Frequently Asked Questions

The first step is to fill out an adoption application and get fully approved to adopt from us. We HIGHLY recommend getting fully approved before looking at specific dogs since many tend to get adopted quickly, especially puppies and small dogs.

After your application has been filled out and submitted, our team of volunteers works to process your application. Processing includes two personal reference checks, vet reference check (if applicable), landlord reference check (if applicable), and a home visit.

The entire process takes about 2 weeks. We know it can be difficult to wait but please be patient with us as our team is entirely made up of volunteers with full-time jobs, families, etc.

Congratulations! Once approved to adopt, you will receive an email confirming your approval. You should send the names of any dog(s) you are interested in to the adoptions team at adoptions@lasthopek9.org.

From there, the adoptions team will follow-up with you to let you know whether or not the dog(s) has interested adopters in line. The adoptions team receives hundreds of emails per day and tries their best to follow-up within 48 hours. It is important to note that the adoptions team tracks your interest in a dog(s) by the time stamp on the email noting your interest in a dog(s) NOT the time stamp from when they respond to you.

If you are first in line for a dog, then the adoptions team will send a contract to put you in touch with the dog’s foster family. You will then work with the foster family to arrange a meet-and-greet at a mutually convenient time.

If you meet the dog and it’s a match – great! You will be prompted to sign the adoption contract and pay the adoption fee. All dogs must meet everyone in your household (human and animal) before being officially adopted. If it is not a match – don’t worry! A meet-and-greet does not mean you are obligated to adopt the dog. We get about 25-30 new dogs just about every week so your perfect match is still out there.

All dogs are posted to our website and Facebook page until they are formally adopted (adoption contract signed and adoption fee paid.) Even though a dog is posted, he/she may have interested adopters in line for him/her. Our adoptions team has the most up-to-date status on all of our dogs and would know if there are any other interested adopters in line for a specific dog. If you are approved to adopt with us, please email adoptions@lasthopek9.org. If not, you can fill out an application on our website.

It usually takes about 48 hours to hear back from the adoptions team due to the volume of emails they receive on a daily basis. It is important to note that the adoptions team tracks your interest in a dog(s) by the time stamp on the email noting your interest in a dog(s) NOT the time stamp from when they respond to you.

We know it can be difficult to wait but please be patient with us as our team is entirely made up of volunteers with full-time jobs, families, etc.

If you are an approved adopter, please email adoptions@lasthopek9.org. If you are first in line for the dog, then the adoptions team will send a contract to put you in touch with the dog’s foster family. You will then work with the foster family to arrange a meet-and-greet at a mutually convenient time. Meet-and-greets are for approved adopters only. If you aren’t approved to adopt with us, you can fill out an adoption application on our website.

You can also check to see if the dog will be at one of our upcoming adoption events. The list of dogs attending a specific event is posted to the Facebook event page, usually on the Thursday or Friday evening before the event. You do not have to be fully approved to attend an adoption event, but you must submit an application before putting a deposit on a dog at an event.

Unfortunately, we are only able to adopt to residents of MA, RI, CT, VT, and NH at this time. Please check the local shelters and rescues in your area.

We do not accept deposits on dogs outside of adoption events. Deposits are only for dogs attending adoption events and you must have submitted an application prior to putting a deposit on an available dog. If you meet a dog at an adoption event that you would like to put a deposit on, you must:

1. Submit an adoption application online prior to putting the deposit down.

2. Verify with a designated LHK9 volunteer that no one else at the event has already put a deposit on the dog you are interested in

A deposit is $100 and holds the dog for 2 weeks while your application is being processed. Deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable but will be applied to the adoption fee.

Our adoption fees vary based on the age of the dog: $550 for dogs under 1 year old, $500 for dogs 1 – 6 years old, and $450 for dogs 7 years and older.

The adoption fee includes: vaccinations [Rabies, Bordatella, DAPP (Distemper, Adenovirus, Parainfluenza, and Parvovirus)], deworming, monthly flea/tick and heartworm preventatives, vetting, transport, 48-hour quarantine stay after transport, and spay/neuter.

Our adoption fee barely covers the cost of a young healthy dog, let alone the cost of saving those who need more medical care or training. Fees from the younger, more adoptable dogs help offset the cost of caring for the others. In any given year, our adoption fees only cover approximately 80% of our program costs.

Once your application is submitted, our applications team gets to work on reviewing your application, checking your references, and scheduling a home visit. Make sure to let your references know that a LHK9 volunteer will be reaching out to them in the near future about your adoption application.

If our applications volunteers have any questions or need any additional information, they will reach out to you for follow-up. A home visit volunteer will reach out to you to schedule a home visit.

It usually takes about 2 weeks for applications to be fully processed. If you have any questions about the status of your application you can email applications@lasthopek9.org.

We try to get all available dogs to attend adoption events. “Available” means that the dog does not yet have an approved adopter that has expressed interest in the dog and is a good fit.

Only the dogs listed as attending will be at the adoption event. The list of dogs attending a specific event is posted to the Facebook event page, usually on the Thursday or Friday evening before the event.

Nope! You do not have to be fully approved to attend an adoption event and anyone can attend. If you are interested in putting a deposit on a dog at an event, you must submit an application prior to doing so.

The list of dogs attending a specific event is posted to the Facebook event page, usually on the Thursday or Friday evening before the event, and updated until the time of the event. To find the list on the event page, click the “Discussion” tab and look for the first post from Last Hope K9 Rescue.

You can visit our donation page to donate money to LHK9. All donations are tax deductible and go directly to the dogs. If you prefer to make a donation by check, please send it to our P.O. Box at:

71 Commercial Street, #184

Boston, MA 02109

Thanks so much for thinking of us. If you are interested in hosting a fundraiser or helping with fundraising efforts, please email supportLH@lasthopek9.org to get in touch with our team.

Thanks so much for thinking of us. If you have donations for us, please email donations@lasthopek9.org to coordinate pick-up/drop-off with our donations team.

There are lots of ways to get involved and volunteer with LHK9. If you are interested in fostering, please fill out a foster application as a first step. Once you are approved, our foster team will reach out to get you set-up.

In addition to fostering, there are lots of ways to get involved and volunteer with LHK9. To learn more about our volunteer opportunities, please visit our volunteer page.

The majority of our dogs come from high-kill shelters in Central Arkansas. We also serve as a resource for local dog surrenders, shelters, and special rescue efforts in other areas.

If you have a local dog in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, or Rhode Island that you would like to submit for rescue, then you can fill out an intake form here: https://airtable.com/shr1A1UT7qUMM1WrQ

If you have any additional questions, please reach out to intake@lasthopek9.org.

As an entirely foster-based rescue, we do not have a physical location or phone number. All of our dogs are located in foster homes throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. If you are interested in one of our dogs, the first step is to fill out and submit an adoption application. You can also attend an upcoming adoption event (check out the Event section of our website or Facebook page) to meet some of our dogs.

If you are an approved adopter, you can email adoptions@lasthopek9.org to let them know which dog(s) you are interested in. If you are first in line for a dog, then they will put you in touch with the foster family to set-up a meet-and-greet.

We have fosters throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. If you are first in line for a dog, then the adoptions team will connect you to the foster family to coordinate a meet-and-greet.

It’s impossible to tell for sure with puppies, especially if the pup is a mix of breeds and one or both of the parents is unknown. If you’re looking for a specific size dog, we always recommend adopting a fully grown adult dog.

Your guess is as good as ours! All of our dogs are listed as mixes unless it’s confirmed otherwise. The southern shelters that we work with take their best guess when putting down the breed mix on the dog’s paperwork, however, their guess is not a guarantee.