Are Pet Adoption Agreements Legally Binding?

Thousands of animals are surrendered to animal control and animal rescue agencies every year throughout the country. Most of these agencies make sure the animals are healthy, provide health services and training if necessary and then adopt the animals back out into the community for fee. The new owners are typically also asked to sign a pet adoption contract.

  1. The Adoption Contract

    • A pet adoption contract provides rules for how the animal should be cared for. It also typically covers what will happen to the animal if the owner is ever in a position where he can no longer care for his pet. Pet adoption contracts can range from a very simple, very standard document with minimal requirements to extremely complex documents with many strict rules regarding the quality of care and the animal's living environment.

    The Function of the Contract

    • In most circumstances, the purpose of the adoption contract is to make sure that animals who have been adopted are not mistreated or abused by the adopter. The goal of many of these contracts is to give the adoption agency the right to take the animal back from the adopter if something goes wrong in the home and the agency believes the animal is being mistreated or abused. In some cases, the adoption agency assigns a monetary value to the animal and the adopter is required to pay the amount listed if the adopter breeches or violates the contract in any way.

    Quality of the Contract

    • Anyone with a computer and a printer can create a contract, but not every contract is created equal. The best, most legally binding contracts are those drawn up by attorneys who are familiar with pet adoption as well as the laws of the state in which the adoption agency operates in. A contract that's written by someone who has no understanding of the law may accidentally violate the law, causing the contract to become void. A pet adoption contract that was created by a lawyer and signed in front of a licensed notary will be more easy to enforce in the court of law than a verbal agreement or a unprofessional document that was signed without witnesses.

    Consequences of Violating the Contract

    • If a pet adoption agency decides an adopter has violated the contract, then it will need to take the owner to court with ample evidence of the violation in order to reclaim the animal or receive monetary compensation. Adoption agencies cannot forcibly take an animal from an adopter without proper court paperwork. Rather than go to court, most adoption agencies will bring a violation to the attention of the adopter and request the adopter fix the problem or surrender the pet back to the agency. If an adoption agency does take the adopter to court, a judge will evaluate the contract in accordance with local laws. The judge will make a decision as far as exactly how legally binding the specific contract is as well as assess punishment for violating it, if appropriate.