FAQ

Complete an enquiry form by following this link and a member of the team will contact you via email. Please keep a check on your spam in case the email goes there.

The adoption donation for a dog coming directly from Romania is £450. This is used towards the cost of transport to the UK and all the necessary preparations for your dog to travel – vaccinations, tests, sterilisation if age appropriate, passport and deworming. If you live in Scotland, Wales, Devon or Cornwall then we ask for an extra donation because the cost of transport will be greater, usually an extra £20

If the dog has been born in the UK the donation is £400. This goes towards a vet health check, vaccinations and sterilisation if appropriate, and fostering expenses.

For a dog that has been surrendered by a previous adopter the donation is £300. This is used towards any vet health check or treatment that is required, and fostering or kennelling fees.

The adoption donation is £280. This is used towards the cost of transport to the UK and all the necessary preparations for your cat to travel. If you live in Scotland, Wales, Devon or Cornwall then we ask for an extra donation because the cost of transport will be greater, usually an extra £20.

If for any reason you need to rehome your dog or cat then please contact us through your chat/group or email us at [email protected]. We will arrange to collect the dog or cat from you and place them either in foster, or in kennels, until a new home can be found for them. This may take a few days, or in some cases longer, but rest assured we will take the dog or cat back. In some circumstances you may wish to keep the dog or cat until new adopters can be found. This is something we will discuss with you at the time. Under no circumstances should a rescue animal be sold, moved on or euthanised because you no longer want it or can no longer care for it and not without the express permission of the rescue.

We do our best to match you with a stray based on the living conditions you have and the information we get from our rescuers on that particular stray. This does sometimes mean that the dog or cat you wanted to rescue may not be suitable for your circumstances. While this may be disappointing, please understand that it’s not just about putting a roof over a stray’s head – as a charity, we have a duty of care to find a home for each stray where they can thrive and become their best selves. If we cannot rehome the dog or cat of your choice, we will do our best to find the right match.

We do not currently have a shelter within the UK. Where a UK location is specified on our website, it means that the dog or cat is in foster care with one of our amazing foster carers in that location. Most of our strays are in Romania, in the loving care of their rescuers. To become a foster pawrent and help change a stray’s life, please consider applying here: https://stray2me.com/support/foster/

Rescuing a stray is a difficult, but also rewarding experience. Many of our strays have not lived in a home and even if they have, they will require lots of time, care and patience to decompress and adjust to their new lifestyle. You may find that new behaviours emerge over time that were not seen whilst they were in foster, and that may not be desirable (e.g. separation anxiety, destructiveness, possessiveness, food aggression). These behaviours may need many months and patience to overcome. 

We will support you on your adoption journey, and we have volunteer behaviourists who can offer virtual advice and support free of charge to help guide you. However, it may not be enough, and you may need to enlist the services of a local behaviourist who can visit your home and assess the situation in more detail.

Therefore, we encourage you to consider the impact and resources needed to welcome a Stray into your life. We would encourage you to ask yourself a few of the following questions before applying:

• Can I live with a stray that becomes destructive for a few months and work with them to help them change their behaviour?
• Could I accommodate a dog that howls, is unsettled at night and can I invest the time needed to get them to feel like they are in a safe environment, even if it takes months rather than weeks?
• Can I separate my other pets from the stray, if the stray chases them/ becomes nervous/ aggressive, and can I work through this for the next few months?
• Am I willing to invest the time and to pay for the services of a behaviourist should one be needed?

If the answer to any of that is “no”, then we would strongly encourage you to reconsider adopting a Romanian stray from us and reach out to a local rescue that may have more resources to support you than we have at the moment. 

Please understand that it is in nobody’s interest for the adoption to fail, and if that happens, the one that suffers the most is the stray. If you do not feel able to commit to your Stray if things become challenging, then it would be better to be honest with yourself and not to adopt.

