adoption guide
The ultimate adoption guide for stray dogs
Adoption guide
Its the start of a beautiful story. You saw a cat or a dog on the street, have heard about Morocco Animal Aid & decided to visit the shelter & you fell in love. Amazing! Adopting a dog from Morocco & from us is a special experience.
You are proactively choosing to better the life of an animal that previously lived on the streets. We are over the moon that you have decided to take a chance on one of our rescues or one of the street animals of Morocco. Your new furry friend has been waiting for you and we cannot wait for you to start your journey together.
Please see below what is required to safely & legally adopt one of our rescues.
Step by step adoption guide
01. Fall in love
02. Assesment
03. Medical
04. Quarantine
05. Travel
06. Furever Home
01. Fall in Love
Love. We all know that feeling. Sometimes it hits you like a freight train, other times it slowly creeps up on you when you least expect it. But when you feel it, it’s hard to ignore or forget.
The bond between animals & their human is forever. You’ve found each other & want to spend the rest of your days together.
02. Assessment
Congratulations! You have found your furever friend and your friend has found their human.
However, choosing to have an animal is a lifelong commitment that needs to be taken seriously. Have you considered how the animal will fit into your current lifestyle and work? How it will fit in with your social and financial commitments as well as your family?
Here are some questions to help you determine whether this is the right thing for you–and the animal–at this moment.
Besides this self-assessment, all potential adoptees are also required to go through an evaluation to help make sure that your are adequately prepared for a long and happy life together.
03. Medical
You have passed the test, considered the ways in which your furry friend will fit into your lifestyle & you’re ready to take the next step.
All animals leaving Morocco need to fulfil export requirements to leave and import requirements to enter their new home country. These requirements depend on the country and the age of the animal.
Most if not all requirements are made up of a series of vaccinations, a microchip and blood serology.
Click here for the medical requirements for you to be able to bring your pet home safely & Legally.
Please note that since the US and Canada imposed a ban on animals coming from high-risk rabies countries like Morocco it is a lot harder to adopt animals to those countries but not impossible.
If you’d like to adopt to the US, please check this website. Any potential adoptants to Canada, can read more info here.
Medical Part A
first vaccinations
This is the first step in getting your animal ready for a forever after.
If the animal is an adult, we can vaccinate them against viral diseases as well as rabies ASAP.
If it’s not an adult yet, we will vaccinate them against viral diseases first and they will receive their rabies vaccination at 3 months old. The exact vaccinations your animal receives will be listed in their travel book.
Medical Part B
booster vaccinations
A month after their first rabies vaccination, your furry friend will receive a booster vaccination and will be one step closer to being able to leave Morocco.
Medical Part C
rabies antibodies test & microchip
A month after their booster rabies vaccination, your best friend will be tested for rabies antibodies (0.05 is sufficient enough to pass) and be microchipped.
Now the hard part begins: the wait. 90 days after this date, your animal can legally enter Europe/US.
You can now start looking at flights to come pick it up or for flight volunteers who could help you bring your animal home.
04. Quarantine
Depending on the country your pet will be residing in, there may be a requirement for them to be quarantined in the host country (Morocco) prior to travel.
Don’t worry, we won’t be sending your friend anywhere far! They will spend their quarantine time at either one of our shelters or at a foster.
05. Travel
Congratulations! You’re one step closer to bringing your furry friend home to their happily ever after. Now to organise their travels.
We prefer you come to collect your pet yourself so you are able to connect and have some time together prior to taking them on the flight. Adoptees are fully financially responsible for their flights, insurance and any other costs regarding the transport.
Alternatively, your animal could travel with a flight volunteer. Flight volunteers are people flying in and out of Morocco to other countries and are willing to add your pet onto their flight meaning that the only cost to bear would be adding the pet as opposed to paying for the entire flight.
We are happy to help with this process, however we do require your commitment to help us secure a flight volunteer. Whether that be by sharing the post online, contacting friends or family that you know may be travelling. There is also no guarantee that there will be someone available to escort your pet home or it might take months before we find someone as there are other animals waiting to leave the shelter.
What your animal will need to travel:
Vaccination Booklet: Will be supplied by the vet after the 1st vaccination appointment. Includes details of the vaccination, the date & can be used to record other vet visits.
