into the game either. They should have had you sign the contract at the time of the adoption/when money was exchanged. Stealing your FB pics is creepy, too, which would be more incentive not to sign anything at this point either (if it were me, that is).


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## Zlata (Aug 31, 2013)

Castlemaid said:


> Did you sign any adoption papers at all? Did the rescue sign the dog over to you? I wonder if the rescue can still claim ownership of the dog without anything on paper saying that you adopted the dog.
> 
> I'm not sure how all the legalities apply here - but I don't think that they can approach you after six months and ask you to sign a contract that you don't agree with AFTER you got the dog.


We did not sign anything as nothing was offered to sign. I wrote a check in March as a deposit. When we picked our puppy up in April, I wrote a check for the balance ($400 total.) I was worried that the dog might legally still be the rescue's too, but I am not familiar with that type of law! I guess that's why I'm worried!


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I'd probably be curious to see just what the contract stated, but I most likely wouldn't sign it at this stage of the game. 

Was there anything on the application that may have been added at the end, some stipulations? 

I would be PO'd that they took a picture of mine off of FB without asking first..


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Zlata said:


> We did not sign anything as nothing was offered to sign. I wrote a check in March as a deposit. When we picked our puppy up in April, I wrote a check for the balance ($400 total.) I was worried that the dog might legally still be the rescue's too, but I am not familiar with that type of law! I guess that's why I'm worried!


Oh boy, so essentially they just sold you a dog for money but there's no paperwork to prove it.

That's really not good


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## Zlata (Aug 31, 2013)

Lilie said:


> Did you 'adopt' the dog six months ago, or were you fostering it and decided to be a foster fail?


We adopted him. We were actually on a waiting list for a local breeder when a friend let us know about white GSD puppies available at this rescue. Our dog was about 4 weeks old when I put the deposit down, and the rescue urged us to pick him up at 7 weeks which I was HIGHLY annoyed about as I'd have liked him to stay with mom\littermates for at least another week. We were actually the last ones to pick up our puppy from the litter of six. Teaching bite inhibition was exhausting! 
But that's another story for another day!


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## katro (Feb 26, 2013)

The adoption application should be more than enough; you shouldn't have to sign any additional "contracts." If they misplaced the application that you sent them, I would say that's their fault and they should not have accepted the money that you gave them. Since they are incorporated (and registered in WI) they are technically a business and if they accepted money in exchange for the dog, then I don't think they have much recourse. Can anyone else back that up?


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## Chantald (Jul 23, 2013)

Shade said:


> Oh boy, so essentially they just sold you a dog for money but there's no paperwork to prove it.
> 
> That's really not good


They do have a copy of the check though which should count as proof of payment, would it not?


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Chantald said:


> They do have a copy of the check though which should count as proof of payment, would it not?
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Yes and no. Yes the money trail from the check shows a payment, but without paperwork stating what it was for, they could say anything really. People that are shady can do many things that you might not think of, I'm really not trying to freak out the OP or anything but think what the OP can use as proof. I don't know what laws are in place where the OP lives

OP - what about a paper trail of emails? What do you have in writing regarding the dog? Dates and times for meetings and hopefully even a sentence stating the dog is yours with a pickup time and place? That should be enough proving they agreed to give you the dog.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Zlata said:


> Am I being ridiculous? I suppose I could have her send a copy of the contract so I can read it over first, but like I said, I don't want to get myself into a place where now I'm being pressured to sign a contract that I don't necessarily want. Do people just typically sign these things even if they don't follow the rules to a T? For what it's worth, I do have a copy of the check that shows that I paid for the dog (*it was not a donation--she is not a 501(c) so I could not write it off at that time, either.)*
> :help:


I'd be curious as to why suddenly they want a 'contract' signed. I wonder if there is some sort of tax question being brought up. 

If it were me...and because they aren't 501(c), I'd drop it. I wouldn't ask for the contract or accept any certified mail. Unless your adoption application stated you are required to sign a contract and you were fully aware of such when you exchanged funds for the puppy - I'd just shut the book and walk away.


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## Chantald (Jul 23, 2013)

Shade said:


> Yes and no. Yes the money trail from the check shows a payment, but without paperwork stating what it was for, they could say anything really. People that are shady can do many things that you might not think of, I'm really not trying to freak out the OP or anything but think what the OP can use as proof. I don't know what laws are in place where the OP lives
> 
> OP - what about a paper trail of emails? What do you have in writing regarding the dog? Dates and times for meetings and hopefully even a sentence stating the dog is yours with a pickup time and place? That should be enough proving they agreed to give you the dog.


That makes sense. I know whenever I write a check, I always write something on the memo line too. So when I sent the check to our breeder, on it was written "German shepherd puppy deposit". I feel like the more info you can write on a check, the better!