Romanian strays may have survived anywhere from a few days to many years on the streets, and as a result of that, they need lots of love, care and patience to flourish into wonderful companions. Very little can be known about the life of a Romanian street dog prior to being rescued: they could have been beaten, abused, they could have starved for an indefinite period of time, been attacked by other dogs and even injured in some form. All of these forms of trauma will reflect in the behaviour a stray has, and may not become evident until they are in a loving home. Romanian rescues, if coming straight from the shelter and not a UK home/ UK foster, will most likely not be toilet trained, they will have no recall, they have no formal training and do not understand basic commands, will need to be trained by you to accept the lead and/or harness and will probably display signs of food aggression. The good news is that many of them are intelligent and respond quickly to training using positive reinforcement.

Please also read ‘How do I know if adopting a Stray is right for my circumstances?’ for more information. We also have lots of guides available under the “our strays” section of the website.

It is important to understand that even if you are adopting a Romanian puppy/ kitten, they may still be nervous due to their genetic background/heritage. 

Some of our basic expectations, also outlined during our homecheck and in our contract, include:

• Providing training for your rescue;
• Providing your rescue with adequate food, rest and enrichment such as play or walking;
• Providing your rescue with veterinary treatment as urgently as required (and we also encourage you to consider how you may cover unforeseen vet bills);
• Keeping in touch with us via the communication channel we have set up (we are also there to provide support if needed);
• Letting us know immediately if your rescue goes missing (so we can provide timely support in finding them);

In addition to this, we also expect the following:

• Lots of patience in integrating your new family member – it is important to understand that even if the stray is a match based on how they behave when they are at the rescuers’ shelter/ foster, they will enter an unknown territory when they arrive in your home, and it will / may take a lot of time for them to decompress and adjust to their new lifestyle.
• Lots of patience in working with your stray to overcome unwanted behaviours –  we will support you on your adoption journey, and we have volunteer behaviourists who can offer virtual advice and support free of charge to help guide you through accommodating the stray in your family and working through these behaviours. However, it may not be enough, and you may need to enlist the services of a local behaviourist who can visit your home and assess the situation in more detail. These services are usually quite costly (upwards of £80 per session, with a few sessions needed) and can take a few months to progress through until you can see meaningful changes.
• Support for the charity if the adoption does not work out - we are a small charity with incredibly limited resources. We offer rescue back-up but we don’t always have available fosters straight away, and we cannot guarantee how long it will be until we can move the stray. This means that unless there is concern for the safety of anyone in your home, we will ask you to continue working with the stray for the weeks or perhaps even months that it may take to find them a new home. If you do not wish to continue to do this, and you want the stray moved immediately and we do not have any fosters available, we will ask you to contribute to the cost of kennels until the rescue finds a new home (the average price is about £20 a day and it may take months for the stray to find a new home). 

Beneath the photographs and information for each dog or cat you will find an adopt button. Click this button and it will take you to a form to complete.

Once the form is received we will set up a Facebook Messenger chat with you, provided you have sent a link to your Facebook profile. If you do not know how to do this, please email a photo of your Facebook profile photo to: [email protected] Please keep a check on your Messenger Requests on Messenger.

If we are not able to take your application forward we will email you to explain the reason for our decision. Please keep a check on your spam in case our email goes there.

We aim to contact you within 3 days of receiving the form.

Please click here for clear instructions.

Here we can discuss your application in greater detail and match you to the right dog or cat.

Wherever possible we prefer to use Facebook Messenger. It enables us to set up a chat with the team and find out more about you, your lifestyle, your experience with animals and the type of home you can offer. We will discuss in detail the type of dog or cat that may suit you. We will be able to share photos and videos with you. We will ask you for a video of your garden.

If your application is successful the chat will remain open and enable you to send us updates, or to reach out for support and advice should you need it. You can message with us whenever it is convenient for you, and we mostly respond pretty quickly.

We can set up a WhatsApp group, however this is slightly less convenient for the team.

In exceptional circumstances we can communicate via email; however you will be communicating with one member of the team only, and we will not be able to share as many videos or photos, nor respond as frequently and as quickly as we can via Messenger.

Our rescuers use Messenger, and so do the transporters.

After we have messaged with you and provided you with information and links to useful articles, and answered any questions you may have, we will organise a home check. We prefer to do a virtual home check via the video link on the Messenger chat. This is so that we can ‘meet’ you and see the layout of your home and garden for ourselves, rather than relying on a volunteer home checker who may or may not be a member of our team. It also means you can ‘meet’ a couple of members of the team, and ask us your questions directly.