Blood Test Results: Measures the levels of Rabies antibodies in the blood. 0.05 is sufficient enough to pass. (Note: this is a requirement for Europe and the UK. Not all countries require a blood test.)
Health Certificate & State Vet Certificate: Verifying that all supplied paperwork is true & correct.
Please check this page for the list of complete requirements for the country you’re travelling to.
On top of this, each individual airline has its own set of requirements when travelling with a pet.
There are several airlines that transport pets from Morocco. The closest airport to the sanctuary is Agadir airport.
However not all destinations are available to travel to from Agadir.
Please see below a list of airlines travelling from Morocco that accept pets onboard:
- Royal Air Maroc: Agadir, Casablanca or Marrakech
- Lufthansa: Agadir, Casablanca or Marrakech
- Transavia: Agadir, Casablanca, Essaouria or Marrakech
- Condor: Agadir & Casablanca
For the most up-to-date information, it is best to contact the airline directly prior to booking your pet onto the flight.
The airline may require you to provide certain information for them to be able to book your pet onto the flight such as age, breed, weight of your pet, size of the travel box. Be sure to have this information handy when speaking to the airline.
We are happy to help with this process, however, we do require your commitment to helping us secure a flight volunteer. Whether that be by sharing the post online, or contacting friends or family that you know may be travelling. There is also no guarantee that there will be someone available to escort your pet home.
Before Travel Day
A travel box will be required to transport your pet. The price will depend on the size of your pet. If you wish, we can purchase a travel box for you and you can then reimburse us.
Pets can travel on airlines in one of 3 ways depending on the size and weight of the pet and their travel box combined:
• In cabin:
Accompanied by an adult passenger, can be stowed in an approved container, under the seat. This is only available for animals under a certain weight. Please check the airline you’re flying with on whether your animal can fly in-cabin.
• Checked baggage: Accompanied by an adult passenger and can be stowed in an approved container and placed in the hold and checked baggage.
• Cargo: Unaccompanied by an adult passenger or, for particularly large animals, can be stowed in an approved container and placed in the hold as cargo.
On Travel Day
The day has finally arrived: your pet is ready to come home with you!
It is recommended that you arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before your scheduled flight to allow yourself time to check in yourself, your pet and complete the appropriate paperwork.
Once your pet has been checked in, you board your flight and wait to meet your pet the other side, ready to start your new life together!
06. Furever Home
Welcome home! You and your pet have made it. We did it. You did it.
Our love for our rescues doesn’t stop when they leave the shelter. We would love to see pictures and videos of your new life together. We cannot wait to see how you live out the rest of your lives together.
Thank you for taking the chance on one of the strays of Morocco. You have waited a long time for your pet. They have waited even longer for you. Go enjoy your time together. You only have furever.
Timeline
Step one: First multi vaccination with rabies
A puppy or a kitten needs to be at least 14 weeks old to receive their first vaccination. If you’re adopting an adult animal, it can be vaccinated asap.
One month later: second rabies vaccination
Booster vaccination.
One month later: Rabies antibody test
The Rabies antibody test measures the presence and amount of antibodies in blood.
90 days later: the animal can enter Europe (or any other country requiring a titer test)
In total, it takes at least 5 months to get the animal ready to travel if it hasn’t had any vaccinations or rabies antibodies test beforehand.
Cost
The total cost depends on the animal that you’re adopting.
Below you will find the adoption costs. Please know, we make absolutely no profit from this and, as you will see from the breakdown, all of the funds are spent on getting your animal ready to leave Morocco.
Cats
Sterilisation: €50
Vaccinations: €50
Blood test: €200
Microchip: €50
Deflea & deworming treatment: €50
Travel box: €50
Boarding fee (food & water): €100
Total costs: €590
Dogs
Sterilisation: €100
Vaccinations: €50
Blood test: €200
Microchip: €50
Deflea & deworming treatment: €50
Brucellosis & 4DX & leishmaniasis tests: €85 (sometimes optional)
Travel box, leash & harness: €200
Boarding fee (food & water): €200
Total costs: €935
Please note that this does not include any other travel expenses like the flights or airport transfer or any extra vet expenses that might occur as well as training.
To start the process, we ask for a deposit but the remainder can be paid off as a payment plan. We’ll also share what we know about fundraising so you can share your story and we don’t doubt there’s a great community surrounding you that will want to support you and help bring your new best friend home