About Adoption

The Anti-Cruelty Society is ready to help you meet your match!

Here’s how adopting during the pandemic works! 

1. Choose Your Pet: View all of the animals available for adoption. Once you find someone who catches your eye, check their current location by clicking their photo. If it’s an animal listed as in foster care, move onto step 2. If it’s a pet listed as being at a PetSmart, please call the store directly to inquire about next steps.
2. Complete an Adoption Questionnaire: If the pet you’re interested in adopting is currently in foster care or in the LaSalle Adoption Center (our River North location), please cut and paste the link to complete the cat or dog virtual adoption questionnaire which is listed in that pet’s profile. Please answer each question in detail to ensure we have everything we need to move you onto step 3. Incomplete adoption questionnaires will not be considered. Note that all standard adoption requirements apply. After filling out the application please send a photo of your Driver’s License or State ID to adoption@anticruelty.org. If your identification does not have your current address, please also sent proof of your current address such as a lease or utility bill to the same email address.
3. Consultation Completion: We’ll ask you additional questions to learn more about your household while sharing additional details about the pet’s history. Our goal will be to ensure that the pet you’ve chosen is the best possible match for your home. 
4. Connect with the Foster or Adoption Team: Following the adoption consultation we’ll help you set-up a  meeting with the pet. If the animal is residing in foster, we’ll connect you with the foster caregiver directly. If the pet is on-site, we’ll schedule an in-person appointment with you. If the meeting goes well, and you think you’ve found your match, we’ll guide you through the final steps of the adoption process. These include signing the adoption contract, paying the adoption fee, and sharing medical records.

A few things to keep in mind if you’re interested in utilizing our virtual adoption process:

·   To ensure the safety of our staff, fosters, and the public, we are not open for unscheduled adoption drop-ins.

·   Adoption inquiries are processed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please fill out your questionnaire with as much details as possible to ensure swift processing. We are unable to place holds on animals.

·   visits without appointments, we are still offering post-adoption support services to our adopters.

·   In the event that you follow through with an adoption only to find that you and the pet are not a good match, know that we’re here to support you! We will happily accept the animal back if there are any concerns. We offer full refunds to adopters if an animal is returned to us within 30 days of the original adoption date. Our hope is that you won’t have to return your new pet, but also understand that there’s an art to matchmaking that may be lost in this virtual process.

If you have any questions regarding adopting through The Anti-Cruelty Society during the COVID-19 pandemic, email us at adoption@anticruelty.org.

Why Adopt? 

Adopting an animal is a big step. It is bringing a new member into your family and at The Anti-Cruelty Society, we are committed to providing the perfect forever home for those animals in our care.

As Chicago’s premier animal welfare organization, our expansive adoption program features a wide variety of adoptable pets from cats, dogs to a host of small animals like rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, and more!

Adopting a new pet is an exciting and important decision! View all of our animals, learn about the adoption process, find our locations, and more.