If you are not able to use technology for the home check then we can arrange for a volunteer from a home checking group to visit you, but this may take longer to arrange than a virtual home check.

A home check is similar to an interview, but in a much more friendlier and relaxed manner. This will either be done virtually, or, if we have volunteers in your area, we can do this face to face. We will ask that we see the garden and the areas of the house in which your new family member will live, and we will ask you some general questions about dog/cat ownership. This is also a chance for you to meet the team and ask more questions about the process.

Home checks take on average about 1h when rehoming a dog and 30 minutes when rehoming a cat.

If we do a virtual home check via video link, you could hear back the same day, or the next day. If you have a physical home check, then we are dependent on the volunteer who visits you and how soon they send in their report.

We do our best to match you with a stray based on the living conditions you have and the information we get from our rescuers on that particular stray. This does sometimes mean that the dog or cat you wanted to rescue may not be suitable for your circumstances. While this may be disappointing, please understand that it’s not just about putting a roof over a stray’s head – as a charity, we have a duty of care to find a home for each stray where they can thrive and become their best selves. If we cannot rehome the dog or cat of your choice, we will do our best to find the right match.

We will inform you on the chat/group and, if we have not already done so, we will match you to a dog or cat. Sometimes we will not have any suitable matches available and so, with your agreement, we will keep you on our list of pre-approved adopters, to be contacted at some point in the future should a suitable Stray become available.

The adoption donation for a dog coming directly from Romania is £450. This is used towards the cost of transport to the UK and all the necessary preparations for your dog to travel – vaccinations, tests, sterilisation if age appropriate, passport and deworming. If you live in Scotland, Wales, Devon or Cornwall then we ask for an extra donation because the cost of transport will be greater, usually an extra £20

If the dog has been born in the UK the donation is £400. This goes towards a vet health check, vaccinations and sterilisation if appropriate, and fostering expenses.

For a dog that has been surrendered by a previous adopter the donation is £300. This is used towards any vet health check or treatment that is required, and fostering or kennelling fees.

The adoption donation is £280. This is used towards the cost of transport to the UK and all the necessary preparations for your cat to travel. If you live in Scotland, Wales, Devon or Cornwall then we ask for an extra donation because the cost of transport will be greater, usually an extra £20.

We will ask for your adoption donation a couple of days before your dog or cat leaves Romania. This is because we need to pay for transport a couple of days before it is due to leave, in order to secure the place. We also like to help the rescuer with the cost of vaccinations, passport and tests etc. Donations can be made via PayPal or bank transfer.

In most cases it is between 4 and 6 weeks before a dog or cat can travel. Sometimes it is sooner, but this will be discussed with you at the time of your home check. 

Your Stray will travel overland in an air conditioned van in a fully secured crate of the appropriate size. All vans have passed a DEFRA inspection and been given a Type 2 license. They come through Eurotunnel and arrive in the UK at Folkestone.

In most cases your dog or cat will be delivered to your door. However, if you live in a particularly inaccessible part of the UK then we can discuss with you what other arrangements may need to be made. You will be required to have a slip lead for a dog, and possibly a collar and harness and crate. For a cat you will need a pet travel carrier. More support about handover and what to expect in those early days will be given to you prior to travel.

Yes. Once a transport is underway you will be invited to join the chat on Facebook Messenger. This chat will have all the other adopters and volunteers from the rescues, plus the drivers and the transport co-ordinators. From time-to-time the transport team may post live location and updates on progress. If there is an opportunity to take photographs when they stop to feed the animals and clean cages, then photos of your dogs and cats in transit will be posted on chat. 

The transport admin team will post a list of drops alongside a map, so that you can see where you are on the route. Once transport has cleared customs in the UK then the first ETA will be posted. Obviously the ETAs are a guide only and changes can occur due to traffic or weather conditions. Any changes will also be posted to chat, so it is important to look out for updates. As a drop has been reached the chat will be updated with an ETA for the next drop on the list.

The chat will be monitored by the transport admin team and someone from Stray2Me, so there will always be someone available to contact should you need to ask a question.

