Since 2005
Saving Pets & Finding Homes
About Us
Petropolis Adoptions is a small, all-volunteer, non-profit, foster home-based, animal adoption organization based out of McHenry, IL, and dedicated to uniting homeless dogs and cats with loving, lifelong homes.
We are geared towards making adoption an easy and rewarding experience leading to a lifetime of pet guardianship. We pride ourselves on our friendly, open-minded approach and on our commitment to matching the right pet to our adopters’ needs.
Most of our animals come from animal controls and open admission shelters, where overcrowding and overpopulation lead to the euthanasia of millions of healthy, friendly pets every year.
In further service to our community, we also offer referrals to a variety of resources that promote responsible pet care and an emphasis on the need for spay/neuter.
We do not have a physical shelter. Instead, we have a small network of volunteer foster homes where we get to know our animals well.
Adoptions
See someone you like?
Download our no-obligation adoption application (see our “Forms” page)! Fill it out and either e-mail or fax (847-201-6536) it back to us. An adoption counselor will be in touch shortly to discuss your needs and to tell you more about the pet in question. If it seems like a potential match, we’ll be glad to arrange a meeting!
Puppy-Young Adult Adoptions
Adoption Fee: $300.00
Puppy – Young Adult Adoptions include veterinary exam, spay/neuter, microchip, vaccination for rabies, distemper/parvo, and kennel cough, deworming medication, flea medication if needed, heartworm test if old enough, heartworm preventative, and collar.
Dog Adoptions
Adoption Fee: $275.00
Dog Adoptions include veterinary exam, spay/neuter, microchip, heartworm test, vaccination for rabies, distemper/parvo, and kennel cough, deworming medication, flea treatment if needed, heartworm preventative, and collar.
Senior Dog Adoptions
Adoption Fee: $175.00
Senior Dog Adoptions include a veterinary exam and often a dental cleaning, spay/neuter, microchip, heartworm test, vaccination for rabies, distemper/parvo, and kennel cough, deworming medication, flea treatment if needed, heartworm preventative, and collar.
Kitten Adoptions
Adoption Fee: $100.00
Kitten Adoptions include veterinary exam, spay/neuter, microchip, FeLV/FIV testing, vaccination for rabies and FVRCP, deworming medication, flea preventative, and collar.
Cat Adoptions
Adoption Fee: $75.00
Cat Adoptions include veterinary exam, spay/neuter, microchip, FeLV/FIV testing, vaccination for rabies and FVRCP, deworming medication, flea preventative, and collar.
Senior Cat Adoptions
Adoption Fee: $50
Senior Cat Adoptions include veterinary exam and often a dental cleaning, spay/neuter, microchip, FeLV/FIV testing, vaccination for rabies and FVRCP, deworming medication, flea preventative, and collar.
A few notes about our adoption policies:
Above all else, our goal is to match our animals to well-suited, loving, life-long homes, and to provide adopters with an animal whose temperament and personality is compatible with their preferences and care/training abilities.
Usually we are successful in this regard, but occasionally a placement does not work out. In that event, we do require that adopters contact and work with us to either return or rehome the animal to a more suitable family.
Animals adopted from Petropolis Adoptions are welcomed back in the event that adopters cannot or will not keep them whether it’s ten days post-adoption or ten years. However, all adoption fees are non-refundable after seven (7) days.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are you funded?
Our primary source of funding is through donations made by people who recognize the value of the services we provide. Contributions from individuals or other charitable foundations and funds generated from adoption fees or fundraising events/programs make up the majority of our operating budget.
Are you a no-kill organization?
We prefer the term “limited-admission,” which better reflects the way we fit into the animal welfare community. Animals are never euthanized due to space or time constraints, but we do occasionally elect to euthanize in the event of untreatable illness or dangerous and irreversible behavioral problems. Because we do not kill to make space, however, we cannot take in every animal that needs help—hence the term “limited admission.”
Where do the animals come from?
Most of our dogs/puppies are transferred from other animal welfare organizations. Usually our intake coordinator arranges to “pull” adoptable animals from animal control facilities or other open admission shelters throughout Chicagoland or the Midwest. Occasionally, we take in local strays after all efforts to locate the owner have been exhausted, and very occasionally we will take in an owner relinquishment.
How are animals selected?
Our decision to accept an animal is based on space above all else, followed by suitability to the particular available foster home (not all of our foster homes are able/willing to foster all types of animals) and overall adoptability. In general, we look for animals with friendly, stable temperaments and no chronic, difficult-to-manage health issues. We also seek out those that are good with other pets and children. Obviously this is not an exact science, and there are certain issues, both behavioral and medical, that may not be readily apparent. In the event that we acquire an animal with additional needs, we do our very best to address them.
How long do you hold new arrivals prior to adoption?
To allow for a behavioral evaluation and the completion of all necessary vetting, animals are held for a minimum of one week prior to being released to adopters. This evaluation period also allows for the discovery of any previously latent communicable illnesses, such as the parvo or distemper virus, that the animal may have been incubating.
Why do you perform pre-pubertal spay/neuter?
History has shown that spay/neuter deposits, contracts, and follow-up systems simply don’t work. Sterilizing an animal prior to placement is the only way an organization can confirm that the animal will not contribute to pet overpopulation. Our affiliated veterinarians generally sterilize puppies and kittens at 3 lbs. and 12 weeks of age. Numerous studies have shown pre-pubertal spay/neuter to be quite safe, and the recovery time is generally much shorter than with adult animals.
How can a potential adopter meet an animal he/she is interested in?
The best way to facilitate a meeting is to submit a completed adoption application for the pet in question. Doing so does not obligate an individual to adopt, but it is the starting point in the process and gives our adoption counselors some idea as to the needs of the potential adopter. Shortly after receiving your application, we’ll contact you to discuss the possible placement and to arrange a meeting with the foster parents.