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## Zlata (Aug 31, 2013)

Chantald said:


> That makes sense. I know whenever I write a check, I always write something on the memo line too. So when I sent the check to our breeder, on it was written "German shepherd puppy deposit". I feel like the more info you can write on a check, the better!
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I went through my bank statements and pulled images of both checks. The one check's memo says "Deposit--green boy" (we didn't have a name for him at that time, and we were told to write his collar color down to avoid confusion/mixups.) The second (larger) check just has his name in the memo. 

I will have to dig through my email. We did a couple of phone calls, I remember, but I know that I emailed her as well. I also saved a copy of the adoption application. I just read through it and there is nothing in it that talks about having to sign a contract in the future. It just has a general disclaimer about how applicants must be willing to ensure a stable environment & financial resources for the animal, how the rescue can refuse adoption for any reason, and also how the rescue can't guarantee the health/temperament of any animal. Fair enough. But yes, nothing in it about contracts.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I would ask why they "now" are bringing up contract talks..


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I would put a copy of the the cancelled checks in with the dog's paper and tell them that you do not want to sign any contract at this point, sorry. 

I think what you have proves that a purchase has been made. I think that is all you need to prove ownership of a rescued GSD in any court of law. 

Six months later, why? Does this have to do with a spay/neuter agreement? That would be my first guess with a reputable rescue at six months into might want to verify that the pup has been altered.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I wouldn't sign anything and I wouldn't respond to them either. If you don't mind me asking how much did they charge all together for a puppy?


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## Zlata (Aug 31, 2013)

llombardo said:


> I wouldn't sign anything and I wouldn't respond to them either. If you don't mind me asking how much did they charge all together for a puppy?


We paid $400. He did come chipped (although, like I said, changing the address was a bit of a headache), had gone through some deworming, and had his first round of vaccinations, if I recall correctly. 

I'm not exactly sure why this is coming up now, either. I honestly don't think it's an issue of tracking spay/neutering because the owner of the rescue does not advocate that for the males until they are older (I know she talked my puppy's littermate's owner out of neutering the puppy when he was 5 months old.) If that is the issue, I am not concerned, as I know my vet will draft a letter with his recommendations to wait to neuter until our dog is older. I think it *might* be a case of, oh, shoot, we don't have our bases covered, and maybe some sort of legal entity is breathing down their necks? In any event, I appreciate everyone's responses and input. I feel more validation in ignoring the request at this moment in time.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

There may be some reason, they want to have an accurate record of the sale. I wouldn't back-date anything. If the woman that you worked with was a bit scattered and then difficult, the other members of the rescue may be trying to clean up some of the mess. 

I might send a letter with my name, address, the date of the transaction, the amount of the transaction, and the check numbers/dates of the checks. 

I don't think this is something you would be required to do. But it may satisfy whatever conditions they are running into, and it will only cost you five minutes or less and a stamp.


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## WVGSD (Nov 28, 2006)

For what it is worth, a very reputable breed-specific rescue group that I foster for registers all of the microchips to the rescue and not to the adopter/owner. When the dogs are in foster care and are being vetted, the dogs are microchipped with chips that the rescue purchases and provides to the fosters. The chips are reistered by the rescue TO the rescue group. Their explanation is that people forget to register the chips and they move, change phone numbers, get deployed, etc. If the previously adopted dog is picked up as a stray and is scanned, the information on the chip leads right back to the rescue group and they are contacted immediately. The rescue keeps records of the aodptions and tries to reunite the dog and owner. If, however, they can't because phone numbers or addresses have changed, the dog comes right back to foster care with the rescue. 

Other rescue groups that I foster for register the chips right to the adopter.


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## Zlata (Aug 31, 2013)

WVGSD said:


> For what it is worth, a very reputable breed-specific rescue group that I foster for registers all of the microchips to the rescue and not to the adopter/owner. When the dogs are in foster care and are being vetted, the dogs are microchipped with chips that the rescue purchases and provides to the fosters. The chips are reistered by the rescue TO the rescue group. Their explanation is that people forget to register the chips and they move, change phone numbers, get deployed, etc. If the previously adopted dog is picked up as a stray and is scanned, the information on the chip leads right back to the rescue group and they are contacted immediately. The rescue keeps records of the aodptions and tries to reunite the dog and owner. If, however, they can't because phone numbers or addresses have changed, the dog comes right back to foster care with the rescue.
> 
> Other rescue groups that I foster for register the chips right to the adopter.


I appreciate your input. I can see why it would be a great idea to have the rescue's contact information on the microchip. Our microchip company has the option of adding an emergency contact, so I thought that would make sense to have my contact information on there as the emergency contact (that way, there would be two avenues for my dog to get back to me if, God forbid, he were ever to become lost.) She refused to put my information down even as the emergency contact, and I guess that's when I officially felt frustrated. I remember that I even have an email where I explained that I lived in a single-family home which I own (and the 30 year mortgage on the house means I'm not going anywhere for a while!) Plus, with her being quite disorganized, I was not thrilled with the idea of leaving it up to her to get in touch with me if she DID find my dog... but I guess I was off base there as she seems to have done a very good job of locating me through Facebook!


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