Adoption

Adoptions are temporarily closed, as no visitors are currently allowed at the sanctuary.  If you are interested and meet all requirements, please email and request to be put on a waiting list.

Olive's Place is thorough and diligent when placing our birds in homes - for your sake as well as for the birds.  Our process is intended to educate, inform, and lead to a good match for your household.  Doves and Pigeons are intelligent and social, with a 20+ year lifespan commitment. The adoption approval process and matching approved adopters with birds can take time. Serious inquiries only, please.  Before contacting with a request, make sure you are willing and able to meet ALL requirements listed below, as no exceptions can be made.

Adoption Requirements:

1. Either own your residence or have written permission from the landlord to have pigeons or doves as pets.  It is also important that other members of the household are supportive of adding a pet and willing to agree to the listed requirements to keep birds safe and healthy.  Minors require a parent/guardian cosigner willing to be actively involved in the adoption process, and need to have a plan for animal care as life changes occur.

2. Have appropriate caging and food, and be willing and able to provide for all the physical and social needs of the bird.  Outdoor aviaries for pigeons MUST be inspected by Olive's Place in person, to determine safety and predator-resistance.

3.  Have an avian vet chosen in advance, and be willing and able to take the bird to the vet if needed - and financially afford care.  (Olive's Place can suggest local vets and emergency specialists.)  A typical non-emergency exam can be in the $100 range, and diagnostic tests and emergencies can easily cost upwards of several hundred dollars to over $1000.

4. Keep your dove/pigeon physically separate at all times from cats, dogs, and other species that could harm a pigeon or dove.  This means birds cannot be let out in the same room as a cat/dog/etc.  There are no exceptions to this requirement, regardless of age/condition of other pets, for the safety and well-being of the birds. 

5.  Absolutely NO BREEDING. For anyone who has a pair, agree to prevent breeding by promptly (within 48 hours) destroying any eggs and replacing them with fakes (so that the female does not continue to lay more and overtax her body). 

6.  Be aware that pigeons and doves can live to be 20 to 30+ years old, and are a long-term commitment with extensive social needs.

7  If adopters are unable to provide care or choose to give up ownership for any reason, the adopter agrees that the birds are to be returned to Olive’s Place, and not given to anyone else - even another shelter or sanctuary.

8.  Adopters/fosters sign an agreement when they take pigeons or doves into their care.  This acknowledges that they understand how to care for the birds, and will return the birds to Olive's Place in the event that the arrangement doesn't work out.  Your contract will include all known information about the birds' history, and any additional details we need to add - including a more detailed care sheet for the specific birds. 

9.  Adoption fees are $100 per bird or pair.  This does not begin to cover sanctuary costs, but we require a fee to ensure that we are not offering "free" animals.  While pigeons and doves are not particularly expensive to care for, they do require an investment of proper caging, good food, and saving for unexpected veterinary costs - in addition to spending time with them.

10.  Adopters would be willing to visit the sanctuary to meet potential adoptable birds and discuss bird care.  A home visit may also be requested.  

11.  Further detailed information on various aspects of pigeon and dove care can be found on this website.  See more details in "Doves as Pets" and "Pigeons as Pets" sections.

Olive's Place is on call 24/7 to answer questions and help the adoption be successful for all people and birds involved.  Olive's Place maintains, in perpetuity, space for any and all previously adopted birds to be welcomed back to the sanctuary, for any reason, at any point in the future.   Contact us at canvasdove@gmail.com