Q: "When will the dogs on the coming soon list be available for adoption?  Can I meet them now?"

A: We require our foster homes to send in pictures and bios of their foster dogs for the website within two weeks of receiving them.  The only exceptions to this rule are made for dogs on a medical/behavior hold or situations in which the foster homes are considering adopting the dog themselves.

Please be patient.  The dogs will be listed on the website when they have been fully evaluated for their ideal adoptive home.  You may not meet with available foster dogs until your application is approved and your home visit has been completed.  Once you are approved for adoption we may contact you to meet with a dog not listed on the website that we feel may be a good match for your family.  However, we do not answer inquiries related to dogs on the coming soon list.

Q: "Why are there dogs listed as "adoption pending" on the coming soon list?  Shouldn't their bios be posted first?"

A: There are a couple of reasons why dogs can be listed as "adoption pending" prior to being posted on the website.  First and foremost, foster homes make placement decisions. Because they care for the foster dogs, they are best suited to choose the foster dogs' forever homes.  In some cases the foster homes will fall in love with their foster and decide to keep him/her.  This is a perk of becoming a foster home.  If we know a family is looking for a specific age/personality in a dog we strive to place a foster dog with them that we feel may be a good match for their family.  This is not a true "foster to adopt" program as used by other organizations, because the foster family must be committed to fostering the dog even if they decide not to keep him/her.  SIRA does not have a formal "foster to adopt" program.

Second, dogs can be listed as "adoption pending" prior to being posted on the website if we have an approved applicant who might be a good match for a dog on the coming soon list. In these cases our foster families meet with that applicant to determine if the dog is a good match for the applicant, and if so, the dog is listed as "adoption pending."

Please be aware that many of the young puppies SIRA receives are not posted on the website unless they have medical problems for which we need to raise funds.  This is because there is often a wait list of foster homes and approved applicants who are interested in puppies.  Since there are few puppies in rescue, we provide these families the first opportunity to meet any puppies we do receive before posting their bios. If you truly want to adopt a young puppy, you need to fill out an adoption application and complete a home visit, or better yet, apply to become a foster home.  Beyond that, please be patient.  As noted, there are not many (healthy) young puppies in rescue.