Adopting: Should I Apply for a Basenji in Another State?

"Should I apply for a basenji in another state? How far away will I be expected to drive to pick up my basenji? Can't we just fly the dog to my house? What about using the BUR (Basenji Underground Railroad) to get the dog to me?"

These are questions that BRAT Coordinators are asked frequently, and the answer is usually "it depends." The standard response is: "You can check on a Basenji in states near you. BRAT can sometimes arrange long distance placements (up to a maximum of approximately 400-700 miles) using our Basenji Underground Railroad to transport the Basenji to you. If needed, adopters are expected to drive a minimum of 200 miles. There may be other costs involved with a transport to defray the expenses incurred by our volunteers. If the Basenji can be crated and flown, you will be responsible for the cost. Not all Basenjis have the personality to be transported or flown and the coordinator will usually make that clear in the announcement."

What this actually means is that the dog's BRAT Coordinator will usually strive to find a good adoptive home within a few hours' driving radius. If the absolute best adopter for the dog lives more than several hours' drive away and cannot drive the entire trip themselves to pick up the dog, often a BRAT Coordinator will try to recruit volunteers who live along the route to help out with driving the dog for a portion of the trip to get within several hours driving distance for the adopter (we call this the Basenji Underground Railroad, or BUR). However, it is often difficult to coordinate a BUR, and it relies on the goodness of our local volunteers to drive, so we try to avoid this if at all possible. So, what usually ends up happening with adoptions is one of these scenarios:

1) There are several really good applicants for the dog. Some of them live close (within a few hours driving distance of the dog), some of them don't live close but are willing to make the entire drive themselves, and some of them don't live close and would require a BUR to be set up to transport the dog to them. Because there are several good homes available for this dog, the Coordinator will choose the best home out of the ones who are close AND the ones who are not close but are willing to make the entire drive themselves.

2) There are several really good applicants for the dog. None of them live close, some of them don't live close but are willing to make the entire drive themselves, and some of them would require a BUR. Because there are several good homes available for this dog, the Coordinator will choose the best home out of the ones who don't live close but are willing to make the entire drive themselves.

3) There are several really good applicants for the dog. None of them live close, and none of them are able to make the entire drive themselves. The Coordinator will have to set up a BUR to get the dog to whichever adopter he chooses.

4) There is really only one applicant that seems like the *perfect* home for the dog. This applicant does not live close, and is not able to make the entire drive themselves. The Coordinator will have to set up a BUR or a flight (at the adopter's expense, and only if the dog is able to be flown) to get the dog to this adopter.

So, you can see from these scenarios that while a BUR or a flight is available as an option to help get a dog to an adopter, it really helps increase your likelihood of being chosen as the adopter for that dog if you live close, or are able to make the entire drive yourself to pick up the dog. This certainly does not mean you would not be chosen for a dog you do not live close to, because you can see from scenario #4 that if you are indeed the *perfect* home for the dog, then the BRAT Coordinator will make every effort to set up a BUR and get the dog to you. However, we do try to reduce the strain on our volunteers as much as possible, because they don't get reimbursed for their travel or time. They help out purely because they want to see a dog get to the best home possible, so we want to utilize volunteers only when it's really necessary. We couldn't do this without the goodness of our fantastic BRAT volunteers, so we want to be sure to be judicious about asking for their help!

Hopefully this helps to better answer the questions that Coordinators usually get about transporting and long-distance adoptions. Of course, every situation is different, and ultimately all adoption decisions will rely on the best judgment of the Coordinator about which home best matches the specific needs of the dog. So, while the above scenarios are not "rules" and should not be treated as such, hopefully they might help to explain a little bit better some of the variables that a BRAT Coordinator has to weigh when making an adoption decision!