Featured above is Abigail. She loves soft beds and attention.

Adoption Process

Minnesota Basset Rescue is committed to finding loving forever homes for our dogs. Our goal with each adoption is to match up our dogs with homes where they will thrive. Check out our About Your Hound and Nothing in Life is Free articles for tips to assist you with transitioning your new hound into your home.

Our adoption process includes four steps: application, vet or reference check, interview, and a home visit.

Current or recent pets must meet our veterinary requirements for a person to be eligible to be approved for adoption. Applicants without current/recent pets are required to provide two non-family personal references. MNBR will verify acceptability of adoption with the landlord of applicants who rent or reside in an apartment, mobile home, or condominium.

Please do not apply if you are unable to adopt within a week or so of your application. We are unable to hold dogs you have applied for or “board” adopted dogs.

Vetting Requirements for current or recent pets

Please ensure your pet(s) vaccinations are up-to-date BEFORE submitting your application. We will NOT process your application until your pets meet our vetting requirements. If your current or recent pets do not meet our vetting requirements prior to application your application may receive an automatic final rejection.

Contacting your veterinarian and informing them MNBR will be calling and that they have your permission to speak with us will help move the process along more quickly.

Adoption area

We accept applications from within the following areas: all of Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin and other applicants within a 6 ½ hour radius of our headquarters in St. Paul, MN.

All potential adopters are expected to come and meet their new potential family members once approved.

We do not ship or deliver dogs.

We do not adopt dogs as gifts to others.

PUPPIES

Because we believe strongly in promoting the health of our dogs, MNBR does not spay/neuter puppies until six months of age. Intact puppies under 6 months old must be adopted in MN or within 250 miles of St. Paul in WI, IA, ND, or SD and with a spay/neuter contract. The cost of the spay/neuter is the responsibility of MNBR and reflected in the adoption fee.

Puppies are A LOT of work and a 12+ year commitment, so make sure you have thought it through and are fully ready for the responsibility prior to applying.

Adoption Fees

Adoption fees help cover the costs our dogs incur while in our care. While we ask for a flat, age-based fee, we do not limit the cost spent on taking care of a dog once in our care. We ensure each dog has a health exam, proper vaccinations and preventatives, and any needed testing prior to adoption. If necessary, we also provide for specific health concerns, surgeries necessary for quality of life, training or therapy, and much more.

  • Puppies (up to 1 year) - $650

  • Young Adults (1 to 5 years old) - $500

  • Adults (6 to 10 years old) - $400

  • Seniors (11+ years old) - $300

  • Bonded Pair - $50 off each fee by age

    *Please note we are required to charge Ramsey county sales tax of 8.375% in accordance with MN state law. Our adoption fees are non-negotiable.

Adoption Policies

  • All applicants must be 21 years of age of older.

  • Prior to being eligible for adoption, each dog is spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and evaluated for any health or behavioral concerns. All dog and cats in the adoptive home must meet our vetting requirements to be approved for adoption.

  • If MNBR does not feel confident that the dog will be a house pet and receive all care and attention necessary to ensure its health and well-being, adoption may be denied/rescinded.

  • While a fenced yard is not required, adopters with physically fenced yards may be prioritized over those who do not. As a hound rescue we feel though there are limited cases in which invisible fencing is appropriate for hounds due to their stubborn nature and the need to follow their noses. Adoption team approval is needed for placement of dogs in homes with invisible fences.

  • If MNBR believes that the dog will be allowed off leash outside a fenced area, adoption will be denied/rescinded due to a hound’s nature to roam if allowed. If an applicant allows an existing pet off leash, their application may be denied. When outside, the dog will never be left unattended if staked out or chained, and the dog cannot be left outside while family members are not present in the home.

  • While applications from those in apartments will be considered, concerns over barking, house training, and exercise can make apartments challenging homes for hounds. MNBR will place dogs in apartments on a case-by-case basis and only in Minnesota. MNBR will not adopt to apartments above the second floor in buildings without an elevator.

  • Dogs will not be adopted to families with children under the age of 6 unless the dog has previously lived with young children.

  • Our dogs have not been trained as individual therapy companions and cannot be adopted for this purpose.

  • If the temperament of the dog, whether known or unknown, warrants obedience training, the adopting family must agree to fulfill any training needs.

  • No adoption will be formalized until the applicant has met with the dog and the foster home and adoption coordinator have approved the match. MNBR reserves the right to refuse adoption to anyone for any reason. All adoption decisions are confidential and final.

  • Adopters agree to take the dog as-is, with all defects either observable or unobservable, and assume full responsibility for the dog from the date of adoption.Though every possible effort is made to provide a dog that is compatible with the adopter’s home, no warranty is made as to the physical condition and temperament of the dog. Upon adoption, the adopting person assumes responsibility for the rescue dog’s actions and shall hold MNBR free from all claims for personal injury, injury to others, and/or property damage associated with the adoption.

  • All adopters are required to sign an adoption contract agreeing to the above adoption policies as well as the following:

    • Adopters will provide adequate food, fresh water, shelter, socialization, exercise, indoor sleeping quarters, and continued veterinary care, including maintaining vaccinations and heartworm testing and preventative and providing any other care recommended by an attending veterinarian.

    • Adopters agree that the dog will wear a collar with a current rabies tag and ID tag and will comply with all state and local laws.

    • Adopters will notify MNBR immediately if the dog becomes lost or stolen.

    • Adopters will keep the dog for so long as it shall live and if custody of the dog must be relinquished, adopters agree to notify MNBR immediately to arrange for the dog to be returned to MNBR.