Finding Your Pet a Home

Although most pet lovers will go through extreme measures to keep their pets at home, sometimes unpredictable events happen and we need to find another good home for our pets. If this unfortunate circumstance happens to you, here are some suggestions to help you find a committed, loving, responsible, new home for your pet.

Family/Friends/Co-workers: A great way to find a new home for your pet is through word of mouth. Sometimes people that you know may know someone who is looking for a pet. This is a great way to ensure that your pet will go to a good home. A really nice benefit with having your pet go to someone that you know is that you can keep in contact and maybe have regular visits with your pet.

Radio: Radio is a good source to use when trying to giveaway, sell, or buy anything. Pets are not excluded in this section. KLTC and KDIX are Dickinson's local radio stations. They have set aside a time for people to call in and let other people know what they are trying to giveaway or sell. When trying to giveaway your pet call KLTC (227-1876) at 8:30 a.m. You can also call KDIX (225-9662) at 9:06 a.m. When you call the radio you will be on the air live. Hopefully after you are done talking on the radio you will get immediate feedback.

Newspaper: Dickinson's local newspaper is The Dickinson Press. It is distributed throughout southwestern North Dakota. They publish the newspaper every day of the week except for Monday. This is a very good way for people to communicate to other people. The best part about giving a pet away in the classifieds section under giveaways, is that it is FREE. People can place an ad for free for three days under the giveaway section of the classifieds. Call The Dickinson Press at 225-8111 by 3:00 p.m. for the ad to be in the next day's paper. Please have the ad already written before you call.

Flyers: A creative way to find a new home for your pet is to make some flyers with your computer or by hand. For example, you could scan a picture of your pet, do some creative writing and make about 10 copies. Many places have a bulletin board in their entryway. Places like Hardees, Dan's Supermarket, Runnings, Albertson's and Mini Mart are a few examples of places that you could put your flyers. Tips: When describing your pet make sure you give as much information as possible.

Be sure to mention:

Age, size, type of breed, color, sex

Why you have to give your pet away

Any characteristic of your pet, for example, hyper, calm, needs room to run, etc...

Whether it is spayed or neutered, if the shots are up-to-date

Anything else you can think of to let people know what your pet is about.

Once you have described your pet and you start to receive phone calls from people who are interested in your pet, you should try to pick the best family.

How do you pick the family? When people call to inquire about your pet have a list of questions ready to ask them. For example, ask if they have ever had pets before, or what kind of work hours they have, or if they have kids, and so on. Make sure that you get a good feeling about the new family. Go to their home and decide if it is a suitable environment for your pet. If your dog needs room to run, be sure the new family has a fenced in yard. Do not be afraid to tell people that you don't think that they are right for your pet. Choose the family that you think is best suited to care for your pet.