Wiggly Tails Dog Rescue is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) dog rescue in Eugene, Oregon. We are volunteer-driven and foster-based. We rescue dogs from high-kill shelters in California and accept local owner-surrendered dogs. Our focus is on small dogs and puppies. Each dog we rescue is evaluated, provided with needed veterinary care (including spay/neuter and vaccinations), and placed in a foster home. We hold adoption events several times a month to find forever homes for the dogs. Our model is foster-to-adopt, so we can ensure that each dog ends up in the right home.
Read about our adoption process here.
The first step is to submit an application. You don't have to specify a specific dog, but tell us what you're looking for in a dog and how a dog will fit into your lifestyle and routine. You can then come meet dogs at our adoption event, or we may reach out if we have a dog looking for a home that would be a good fit.
If you apply for a specific dog, we will reach out if we select your application. We do not reach out to all applicants.
We recommend that you bring all human and canine members of your home to the meet and greet, if possible.
We offer a 7-day trial period after you adopt to make sure the dog is a good fit in your home. If it's not working out in that trial period, and you communicate with us, we will take back the dog (by appointment only) and provide a refund minus an administrative fee or apply the adoption fee toward the adoption of a different dog that may be a better fit.
We pull dogs from high-kill shelters and take in owner-surrenders and we place them in volunteer foster homes. We do not have dogs at our office to meet without a scheduled appointment.
Some of our dogs are only available for private meet and greets, so if you see a dog on our Facebook page or Website (or Petfinder, Adopt-a-Pet, etc.) that you are interested in, it's best to submit an application. If your application is selected, our volunteers will reach out and arrange for a meet and greet. If the dogs can attend one of our weekly adoption events, we may invite you to attend the event and we may hold the dog as "pending" at the event so that you can meet it. We are not "first-come first-served" at events or otherwise, and all applications are reviewed with an eye toward finding the best fit for the dog and adopter.
We post our adoption events every week on our website and on Facebook with hours and location. If you just want to see what we have at an event, you are welcome to stop by. We post a "sneak peek" on Facebook typically the evening before the event, so you can take a look and see if we have added any new dogs that may not have full bios on the website yet.
Puppies under 1 year: $600
Dogs 1-2 years: $550
Dogs 3-4 years: $500
Dogs 5-7 years: $450
Dogs 7+ years: $400
*some dogs may have reduced or sponsored fees based on a variety of factors. Some puppies may be "Hero Dogs" and have higher fees based on breed.
Our adoption fee includes spay/neuter, Rabies vaccine, first year of required vaccine sequence, and microchip at no additional charge.
These services cost a minimum of $325 at the local spay/neuter clinic, and over $750 at typical local veterinary offices.
We are a 501c3 nonprofit and all of our funding comes from adoption fees, donations, and grant funding. Unlike city or county shelters, we do not receive any taxpayer funding.
Our biggest cost is providing for the care of the dogs we take in. Beyond providing preventative care for the dogs (vaccines, flea meds, dewormer, and spay/neuter), many dogs require additional veterinary care. This can include dental cleanings, extractions, patella surgeries, amputations, emergency vet visits, etc. Those bills often exceed the adoption fees that we charge. We also pay to transport dogs to Eugene, OR, from high-kill shelters in the Central Valley of California in our Rescue Bus. In addition, our supplies are stored at our office, we pay for this website, and have other regular business expenses. We currently have one paid staff member that does the book-keeping, orders supplies, tracks paperwork, and a million other things. Everyone else is a volunteer.
After you apply for a dog on our website, the screen will display a Thank You message and you should receive an email confirmation with a copy of your application. If you do not see the Thank You or receive the email, your application was not succesfully submitted. Please try again and make sure you answer all required questions and check the required checkboxes.
We are always looking for the best fit for the dog, and based on your responses, we may decide that the dog has needs your application doesn't meet. Please make sure you answer questions fully and share additional information that will help us in our selection process. If you left something out, feel free to email info@wigglytails.org with additional details. Sometimes we respond to applications within a few hours, and sometimes it can take up to a week depending on the number of applications.
If we choose another application, it might not work out and then we will reach out to additional qualified applicants. Some dogs get dozens of applications, and we have to make some tough calls. We may contact you to share a different dog that we think will work well for you if your application is not selected for the dog you applied for.
We are volunteers and we do not guarantee a response to every application.
We will reach out via email once we have an appointment scheduled with the local clinic. Please check your spam folders and add wigglytails.org as a safe sender.
Volunteer foster homes are at the heart of what we do. Our volunteer fosters host the dogs once we take them in, and help them learn some manners or settle down after they have been transported from a high-kill shelter, or are surrendered to us. They bring the dogs to our meet and greets and to the adoption events, giving their time and love to care for the dogs and puppies until they find their forever homes. If you are interested in more information about becoming a Foster, we'd love to have you join us!
As a foster-based small breed rescue, we do take in owner surrenders when we have a foster that can take them. Our focus as a rescue is saving dogs from high-kill shelters, and that remains our priority. Most of our fosters have other dogs in the home and many have children or other visitors so temperament and socialization are considered along with size when reviewing intake requests. We typically receive 10 or more owner-surrender requests per week.
If your dog has issues with aggression toward people or other dogs we recommend talking to your vet and seeking out the guidance of a professional trainer. If you don't feel like you have the time to give your dogs, consider enrolling them in a local doggy day care, pack walks, or hiring a dog walker.
If you would like for us to consider taking in your dog, please submit our Owner Surrender request form. After reviewing your submission, we will reach out if we can help. Due to the volume of requests, not all submissions will be responded to.
We accept gently used dog items such as clothing, crates, harnesses, dog cones, etc. (see Donations page). We also accept unopened dog food and treat donations. Please bring them to the office on River Rd during our regular hours. If you have questions about donating items, you can reach out via the Contact Us form and our supplies volunteer will be in touch.
Submitting the Contact Us form on the website is the quickest way to reach us and will get you the fastest response. We also will answer messages submitted via private message on Facebook more rapidly than we will respond to phone calls.
Volunteer foster homes are at the heart of what we do. If you are interested in more information about becoming a Foster, we'd love to have you join us!
We don't have any kennel facilities to clean or socialize dogs at, and our fosters handle the dog walking and training at their homes.
We hold weekly adoption events and often need extra hands to monitor the dogs during the adoption events. These events are typically on Wednesday afternoons at our office, and Saturday midday at PetSmart on Chad Drive, in Eugene, OR. The event volunteers ensure the visitors interact safely with our dogs, reduce cross contamination between dogs, and clean up messes. Volunteers also get to snuggle dogs and talk to the public about the dogs and our rescue. Please contact us if you would like to help us out for these events on a regular basis.
We have other volunteer opportunities around our office that can be done if your schedule meshes with our open hours. We are looking for volunteers that can make a weekly time commitment on a regular cadence to help us keep the Rescue office going. If you have time to give during our office hours, please reach out!
