No dog will be rehomed by us without being desexed, microchipped and vaccinated.

VicDRG is a group run entirely by volunteers. We have no paid employees.

Everyone gives of their time, skills and often money to ensure we can continue to work to save and improve the quality of life of our companion animals.

Your donations go where they are needed - to the animals.

Adopting a Dog

Adoption Procedures

Victorian Dog Rescue and Resource Group Inc is dedicated to saving the lives of dogs on death row in Victorian Pounds. We do not operate a shelter. All of our dogs are in foster care at various locations around Melbourne. If you are interested in any of our dogs, please note our procedures below.

Each of our dogs is special to us, and their welfare is of the utmost importance. Our adoption procedures are extensive because we aim to match dogs with adopters, and place dogs in their 'forever' homes. Different dogs have different requirements, and we carefully assess the nature, temperament and requirements of each individual dog. We do not simply rehome our dogs to the first person that applies. Rather, we place our dogs in the home that is most suitable for the dog. Our dogs remain in foster care until this suitable home is found, however long it takes.

The first step is to complete the application form. The application needs to be returned to us online. If we have a dog that is suitable for you, we will telephone you to talk further. We also contact the foster carer for their comments, and if the dog appears a good match for you we will arrange a no obligation ‘meet and greet’. We also complete a property check to make sure all is safe and secure. We will only rehome dogs where fencing is secure or there is a contained area for the dog.

If we do not believe you will provide the most appropriate home for the dog we will not rehome the dog to you. Our decision is final. When applying for a dog please consider the dog’s requirements, not just your own. Above all our priority is to place our dogs in the most appropriate home for them.

Our adoption fee for dogs is in most cases $350. This fee is used to cover vet work and associated costs. Our greatest expense is veterinary work, and several of our dogs have required costly major operations. This adoption fee is not negotiable. All money received by us, whether in donations or fees, is used for the benefit of our animals.

We also offer a 30-day full refund policy, the services of a behaviouralist free of charge for the first month, and a take back or assist to rehome policy for the lifetime of the animal.

Please note we do not rehome to any person interstate or under 25 years of age.

Dog Adoption Application

Please download the Adoption Application Form here:

» Dog Adoption Application Form word document

If you are having trouble downloading this application please »contact us and we will send you the application as an attachment or if necessary cut and paste on to an email for you. Unfortunately with limited numbers of volunteers we can only deal with online applications.

Please remember that we are a not-for-profit organisation staffed entirely by volunteers. The best way to contact us is via email: adoptions@victoriandogrescue.org.au. If we have not acknowledged your application within three days, please send us a reminder.

Regrettably, at the present time, owing to the high volume of applications and a shortage of staff, we are not able to respond further to all applications. If the adoption is likely to proceed we shall contact you within seven days.

Thank you for your understanding.

Note that we are not in a position to hold dogs for you. Please do not apply for a dog until you are in a position to adopt that dog. We expect the dog to go to the new home within 7 days of the successful meet and greet.