Considering adopting? Before visiting Mayhew, we recommend you read this page carefully.
There is a lot to consider before adopting a new family member and Mayhew can help find the perfect pet for you. All our animals receive thorough behavioural and health assessments before they are ready for rehoming. This includes microchipping, vaccinations, neutering, defleaing and worming.
Visit the animal rehoming pages on our website to see who is available for rehoming. If you see an animal that might be right for you, please fill out our dog application form or our cat application form.
Our team will assess your requirements and try to match you with the right animal. If there is a good fit, you will be contacted by our animal adoption officer to have a virtual interview.
If you are being considered as an adopter of one of our animals, a member of our team will be in touch to arrange a meeting. To adopt a dog, you will need to meet them in person at least once before adopting. To adopt a cat, you may meet via a video call if needed.
If you are successful in your interview, you will pay the rehoming fee for that animal. We will then reserve the animal for you. Read more about adoption fees.
Once you have found your perfect pal, we will conduct a home visit. This is to make sure your home is suitable for your potential new pet and to meet other members of your family.
We will arrange a time for you to come and collect your new best friend from Mayhew.
Please click here to see our adoption fees for dogs and cats.
Home visits are very important. They ensure that the environment will be suitable and that our animals will have a happy life.
Some of our animals will be suitable for families with young children. We make this decision as part of the animal’s assessment. Parents must be happy to teach the children how to respect and treat animals. For further details, please look at the individual animal's online profile.
We are happy to rehome animals to people who work part-time and full-time. Each animal undergoes an assessment to decide how long they can be left alone for. Details for this are included in each animal's online profile.
The maximum time we advise for dogs to be left alone without a break on a regular basis is 4-5 hours. Cats can be left alone for longer if their assessment states this. Think about this carefully as a pet could affect the next 10+ years of your life.
If you work full-time, you will need to either:
- introduce us to the person caring for the animal during the day
- provide us with proof of a professional animal walker
- provide a letter from your line manager allowing you to go home during your lunch break
If you work full-time, you will not be able to adopt kittens under six months, and you must have a cat flap fitted.
Dogs - We are happy to rehome dogs to committed people regardless of whether they have a garden or not, or if they live in a flat. Some dogs may need to live in a house or in a ground floor flat with a garden. If this is the case, details will be on the dog's online profile. Cats Most of our cats will need outdoor access. They should have the opportunity to explore and be independent. Sometimes, we have cats that will not be able to go outdoors. These cats can be rehomed to people that do not have a garden or outside access. These cats may be elderly or have health problems.
Yes! We are happy to rehome our animals throughout the UK.
Some of our animals will be suitable to live with other dogs or cats. Your pet must be comfortable living with another animal and must meet them before adoption. If you have a dog, your dog will need to meet the Mayhew dog before we can complete an adoption. At this time, it is unlikely that we are able to rehome our cats to households with dogs.
All our animals are assessed to determine whether they can live with other animals. Each animal’s profile will state whether or not they can live with other pets.
If you already have a pet which has not yet been neutered, this will need to be done before reserving a Mayhew animal. If they have not been neutered due to the health issues, please provide vet confirmation.
Yes you can adopt if you live in rented accommodation. You will need to provide a permission letter from your landlord, the council or housing trust. You must have this letter before/at the time of application as you will be asked to email this in straight away if your application is successful.
You need to be over 18 years of age to adopt an animal from Mayhew. If there is an increased chance that your pet might outlive you, we will ask to meet the person who would take them on.
We expect dogs and cats to be treated as part of the family. They must have full use of the home as well as the ability to go outside. At no point should you leave the animal outside. We do not rehome dogs as guard dogs.
Our animals receive a full health check and behavioural assessment. If we discover issues during this process, we will always inform you. We will make it very clear to you if an animal has any health or behavioural problems. There are no long-term guarantees. Any animal can develop health or behavioural problems at any point in their life. Mayhew is here to offer guidance throughout the animal's life but if you adopt an animal from us, you will need to register them with a local vet. If required, you will need to seek help from a professional behaviourist. Fees for these services can be expensive, so for this reason we recommend pet insurance.
It is normal to have some anxiety in the early stages of your adoption. You can call us on 020 8962 8000 to discuss any issues and we will do our best to help and support you. It is rare that we need to take animals back into Mayhew as our adoption process is very thorough, however we will always take back any Mayhew animals you’re no longer able to care for.
This means that the animal is reserved for you. Other potential adopters cannot view or adopt that animal.
The fee includes neutering, microchipping, vaccinations, flea and worm treatment and a vet check. A full behaviour assessment and a starter pack of food is also included. We require all of our young dogs and puppies to attend training classes with their new owners. You will need to register and pay for a course of lessons with a local class before taking your animal home. We will need to see a receipt from the trainer. The adoption fees go a small way to covering our costs. We spend an average of £1,000 on each animal that comes in for rehoming, which covers their veterinary treatment, food and accommodation. Mayhew receives no government funding and relies upon the generosity of the general public.
Please consider making a donation to Mayhew. We receive no government funding and your donations allow us to take care of dogs in need.
Could you foster a dog or cat? Mayhew are looking for volunteers who are able to provide a temporary home to our rescued animals.
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