Adopting with Cuba Canada Pet Rescue

Welcome to Cuba Canada Pet Rescue! At CCPR, our main goal is to rescue and adopt homeless animals and provide them with a loving and nurturing home. We want you and your new fur baby to enjoy a life filled with love and joy together. 

However, it is important to note a few important things. Distemper and Parvovirus are unfortunately common in Cuba. To ensure the safety of your dog, we closely monitor them for symptoms of illness during the 4-week period after vaccination. If any symptoms of illness arise, the dog will not be allowed to fly.  Additionally, we provide the rabies vaccination as per CFIA requirements.

Sterilization is another important aspect of our care. We will sterilize your animal and ensure that they have fully recovered from the surgery before allowing them to travel. For males, we usually wait 14 days, and for females, we wait 3 weeks. If you are interested in adopting a puppy, who is too young for sterilization, it will be in your adoption contract to please do so when they are at the proper age.

While we do charge an adoption fee, please note that you will also be responsible for covering all costs of transportation.

Adoption Fees and Details

Our base adoption fee is $400 CAD. When you adopt a dog through our program, your adoption fee helps cover essential costs to ensure the animal receives the best possible care. The adoption fee includes:

• $400 covers:
• Vaccinations
• Veterinary certification
• Taxis and pet carrier
• Collar & leash
• Food and medical care to date
• $100 additional if the dog is booked through Flight Angel for transport.
  

If you arrange your own Flight Angel, the transport fee will remain $400.

Adoption Fee Structure:

• A $200 non-refundable deposit is required when your adoption application is accepted.
• The remaining $200 (or $300) non-refundable payment is due when the flight is booked for the dog’s transport.

Upon arrival in Canada, we highly encourage and expect you to take your pet for a veterinary visit and blood-work. In Cuba, there are no labs to test an animal's blood, and there are common blood parasites that animals can contract from ticks. The blood-work tests for tropical blood parasites such as erlichia, anaplasma, babesia, leishmania, and heartworm. If any of these parasites are diagnosed, we recommend a full blood workup, including chemistry. It is important to us to have complete transparency with you during this process. These tests are crucial for the health of your animal, and if treatment is needed, you will be able to work with your veterinarian on a treatment plan. Most dogs that arrive at our shelter have one or more tick-borne illnesses, and if they show symptoms, they will receive doxycycline treatment for 28 days during their stay with us.

We also want to emphasize the importance of a decompression period for your newly arrived fur baby. When they first arrive home, they may be extremely stressed and scared. Just imagine being in a new country where you don't speak the language and don't know anyone. We recommend a minimum 2-week decompression period for your pet. Give them time to adjust and provide them with a safe spot in your home where they can retreat to be alone. Limit the number of visitors during this time, and remember that walks are not necessary. Every animal is different, so take the time to understand your pets needs and behaviours. 

In Cuba, there is no commercial pet food available, so animals are typically fed a diet consisting mainly of rice and different proteins based on availability. For this reason, we advise keeping them on a diet of plain boiled chicken and rice for at least the first day or two minimum, while integrating their new diet. Everything will be new to them, including the water, so soft stools are normal during this adjustment period. Once their stomachs have settled, you can gradually introduce them to their normal diet. At CCPR, we follow all of these protocols to ensure the health and safety of the animals under our care.

We are here for you and your fur baby for their entire lives. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We are always here to support you and your beloved pet, and go through this wonderful journey together. 

The pets we rescue often come from challenging environments—living on  the streets, beaches, or at resorts in Cuba, where medical resources for  humans are scarce, and even more so for animals. Despite these conditions, the vast majority of dogs and cats we've helped relocate to  Canada are in perfect health and become wonderful companions. However, as a small, volunteer-driven non-profit organization, CCPR faces limitations. We are unable to bear additional costs if a medical issue is identified after adoption. Furthermore, CCPR cannot be held  accountable for illnesses that were not detectable during the initial medical examination. This may be due to the absence of symptoms at the time or the lack of available diagnostic tests or equipment in Cuba. 

If you think adoption is right for you, we encourage you to fill out our adoption form. We look forward to hearing from you and are here to answer all of your thought and concerns.

Sincerely, the Cuba Canada Pet Rescue Team