Taking care of your pet takes time out of your daily life. Whether you're adopting a playful puppy or a loving senior, you will need to make time to train your new companion. Your new pet will also need daily exercise, regardless of it they are indoor or outdoor. Depending on the breed, your new pet will require daily walks for as short as a few minutes and as long as a couple of hours.

Most dogs can live to be between 10-15 years old, while most cats can live to be between 15-20 years old. It's important to consider any major life events that will affect your ability to care for your new companion in the future. For example, what will you do if your spouse or child is allergic? What if you change careers and have less time for your pet? What if your living situation changes and your new landlord doesn't accept pets? Consider these and other unexpected situations before committing to adoption.

Pets can be a financial burden if you don't prepare and consider what is needed to properly care for a companion. Aside from the obvious pet food expense, you should consider routine vet visit costs, vaccinations, monthly flea, tick, and heartworm prevention, and of course, toys and treats! You should also be prepared for unexpected emergency vet visits, which can be very costly.

Adopting from a stray shelter is wonderful, because you are truly saving a life. However, this also means you may get very limited information about your new forever pet. At ACS, we impound thousands of animals each year, so we are unable to temperament test every animal that comes through our doors. We don't know how they will react to any current pets, children, or even other adults. We also don't know if they are house-broken or trained. We offer free basic dog training with all of our adoptions, but it can take months for a new pet to completely acclimate to their new home - patience is key!

Generally, no. Most of our pets come in as strays, and we have to hold them for a certain amount of time to allow their owner to come find them. Once the stray search hold is over, we will spay/neuter your adopted pet. You will be called with a pick-up time on the same day the surgery is completed.

We need the person who will be the registered owner of the pet to come in and meet with and apply for the pet. This ensure the best possible outcome for the adopter and their family. It also ensures we have the correct information for the microchip registration.

Since we require a meet and greet, you need to have a trusted individual come and interact with the pet on your behalf. They will need to check in with our adoption staff and let us know they are here as your representative. Once they complete the interaction, and if you decide you want to adopt, we will process the rest of the adoption with you directly via email. PLEASE NOTE: You will be responsible for the pick-up and transportation of your new pet from our shelter to you. ACS does not transport pets, nor do we have transport information to provide you. We need confirmed transportation arrangements at the time of adoption. Additionally, your pet MUST be picked up for transport within 24 hours of being ready to go home.

No, we do not allow pet adoptions as gifts. What you may find cute and adorable about a pet may not be what your gift recipient is looking for. We recommend instead that you invite the person to visit the shelter with you - let the experience of finding their forever pet be a memorable gift they will cherish forever!

Since most of these animals come in as strays from within our community, we cannot guarantee the health of any of our pets. We ensure that they are healthy enough for surgery, and we will not knowingly adopt out a sick pet. We will fully disclose all the medical information we have and we will treat for any conditions we are able to, while the pet is under our care. PLEASE NOTE: ACS is not a vet clinic. We are an animal shelter, so our resources are limited. Although we do everything we can for the pets in our care, some may need further diagnostic testing or treatment through a full-service vet clinic at your own expense, post-adoption. ACS is unable to reimburse you for any services rendered once you have taken your pet home. Additionally, you will be responsible for taking your pet to your own private veterinarian within two weeks of adoption for a wellness check.

While a few number of pets are house-broken and/or trained, it's important to remember that a majority of our pets are strays who may have never been in a home before yours. Even if a pet was previously house-broken, the change in environment can be stressful and cause them to have accidents or behavioral issues once they get home. It's always safe to assume that a new pet will require training, time, patience, and a lot of love, before they become your perfect companion.

ACS takes in thousands of animals every single year. With such a high number of pets coming through our shelter, we are unable to evaluate temperament for all of our pets. This means that we don't know how this pet will get along with other animals, children, or even other adults. We do not guarantee the temperament of any of our pets. which is why a meet and greet is required prior to adoption.

It is Texas law that pets leaving the shelter must be spayed (females) or neutered (males), unless directed by a veterinarian for legitimate health reasons. Spaying/neutering your pet will help reduce the number of strays who roam the city; and in turn, reduce the number of pets that have to come to our shelter in hopes of finding a home.