ABC Animal Rescue501(c)(3) nonprofit · Ballston Spa, NY Donate

ABC Animal Rescue Incorporated is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization — EIN 92-2323056, tax-exempt since 15 March 2023. We rescue dogs, care for them in volunteer foster homes, and find them families in Saratoga County, New York. Our nonprofit status and filings

Guide

Your first month with a rescue dog in New York.

You have signed the adoption agreement and the dog is in your car. Some of what comes next is paperwork New York requires of every dog owner. The rest is just what a dog needs to believe it is staying.

The paperwork

Three things the law asks of you.

WEEK ONE

License the dog

New York requires the owner of any dog four months or older to apply for a dog license straight away. Licenses are issued by your town or city clerk, not the state, and last at least a year. You will need the dog’s rabies certificate — bring the one from its vet records.

ON SCHEDULE

Keep rabies current

Every dog, cat and ferret in New York must have its first rabies vaccine by four months old and a second within a year of the first, then boosters on schedule. A license cannot run past the rabies certificate, so the two renew together.

IF A PUPPY

The spay and neuter agreement

A puppy too young for surgery can be adopted if you agree in writing to have it done within 30 days of it reaching six months, with a deposit of at least $35. Get your vet to confirm the surgery in writing and the deposit comes back.

The dog

Give it three quiet weeks.

A dog that has changed homes does not know yet that this one is permanent. The first weeks go better when the house is boring on purpose.

Do

  • Keep the same food the foster used, and change it slowly if at all
  • Give the dog a crate or corner that is only its own
  • Walk the same short route at the same times
  • Keep it on a leash outside, even in a fenced yard, until it comes when called
  • Book a first visit with your own vet in the first few weeks
  • Start tick prevention if it is not already on it

Hold off on

  • Dog parks, parties and a stream of visitors
  • Leaving it alone for long stretches on day one
  • Judging its personality before week three
  • Retractable leashes — a frightened new dog can slip one

Something not working? Tell us before it becomes a crisis. Every ABC Animal Rescue dog comes with a foster who knows it and a rescue that wants it to stay with you — and if it truly cannot, we want it back rather than passed on to a stranger.

Sources: NY Agriculture and Markets Law § 109 (dog licensing); NY Public Health Law § 2141 (rabies vaccination); NY Agriculture and Markets Law § 377-a (spay and neuter on adoption). Check your own town’s license fee and office hours with its clerk.

Every dog we save is paid for by donations and cared for by volunteers. ABC Animal Rescue Incorporated is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit — gifts are tax-deductible.

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