🚀 go-pugleaf

>There are a couple of ways to protect yourself (or rather the animal) if 
>you are adopting out a companion animal.  First, charge a fee, no matter 
>if it's just $10.00.  Second, take time to talk to the potential 
>adopter.  Any good shelter has a list of questions they ask people who 
>come to adopt.  For instance:  Do you have a fenced yard?  (for dogs).  
>Have you owned pets before?  What happened to the last pet you owned?  
>How much to you think it will cost to keep a pet for a year?  Are there 
>small children in the house (eg under, say 5 years old and therefore 
>rough on animals)?  Where will the animal sleep?  Will you spay or 
>neuter the animal?  Ask what they know about shots, feeding, 
>veterinarians, licensing, dog obedience training.
>
>You can even go to visit the person's home to check it out.  I know 
>people who are responsible for placing animals who do just that.


I think these are all excellent points, and I'd like to add another.  
Consider what breeders do when selling pups, have a contract that places 
you as co-owner of the dog.  It might be a tool to help the new owner 
think of the consequences of their actions.  No, it might be difficult to 
enforce (unfortunately there's always someone out there who can get 
around anything), but I know it told me something about the breeder of my 
current pup - she cared very much and I was quite happy she did!