Become an Adoption Ambassador
Foster a shelter animal short- or long-term in your home while the animal remains available for adoption.
Give our animals a much-needed vacation.
Play matchmaker and help our animals find new homes while they stay with you! There are so many benefits to becoming an adoption ambassador.
- Relieve animals from a stressful environment
- Help local pets find loving homes
- Receive endless nose boops and evening snuggles
FAQs
Here is some basic information to get you started!
The Adoption Ambassador Program gets our adoptable animals time outside of the shelter. The animal you are matched with lives at your house and is part of your daily life while they wait for their new loving home.
Most of the animals on the waiting list for an Adoption Ambassador are cats, dogs, and small animals (like rabbits, gerbils, and guinea pigs).
There is no cost to be an adoption ambassador! We will provide everything you need to care for the animal while they are with you. This includes food, bowls, toys, litter boxes, crates, and medical care. The animal will be altered, up to date on vaccines, and up to date on flea preventative.
You will be responsible for transporting your animal to and from the Asheville Humane Society as needed. If you run out of supplies, you will be responsible for communicating with the Adoptions Manager in a timely manner and for picking them up from us. Exceptions are made rarely and are on a case-by-case basis.
You will communicate directly with potential adopters. We will post your preferred contact method on the animal’s profile, and you will be expected to respond to inquiries within 72 hours. The best way to get your animal adopted is by letting them interact with people!
Other ways to promote your animal include:
– Use social media to promote your animal (this is especially helpful for cats and small animals)
– Take dogs on walks with “Adopt Me” vests on (provided by AHS)
– Send updated pictures and information so we can update their profile on our website
– Get creative and have fun!
We can offer dog-dog meets to see if potential doggie siblings will get along, but we cannot provide cat-dog and cat-cat meets. Forcing these kinds of introductions is unsafe and highly stressful for cats. Please do not allow potential adopters to bring their animals for meet and greets with your ambassador cat. Cats require a long, slow introductory period, and we recommend going over the correct introduction process with potential adopters to set them (and their animals) up for success. If a potential adopter wants to do a dog-dog meet, please contact the Adoptions Manager to schedule a time to complete the meet. If you have conducted dog-dog meets in the past and have been given permission from the Adoptions Manager to conduct dog-dog meets on your own, all you need to do is send an email to the Adoptions Manager to inform us.
We are unable to offer trial adoptions at this time. Exceptions are made rarely, and will be on a case-by-case basis.
The adopter will need to bring the animal to the Buncombe County Animal Shelter to surrender the animal back to AHS. Because the animal was legally released to them, they have to sign a legal document at the shelter that releases the animal back to us. If this happens and you’d like the animal to return to your house, reach out to the Adoptions Manager to see if this is an option.
Learn More
Get all the information you need to make a successful match!
See why everyone is barking about our program.
