Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Labelle Foundation a shelter?

No, we are a foster based rescue organization. We do not have a facility, nor do we receive government funding. We rely solely on donations and adoption fees to fund our medical, supplies, training, and staffing. We are a registered 501(c)(3)  EIN: 83-0882287

Where do The Labelle Foundation dogs come from?

The dogs who are in need of foster care come to us from various situations:

  • Shelter rescue. The Labelle Foundation takes in animals from local shelters in Los Angeles County, Kern County, Riverside County, and several other shelters within California. Our rescue program specialised in medical dogs, pregnant mother dogs, and orphaned and neonatal babies. We want to save as many lives as possible, and the foster program allows us to maximize our resources.
  • Owner Surrender. This is when an owner finds themselves in tough life circumstances when they can no longer provide for a suitable quality of life for the animal. They choose to surrender the dog to us so that the dog never has to go to the shelter and we can find it a new furever home! 
  • Adoption Return. At The Labelle Foundation we make a lifetime commitment to every animal we rescue. This means that if, for any reason, an adopter can no longer keep a pet he or she adopted from us, we require that the pet comes back to The Labelle Foundation. If the pet ends up at a shelter, we will pick the animal up and take the animal back. While this is rare and we work very hard to make sure adopters can commit to keeping the animal for their entire lifetime, it occasionally does happen.

 

 

I want to learn more about mom rescue dogs and their litters!

At The Labelle Foundation, we are a no mother left behind rescue. After our moms give birth, we have them fostered with their babies and then get them ready for adoption themselves! 

Quite often pregnant dogs are left discarded at the shelters. They were neglected in the first place and then they need medical or behavioral care. At The Labelle Foundation, we are happy to provide that for them. We take in the mom’s nurse them through the birth of their babies and then foster them with their babies until the pups are ready to go for adoption at 8-weeks. Once puppies go for adoption and the mom recovers, we then get the mom adopted to her new furever home! 

Additionally, we take in puppies that are abandoned without mothers that require bottle feeding, puppies from breeders that would have discarded the puppies due to disabilities like cleft palate,  and other cleft palate puppies that require tube feeding that our foundation specializes in.

How do I donate and what does the donations go towards?

You can donate through our PayPal or help by purchasing supplies on our Amazon wish list! These are both located on the Donate page on our website.  

All donations through our PayPal, adoption fees and application fees go directly towards saving dogs’ lives. We specialize in medical dogs, which are very costly – we’ve had dogs cost over $10,000 for their rehabilitation. Some months, we spend over $5,000 dollars a day on medical bills. We make sure all our dogs while in foster are up-to-date on their vaccinations. Additionally, we cover the majority of the cost of spay and neuter with our vet partners. 

We work hard to supply all our fosters with everything they’ll need to support our dogs. We can only do this if we have the funds and supplies available. We currently have 170 dogs in our care and are continuing to grow. The more supplies and funding we have, the more dogs we can save! 

What is the adoption process?

All dogs available for adoption are shown on our Instagram posts, we update these posts once they are adopted! Our website only shows a select few featured dogs. If you would like to apply for a dog, please go to labellefoundation.org/adoption-form and submit an application!

If you already submitted an application, you do not need to complete this again to apply for a new dog. Instead, please fill out the Application Update Form to let us know the new pup you would like to be considered for! This form is located here. Please indicate the dog’s name you’re interested in applying for on each application. 

We thank you in advance for your patience during the application process. Since COVID-19 started in March 2020, we have received an influx of applications for dogs. We are overjoyed to see so many people excited to give these dogs loving homes. 

Since we are a volunteer run organization we do not have the resources to contact everyone. You will be considered for all dogs you apply for. We only can accept one family per dog and only contact them. We will send you a decline if your application will not be a fit for any dogs, otherwise, we encourage you to apply using the application update form. For more information on the adoption process, read our adoption information guide here

Response time is about one week if you are the right fit for that dog. We are advocating for these dogs’ lives and look to match them with their forever family! After we review applications, we will contact you if we are moving you forward in the application process to request a home video tour. If you become fully approved for that dog, we will contact you to let you know. Following approval, you will need to sign the adoption contract and pay a $600 adoption fee for dogs under one year; $450 adoption fee for dogs over one year. 