Some transports stop at 1am and restart at 6am, but some deliver through the night so you need to be prepared to accept your dog or cat anytime of the day or night. Half the magic is receiving your new addition whilst in you PJs at 3am! 

Yes. You will be given a passport and a health book for dogs, and the Animal Health Certificate paperwork. For cats you may not be given a health book. Please keep these documents safe. Your Stray must complete a period of quarantine at your home for the first 48 hours after arrival. We will explain more about this to you in your Messenger chats, but The Animal and Plant Health Agency, APHA, may contact you during this period to arrange to visit and check the paperwork. This is purely routine and should not cause you any concern. 

Your dog or cat will be scanned by the driver before handing to you in order to make sure the microchip matches the information on the passport and Animal Health Certificate. 

Yes. A contract will be sent to you via email, which you are asked to sign and return before your dog or cat travels. You can sign it electronically. Instructions will be attached.

Your dogs and cats will have the standard annual vaccinations against the most common diseases, plus rabies vaccination. For dogs they will have DHPPi + L and for cats they will have Tricat Trio. Puppies will also have an extra puppy vaccine, Puppy DP.

You will be advised about this on your chat/group before your dog or cat arrives, but no dog or cat should leave the premises for the first 48 hours. Dogs may go into the garden, on a harness and slip lead, but not outside of the perimeter, and cats should remain indoors. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) require that any animal delivered directly to you should remain in quarantine in your home for a period of 48 hours. During this 48 hour period The Animal and Plant Health Agency, APHA, may contact you to arrange a visit. This is standard practice and nothing at all to be concerned about. They simply visit to scan the microchip and check the passport is in order. The transport company will contact DEFRA and let them know the dog or cat is travelling to you. You do not need to do anything.

Please use your Messenger chat or WhatsApp group for on going support and advice. We have a closed group on Facebook for adopters and we will be delighted to see photos and videos and updates of your Strays and their new lives with you. Other adopters can offer support and advice.

We will keep the chat we have with you open for as long as your rescue is with you – we would love to hear as much as possible about how they are settling in, and we will also ask you how you’re getting on from time to time. You can also use the chat to ask for any support you may need.

We will register the microchip for you. Your dog or cat will be registered to you, and dual registered to the rescue. This is an added layer of protection for you and your Stray.

You can use the chat/group that was set up for you initially, post a message on the adopters group, or you can email us at [email protected].Everyone involved in the rehoming process is happy to offer support and advice.

If for any reason you need to rehome your dog or cat then please contact us through your chat/group or email us at [email protected]. We will arrange to collect the dog or cat from you and place them either in foster, or in kennels, until a new home can be found for them. This may take a few days, or in some cases longer, but rest assured we will take the dog or cat back. In some circumstances you may wish to keep the dog or cat until new adopters can be found. This is something we will discuss with you at the time. Under no circumstances should a rescue animal be sold, moved on or euthanised because you no longer want it or can no longer care for it and not without the express permission of the rescue.

Ideally the dog or cat you wish to adopt will be in foster within the same county and within an hour’s drive of your location. Because the Stray is in foster, you will have the opportunity to meet them before making a final decision on adoption. We therefore expect you to be able to travel to meet your chosen Stray.

In some cases we will be happy to rehome the Stray further afield, but this depends on the particular Stray. If you are unable to travel to meet and/or collect your chosen dog or cat, we can arrange transport, but this will incur an extra donation to cover costs. We do not have our own transport within the UK so we cannot transport to you free of charge. Nor can we move your chosen Stray to a location nearer to you so that you can meet them before deciding to adopt.

If you are interested in a dog or cat in foster, it will be your responsibility to cover the costs of having them transported to you if you are not able to collect. We will not accept applications from anyone wishing to use public transport to transport a dog. Ideally a cat would not be expected to travel on public transport either.

Above the photographs and information for the dog or cat you wish to adopt you will find an adopt button. Click this button and it will take you to a form to complete.

Once the form is received we will set up a Facebook Messenger chat with you, provided you have sent a link to your Facebook profile. If you do not know how to do this, please email a photo of your Facebook profile photo to: [email protected] Please keep a check on your Messenger Requests on Messenger.

