Once your Adoption Adoption form is completed and returned to us, we will open a chat with our frontline rescuer and foster carer, Elena Popa, in Romania. This gives you every opportunity to ask questions about the dog you are hoping will soon become part of your family. At the same time, Elena will ask questions about your family’s expectation of the dog. We aim to get things right from the start and this is an important factor. Elena will always provide photographs and videos of the dog in question so that you can see them interacting with each other, as well as with people and, indeed, the Popa family resident cats.

Online Adoption Form

All being well from the chat and both sides are satisfied that this is indeed the dog that is suitable for your family, we request a Home Check. We use two outside agencies to carry out home checks. Once we receive the home check report back, we will again liaise with you to arrange a travel date to the UK. Our transporter delivers dogs to the new UK homes every fortnight; leaving Romania on the Thursday and entering the UK on the Saturday. Pick up locations and eta will be provided on the Thursday once transport have ascertained their particular route for the run.

At this stage we will ask you to send your adoption fee to Elena in order that she can start the necessary preparation for travel. The adoption fee is for England and Wales is £360 per dog un-neutered and £410 per dog neutered. This includes all vaccinations, worming, flea treatments, microchip, passport, transport to UK with DEFRA approved transporter and brucellosis test. We aim to neuter wherever possible, but there are occasions when puppies are too young (they have to be a minimum of four months old to travel). In these circumstances, we write a clause into the Adoption Agreement that the adopter undertakes to get the puppy neutered as soon as he/she is old enough. RACE make absolutely no profit from rehoming our dogs; the adoption fee simply covers transportation to the UK, legal documentation for immigration into the UK, passport, microchipping and all necessary vaccinations. The Paypal address for the fee is popabrandusaelena@yahoo.com. We ask that you send the payment as Friends and Family as this ensures that a commission is not deducted. Goods and Services do not apply because we are not selling the dogs.

As your dog leaves Romania and is finally on their way home to you, you will be added to a Transport Chat which will keep you updated of progress and/or any unexpected delays. We ask that you adopters do not enter into a general chat on the Transport Chat, or keep asking questions, as this distracts the driver. He has the dogs’ welfare and safety to think about at all times – just as it should be. Your new family member will be delivered directly to your home by the transporter. Your dog MUST NOT be taken out from the home for at least the first 48 hours after arrival. The transporter will hand you the dog’s passport which has the microchip number inside, as well as a complete log of all vaccinations given with dates (this includes the all important rabies), as well as results of blood tests, neutering, wormer and flea treatment. You will also be handed all the other relevant documentation required. It is very important to contact Petlog (0844 4633 999) to register your pets microchip into their system - the cost is £17. You may get a telephone call from DEFRA/APHA shortly after your dog arrives home with you. This is general procedure and they will arrange to visit your home to check that all the paperwork is in order. It always is, so it’s nothing to worry about at all. They are simply doing their job.

Register microchip

Please do read Settling In Your New Family Member. This is to make sure your dogs will be safe when you collect them and listen to the advice our rescuer, Elena Popa, gives you as she has had many years and experience of dealing with these dogs and does understand them; please don’t think you know better - a new dog in your home, such an important member, has many needs, but the most important one is safety.

Read more