Michelle Otis: Hi, my name is Michelle Otis. I am the Shelter Director at the Washington Humane Society in Washington DC and today we are talking about how to adopt a dog. Now we are going to talk about how dog adoption works. Host: Where should I go to adopt a dog?

Michelle Otis: Once you have made a decision to adopt a dog, you should go to your local shelter. There are different types of shelters, there are municipal animal control type facilities, there is also limited admission facilities. Most communities have both and check out all the shelters in your area, because of course, they are all going to have different selection and you are going to increase your odds of finding the right dog by doing that. But definitely go to your shelter, know that every time you adopt a shelter animal, you are saving a life. The alternative would be to contact a rescue organization or a breed specific group which most of them can be found online and they are a network of foster homes and so that would be another alternative for adoption, would be to contact one of the private organization. That can be a little bit more complex of a process, because then you are been asked to go into someone's home or to designate a meeting place in order to meet a dog. So it is a different environment than a shelter, but I would say, of course, it's a personal -- go to your local shelter.