If we are not able to take your application forward we will email you to explain the reason for our decision. Please keep a check on your spam in case our email goes there.

We aim to contact you within 3 days of receiving the form.

Please click here for clear instructions

Here we can discuss your application in greater detail and match you to the right dog or cat.

Wherever possible we prefer to use Facebook Messenger. It enables us to set up a chat with the team and find out more about you, your lifestyle, your experience with animals and the type of home you can offer. We will discuss in detail the type of dog or cat that may suit you. We will be able to share photos and videos with you. We will ask you for a video of your garden.

If your application is successful the chat will remain open and enable you to send us updates, or to reach out for support and advice should you need it. You can message with us whenever it is convenient for you, and we mostly respond pretty quickly.

We can set up a WhatsApp group, however this is slightly less convenient for the team.

In exceptional circumstances we can communicate via email; however you will be communicating with one member of the team only, and we will not be able to share as many videos or photos, nor respond as frequently and as quickly as we can via Messenger.

After we have messaged with you and provided you with information and links to useful articles, and answered any questions you may have, we will organise a home check. We prefer to do a virtual home check via the video link on the Messenger chat. This is so that we can ‘meet’ you and see the layout of your home and garden for ourselves, rather than relying on a volunteer home checker who may or may not be a member of our team. It also means you can ‘meet’ a couple of members of the team, and ask us your questions directly.

Alternatively, the foster may choose to come to your home and do an in person home check. This option will depend on the availability of the foster and their proximity to you.

If you are not able to use technology for the home check then we can arrange for a volunteer from a home checking group to visit you, but this may take longer to arrange than a virtual home check.

A home check is similar to an interview, but in a much more friendlier and relaxed manner. This will either be done virtually, or, if we have volunteers in your area, we can do this face to face. We will ask that we see the garden and the areas of the house in which your new family member will live, and we will ask you some general questions about dog/cat ownership. This is also a chance for you to meet the team and ask more questions about the process.

Home checks take on average about 1h when rehoming a dog and 30 minutes when rehoming a cat.

If we do a virtual home check via video link, you could hear back the same day, or the next day. If you have a physical home check, then we are dependent on the volunteer who visits you and how soon they send in their report.

We will inform you on the chat/group and you will be invited to meet your chosen dog or cat. If you live within half an hour to an hour’s drive of the foster location, then you will do a meet and greet but not be expected to make a decision on the spot. If you decide to proceed we will issue a contract, which can be signed electronically, you will be invited to make the donation via PayPal or bank transfer, and then you will arrange with the foster a suitable date and time for collection of your Stray.

If you are travelling a greater distance to meet your Stray then you may wish to meet and collect your Stray on the same day. We will ask you to sign a contract before the meeting (it can always be cancelled if you decide not to proceed with the adoption), and we would ask you to make the donation electronically whilst you are with the foster before you leave with your Stray.

In some circumstances we can arrange to have your Stray brought to you, but this will incur an extra donation to cover costs.

We will ask for your adoption donation if the meeting is successful and we have agreed that the adoption can proceed. Donations can be made via PayPal or bank transfer prior to the rescue joining your family.

Yes. A contract will be sent to you via email, which you are asked to sign and return before you collect your dog or cat. You can sign it electronically. Instructions will be attached.

Your dogs and cats will have the standard annual vaccinations against the most common diseases, plus rabies vaccination. For dogs they will have DHPPi + L and for cats they will have Tricat Trio. Puppies will also have an extra puppy vaccine, Puppy DP.

Before travel dogs are tested for the most common diseases (including heartworm) using the Caniv 4 test or 4DX Snap Test. They are also tested for Giardiasis, Babesiosis and Brucellosis. Puppies are tested for Giardiasis, Corona and Parvo using the triple test. Brucellosis is tested for twice using the snap test, once when the dog is rescued, and again before departure.  Cats are tested for Fiv and Felv and Corona antibodies and antigen. Our vets will see them a few days before travel and pass them fit, or not. They will also be given worm and flea treatment prior to departure. It is not really possible to give an accurate breakdown of costs because different vets charge different amounts for the prep. 

