Adopting a shelter dog in the Netherlands

How do you adopt a shelter dog in the Netherlands?

You choose a dog through a shelter or a rehoming organisation, get to know them, sign an agreement and pay a fee. Then you put the chip in your name. Take your time over three choices: the organisation, the dog and the contract. That contract should make you the owner.

Where do you find a dog looking for a home?

You can go to an animal shelter, such as those run by the Dierenbescherming, the Dutch animal protection society, or to a rehoming organisation. According to the LICG, the Dutch national information centre for companion animals, some organisations rehome dogs within the Netherlands from private homes or foster families. A great many deal with animals from abroad. Some place a dog straight from abroad; others first put them with a foster family or in a shelter.

How to go about it

1. 1Start with your own life. How much time, space and dog experience do you really have? Which dog suits my life helps you work that out.
2. 2Choose the organisation first, the dog second. The LICG advises researching the organisation first, ideally before you start looking for a dog. Once you have a particular dog in mind, emotions come into it.
3. 3Get to know the dog. We recommend visiting more than once and, if allowed, going for a walk together. A good organisation wants to know as much about you as you want to know about the dog, the LICG notes.
4. 4Ask what is known. Where do they come from, how do they react to children, other dogs, cats and being left alone, what do they eat and do they need ongoing veterinary care?
5. 5Read the contract before you sign. What to look for is below.
6. 6Sort out the registration and book an appointment with your own vet.

What to ask at the first contact

How it works differs per shelter and per foundation. We recommend asking these questions at the first contact:

• Is there an introductory conversation, and can I visit more than once before I decide?
• What does the fee include: chip, vaccinations, EU passport, tests for diseases?
• Do I have to have the dog neutered? According to the LICG, a common condition is that you must have your dog neutered.
• What happens if it doesn't work out? Does the organisation take the dog back, and do you get any of the fee back?
• Will I get a purchase contract, and can I read it at home beforehand?

How much does a shelter dog cost?

At the Dierenbescherming's shelters you pay €462 in 2026 for a dog younger than 6 months and €359 for a dog aged 6 months or older. Microchipping and vaccination are included. Other shelters and rescues set their own fees, so ask beforehand what you will pay and what it includes.

The fee is only the start. What a dog costs per year after that, in food, insurance and vet bills, is set out in the cost of owning a dog.

Do you become the owner when you adopt a dog?

That depends on your contract. Adoption is not a legal term for animals: legally, you buy a dog, or you rent or borrow one. With a purchase contract, you become the owner. With an adoption or loan contract, the organisation often stays the owner, while you carry the costs and the responsibility.

The Dierenbescherming says so itself on its rates page: legally, an animal cannot be adopted, and what happens is a purchase. According to the LICG, rehoming organisations often use adoption contracts in which the organisation stays the owner and the adopter takes on a long list of obligations. Such contracts include clauses like these:

• staff of the organisation must be let into your home at any time to check how the dog is being cared for;
• the organisation may take the dog back immediately if you don't meet its requirements, sometimes with a hefty fine on top;
• you have to report on the dog's welfare every year;
• the organisation is not liable for medical costs and will not refund the adoption fee under any circumstances.

You have more rights than such a contract suggests, the LICG writes. You don't have to allow a home visit: without your permission, nobody may come in. If it is unclear who the owner is, whoever has the dog is in principle regarded as entitled to them. A foundation that wants the dog back must first go to court. Do watch out for a condition that you must have your dog neutered: once you have signed such a contract, you are bound by it.

Don't agree to clauses like these, the LICG advises, and choose an organisation that uses a purchase contract. A case on De Rijdende Rechter, a Dutch TV programme, showed how much that matters. A foundation refused to return an adopted Romanian dog. The judge on the programme ruled that the adoption contract was a purchase agreement. Because the foundation acted as a seller, it even counted as a consumer purchase, with mandatory rules which the foundation's terms could not set aside. The dog had to go back to the adopter.

Judges don't always agree. Another case was about a dog from Spain that turned out to have leishmaniasis despite being tested by the foundation. There, the court ruled that an adoption contract was a loan agreement, and the adopter did not get the vet bills paid. The court added that the claim would have failed even under a purchase: the foundation had had the dog tested, and a test is a snapshot.

What should you check with a foreign rescue foundation?

Check the foundation, not just the dog. A good foundation has a UBN, imports its dogs as a commercial import and can show you the papers. It has the dogs tested for diseases from the country of origin and ideally places them with a Dutch foster family first, so you can get to know the dog at a calm pace.

According to the LICG, the NVWA, the Dutch food and consumer product safety authority, often sees foundations bringing animals in with flight volunteers as if they were ordinary travelling pets. That is not allowed. The LICG advises against bringing a street dog to the Netherlands yourself: it is hard to judge their health and behaviour, and it takes at least three weeks of preparation.

If a dog comes from a country with a high rabies risk, a blood test must be done at least 30 days after the vaccination. Then there is a further waiting period of three months. So such a dog is never younger than seven months when they arrive in the Netherlands. If a foundation offers you a younger puppy from such a country, something is wrong.

Because of their history, behaviour problems are relatively common in former street dogs, the LICG writes. It therefore recommends only taking on such a dog if you already have experience with dogs.

How do you put a shelter dog's microchip in your name?

You register the dog within 2 weeks of taking them over, with one of the portals designated by the RVO, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. You need the chip number, but not a UBN. You choose the portal yourself: it doesn't have to be the same one the shelter or the previous keeper used.

• Chip, registration and passport. According to the RVO, a dog that gets a new keeper must be microchipped and registered and have an EU pet passport, whatever their age. Never take on a dog without all three.
• The previous keeper deregisters. The shelter or foundation deregisters the dog and gives you the portal's registration number or safe code, if there is one. You then make an arrival report.
• Check it yourself. You can also check in the I&R App whether a dog is properly registered and has an EU passport.
• A dog from abroad. The foundation must have the chip number registered in its own name within two weeks of import. After the handover, the dog may not stay registered to the foundation.

Moving house later, or is your dog missing? You report that to the portal where you registered them.

What can you expect in the first weeks with a shelter dog?

Expect a dog who still has to settle. An adult dog may be worried on arrival and hide at first, says the British charity Dogs Trust. That is normal. The LICG notes that former street dogs usually become more confident after a few months. So let your dog settle in at their own pace.

• A space of their own. Before the dog arrives, set up a quiet den away from the busy parts of the house, and leave them alone there.
• No visitors. For the first while, don't have visitors who want to see the dog. For a former street dog, the LICG says a few days are usually not enough for this.
• Short, familiar walks. Dogs Trust recommends keeping walks short and in the same place for the first few days. The LICG advises a small, fixed route, away from the busy walking times, with the dog on the lead.
• A set routine. Start a routine and stick to it as closely as you can.
• Keep a diary. Dogs Trust suggests noting their likes and dislikes, behaviour and eating habits for the first three months. That way you can see whether things are improving.
• Prevent escapes. Think of a harness with an extra belly strap, a good fence and an address tag on the collar.

Anxious behaviour often improves with time, the LICG writes, but sometimes other behaviour surfaces afterwards, such as lunging at other dogs. If problems develop, bring in a qualified behaviour therapist as soon as possible, and have your vet take a look too. How to walk a tense dog calmly is covered in our guide to walking an anxious dog.

A plan for each day of the first month is in the first 30 days with a new dog. Once your dog has settled in after those first weeks and you are out during the day, a regular walker on a familiar route can help, as with our private dog walks. We always start with a free meet-and-greet.

Frequently asked questions about adopting a shelter dog