Thank you for your continued support and excitement to find your furever friend    We are working hard to rescue more and more dogs each day and cannot do it without all of you!

What is the adoption fee and what does it cover?

The adoption fee is $600 for dogs under 1 and $450 for dogs over 1. We are a not-for-profit rescue that is solely based on donations. The adoption fee goes towards keeping the rescue going, covering dogs’ expenses including supplies, medical, and behavioral. Additionally, The Labelle Foundation covers the majority of the cost of spay and neuter of all our dogs and the vaccinations up until adoption, which the adoption fee goes directly to.

 

What do you recommend to get my application noticed?

Patience and kindness go a long way! We have a huge amount of applications and we can only choose one for each dog. Continue to apply using our application update form when you see a dog you are interested in adopting! Please put the dog’s name in the application as that is the only way to be considered for that dog – do not put ‘open’ or a specific breed as these will not show up when we are looking at applications for that dog. The process for adopting a dog can take a few months – please be patient as we sort through applications and try to find you to your new furever friend!

 

Can I adopt from out of state?

We do not ship dogs to other states, cities, or countries. We are a Los Angeles based rescue, if you would like to adopt you would need to be able to come to the Los Angeles area to get your dog. Additionally, you will have to cover the cost of spay and neuter at your local vet. 

I haven’t heard back from my email or application. Will I hear back from you?

We work 24/7 to rescue and care for all our dogs. A typical day in rescue consists of being on our feet helping with transports, bottle or tube feeding puppies, coordinating with fosters and finalizing adoptions, and working on medical needs for the 100+ dogs at a time in our care. With everything going on, unfortunately, we cannot answer every email, DM or application that gets submitted to us. Since we are a non-profit rescue, our focus is taking care of every dog and saving as many as we can. If you are approved for a dog, we will respond within one week from the day that we put the dog up for adoption on our Instagram page. We will update the adoption post and adoptable dogs highlight on our instagram with the dogs’ adoption status.

 

How do I apply to foster?

You can apply to foster on our website, please go to our foster application.. If your app is approved, a Labelle team member will reach out for via text, call or FaceTime video to introduce ourselves. Once fully approved, you will be added to our foster database and we will contact you once we have a dog that fits your application.

 

Do I qualify to be a foster?

We have put together a detailed manual on fostering here. This is a great tool to see if you qualify to be a foster. If you feel you are ready to foster and qualify, please apply using our  foster application.

 

What types of fostering can I do?

We are looking for all kinds of fosters. These include large and small breed fosters, adult and puppy fosters, and medical fosters. We are also a no mom left behind rescue. We are always in need of fosters who can foster a mom dog with their babies and fosters who can help with birthing the puppies. We also take in baby orphans who do not have a mom and need bottle feeding. Please indicate what type of fostering you are able to do on our foster application.

 

What can I expect when I foster?

Most fostering is a 2-3 week commitment, unless specified otherwise. You will need to drive to and from any vet appointments. You will also need to assist in any meet and greets with potential adopters that The Labelle Foundation finds for the dog. The Labelle Foundation foster coordinator will be in contact throughout the fostering process, you will need to be responsive and they will notify you once the dog is adopted. When fostering, you are helping a dog recover from their rescue journey. This can leave various effects on the dog. By applying you are committing to helping that dog for a given period of time. It’s a rewarding experience and you really are a huge part of it! We have a detailed manual on fostering that can be found here.

 

How can I volunteer?

You can apply to volunteer using our volunteer form here!

I am looking to surrender a dog, how should I start the process?

If you are looking to surrender your dog, please visit this page on our website. Please send us an email if you need to surrender your pet with all vaccinations, spay and neuter and microchip records. If your dog has a health problem, please let us know right away. Please do not post your dog on craigslist, there are many cruel and heinous things that happen to dogs when they are adopted through craigslist.