Please use your Messenger chat or WhatsApp group for on going support and advice. We have a closed group on Facebook for adopters and we will be delighted to see photos and videos and updates of your Strays and their new lives with you. Other adopters can offer support and advice

We will keep the chat we have with you open for as long as your rescue is with you – we would love to hear as much as possible about how they are settling in, and we will also ask you how you’re getting on from time to time. You can also use the chat to ask for any support you may need.

We will register the microchip for you. Your dog or cat will be registered to you, and dual registered to the rescue. This is an added layer of protection for you and your Stray.

You can use the chat/group that was set up for you initially, post a message on the adopters group, or you can email us at [email protected].Everyone involved in the rehoming process is happy to offer support and advice.

If for any reason you need to rehome your dog or cat then please contact us through your chat/group or email us at [email protected]. We will arrange to collect the dog or cat from you and place them either in foster, or in kennels, until a new home can be found for them. This may take a few days, or in some cases longer, but rest assured we will take the dog or cat back. In some circumstances you may wish to keep the dog or cat until new adopters can be found. This is something we will discuss with you at the time. Under no circumstances should a rescue animal be sold, moved on or euthanised because you no longer want it or can no longer care for it and not without the express permission of the rescue.

Sponsorship means you volunteer to donate a set amount each month to contribute to the safety and care of a stray dog or cat. You can choose the amount you wish to donate, as well as the donation channel (standing order, PayPal, direct debit). Please see more details below.

Regular monthly donations are absolutely vital, as they help our charity plan for the regular bills (eg. Foster and vaccines), as well as provide a safety net for unexpected vet bills (as Romania does not do pet insurance at the moment). On top of this, each penny we get on top can help us rescue more Strays from a life of misery.

The foster fee for each dog varies according to the shelter or rescuer. It is between £35 / £40 a month. So £1.13 / £1.29 will feed and care for a dog for 1 day. There is no set foster fee for each cat so we send £15 a month for food.  £1 feeds a cat for 2 days.

In the first instance we will use sponsorship to keep our Strays safe by placing them in a safe shelter. The sponsorship money will cover food and basic care.

No, it is entirely up to you how much you wish to sponsor each month. Every penny donated makes a huge difference to our Strays. You can sponsor £1 a month or more. If you click on each payment method you will find the different donation amounts. If you set up a standing order you can choose the donation amount for yourself.

Just look through our gallery of Strays and you will find a sponsorship button on their profile. Once you have decided which Stray you would like to offer your generous help to, you can click on the button, follow the payment process through, and complete the form on the confirmation page to let us know your name, email address, and the name of the Stray you have chosen.

If you have chosen to set up a standing order through your bank, please email us at [email protected] and let us know which Stray you are supporting, how much monthly, and on what date the sponsorship will be paid into the rescue account.

We hope that you will consider continuing to support another one of our beautiful Strays until they also find their forever home.

If you would like to end your sponsorship, then please send us an email at [email protected]

It’s no simple feat to save a life, so you have our gratitude and admiration for choosing to be a part of a Stray’s life by donating to keep it safe. In honor of this, we will provide you with a Sponsorship Certificate for your chosen Stray, followed by quarterly updates via email

There are 3 ways to pay for Sponsorship: Direct Debit, Paypal and Standing Order.

It is easy to set up a direct debit from your bank account to ours by clicking on the Direct Debit button above. It will take you to a page with step by step instructions and a multitude of donation amount options.

If you would like to donate using PayPal please click on the yellow Donate button above. It will take you to Paypal. All you need to do is enter your password for your PayPal account and choose an amount to donate. Please remember to tick Make this a monthly donation. You can also use the Donate button to donate using a debit or credit card. Please note you can also use PayPal to pay using a debit or credit card if you have not got a PayPal account.

If you prefer, we would love you to set up a standing order, for an amount of your choice. Our bank account details are above. To help us with our regular monthly expenses, it would be amazing if the standing order could be set up to donate to us on or around the 8th of each month.

Yes, you can. If you are a UK tax payer please don’t hesitate to GIFT AID your money. This will help us collect an extra 25% on your sponsorship donation at no extra cost to yourself. So, for example, on a donation of £30 we will receive an extra £7.50, which can be used to worm and flea treat a dog each month. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!