Adoption holds have been updated to be more flexible and useful for the different types of holds different shelters and rescues might use.
Adoption Hold Configuration
These are the configurations you'll need to set up to fit the needs of your shelter or rescue:
- Adoption Hold Price Groups: Under Shopping Cart > Adoption Hold Price Group, you can add the different price groups you would like to use for holds and automatically code them to your configured Funds / GL Codes and Departments.
- Default Adoption Hold Time: Under General Shelter > Processing > Adoption Hold, you can set the default number of hours that an adoption hold will be for. This will populate when placing an adoption hold but can be changed on the form before submitting.
- New Status: You'll also likely want to add a new "On Hold" status that is set as "publishable=no" if you'd like on hold animals to be taken off of your website and taken out of aggregator uploads.
- Using different status for animals on hold will also allow you to be able to filter for these animals from the main dashboard page.
Adding an Adoption Hold
Once you have our adoption hold price groups configured, you can get started using adoption holds. Adoption holds can be initiated from the interested adopter's record. On the Animals tab of their record, click the blue "Add Animal" button and select the "Place Adoption Hold" option.
This selection will take you to a new page that lists all the animals that are considered "holdable". This is determined by the status of each animal (every status in your shelter or rescue is set up as either "holdable = yes" or "holdable = no"). You will see the animals in this list that are in statuses that are considered "holdable" statuses.
From this page, select the animal (or animals) for which the person would like to place a hold by clicking the green "Hold" button. Once you have selected all the appropriate animals, clicking the gray "Checkout" button will take you into a new page with a small form to complete for each animal.
This form will ask you for the adoption hold price group, and the length of the adoption hold (in hours). There is also an option (a small checkbox) for making it an indefinite hold if your shelter or rescue wanted to use adoption holds in this way. This form will also give you an opportunity to enter a new location and status for the animal (if you'd like to update from their current status and location).
After completing this short form for each selected animal, you'll be taken right into checkout. After you complete the transaction, the animal will officially be on hold.
Viewing Adoption Hold on Person Record
After completing the adoption hold, you'll see that the selected animal(s) will be on the person's record, listed as "Adoption Hold (Placed)".
Viewing Adoption Hold on Animal Record
After completing the adoption hold, you'll also see that the person's name will now be displayed on the animal's record, right below the animal's location.
Adoption Hold Expiration
When the adoption hold expires (after however long you indicated when processing the adoption hold), the animal will be automatically reverted back to their previous status but will remain in their current location.
Releasing an Adoption Hold
If you'd like to release an adoption hold before it expires, simply navigate to the person's record, and from the Animal's tab, click "Release" on the appropriate animal. You will then be asked to indicate what status and location you'd like to move the animal to (status and location are NOT required to change).
Keep in mind that the statuses available in the drop-down options will be according to the animal's current location; if the animal is in foster, configured in foster statuses will be available to select, and if the animal is in shelter, configured in shelter statuses will be available to select.
Processing an Adoption from an Adoption Hold
After an adoption hold is placed, you can complete an adoption the exact same way that you normally would if the status is set to "Yes" for Available. Navigate to the person's record and start the adoption from the Animals tab by clicking the "Add Animal" button. Learn more about how to complete an adoption here.