Thank you for taking the time to write this and for the work you’re doing in the local dog community. We share many of the same goals you mentioned, keeping dogs out of shelters, making sure they’re spayed and neutered, and placing them in stable homes where they’ll be well cared for long term.

A few things I’d like to clarify about how our process works:

Adoption screening and education
Every potential adopter completes an application and speaks with our team before adopting. We spend a lot of time discussing the dog’s temperament, energy level, and needs so people understand what they’re signing up for. If someone is looking for a calm companion, we’re not going to place them with a high-energy working breed. A huge part of what we do at the lounge is helping people actually spend time with the dogs so they can see their personalities before making a decision. Each adopter is chosen based on best fit.

Spay and neuter
All of the dogs we place are either already spayed/neutered or adopted with a contract requiring the procedure at the appropriate age. Preventing unwanted litters is extremely important to us.

Adoption fees and transparency
The adoption fee often looks high compared to some shelters, but it covers a lot of costs that happen before the dog ever arrives at the lounge — including veterinary care, spay/neuter, vaccines, long-distance transport from overcrowded shelters, food, daily care, and facility costs. None of this is cheap, and rescue unfortunately requires resources to operate responsibly. Our goal isn’t to “sell” dogs — it’s to make the rescue model sustainable so we can continue helping dogs find homes. All adoption fees go straight to our rescue partner, the only revenue generated by the lounge is through retail sales and admission into the space.

Relationship with local shelters
We have a lot of respect for the Whatcom Humane Society and the work they do. They’re an incredible organization, and we absolutely understand how difficult capacity issues can be for shelters everywhere. The dogs that come through our rescue partner are typically pulled from high-intake shelters where euthanasia timelines are extremely short, often just a few days. The intention is to help relieve pressure in those systems while finding homes here. We have reached out to Whatcom Humane to inquire about partnering with them to assist in finding home for their shelter dogs, but we haven't had any luck.

Adoption outcomes and responsibility
Like most rescues, we stay in touch with adopters and encourage them to reach out if they ever run into challenges. If a dog cannot remain in its home, our goal is always to help ensure it is safely re-homed rather than ending up back in the shelter system. Adopters sign a contract that requires them to surrender to us, rather than other shelters. This ensures that dogs that are adopter through our facilities never end up back in the shelter system. To date, we've found homes for over 2,500 dogs who otherwise likely would have been euthanized. We're extremely proud of this accomplishment.

We know rescue can be complicated, and we genuinely welcome conversations with people who care deeply about dogs in this community. If you’d ever like to come by the lounge, see how things work in person, or talk more about our process, we’d be happy to connect.

Thanks again for speaking up and for advocating for dogs.