Home for Life terms and conditions
Date of issue: September 2025
These Terms and Conditions (Terms) take effect on the date your application to join 快活影院Home for Life (The Scheme) has been accepted, with confirmation via post.
1. 快活影院Home for Life is owned and run by the national 快活影院(Registered charity no. 219099) and operated with the support of a network of 快活影院charities (separately registered and volunteer run). The 快活影院operates in England and Wales only. References in these Terms to 鈥淩SPCA鈥, 鈥渨e鈥, 鈥渦s鈥 or 鈥渙ur鈥 refer to the national 快活影院and its support network of separately registered 快活影院charities.
2. All rehoming decisions are based on the RSPCA鈥檚 rehoming policy which can be found at: www.rspca.org.uk/findapet/rehomeapet/process. Key aspects are outlined in clause 13 and 14 of these Terms for ease of reference.
3. For the purposes of these Terms, any person who has applied to join The Scheme is known as 鈥楾he Applicant.鈥 References in these Terms to 鈥榶ou鈥 refer to you as 鈥楾he Applicant.鈥 Any person whose application has been accepted onto The Scheme is known as 鈥楾he Scheme Member鈥. Any references to 鈥楶et鈥 relate to The Scheme Member鈥檚 pet.
4. For the purposes of these Terms, any person who has been assigned responsibility to manage The Applicant鈥檚 affairs in the event of their death is referred to as 鈥楾he Responsible Person.鈥 This covers any individual who has legal responsibility for the Applicant鈥檚 assets / estate post death so that arrangements can be made on behalf of and in accordance with the wishes of The Applicant.
5. The 快活影院reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. In the event that any changes are made, the Scheme Member can access these Terms directly at: www.rspca.org.uk/homeforlife.
Eligibility for 快活影院Home for Life
6. Home for Life is a service for pets and their owners. For the purposes of the Scheme, the definition of a pet animal covers any animal sharing The Applicant鈥檚 life as a companion pet. While an assistance pet, such as a guide dog, is classed as a primarily working animal, they may still be accepted, where applicable. Excluded from the definition is, for instance, animals kept for the production of food, wool, skin or fur or for other farming purposes; those kept in zoos and circuses for exhibition; those kept for hunting or sporting purposes and those kept for experimental or other scientific purposes.
7. The 快活影院operates in England and Wales only, and as such The Scheme is available to pet owners in England and Wales only. Should there be any change in The Scheme Member鈥檚 circumstances where they or their Pet no longer resides within England or Wales, Home for Life registration will cease.
8. As Home for Life is a post-death service, The Scheme does not rehome Pets during The Scheme Member鈥檚 lifetime i.e. cases where The Scheme Member is unable to look after them due to illness or capacity issues.
Collection of an 快活影院Home for Life Pet
9. By registering with Home for Life, The Scheme Member gives permission for the 快活影院to take full responsibility of their Pet. Legal ownership of their Pet will take effect on completion of a 鈥楾ransfer of Ownership鈥 form.
10. On completion of the transfer of ownership, Pet(s) will be rehomed through a national 快活影院Animal Centre or one of the separately registered and volunteer run local 快活影院charities.
11. The Responsible Person and the 快活影院should work together to make prior arrangements for the interim care and collection of the Pet. While every effort will be made to ensure minimal waiting time, we ask that The Scheme Member considers making arrangements with The Responsible Person to look after the Pet whilst preparations are being made to bring the Pet into the RSPCA.
12. If there is any equipment to be used for the welfare of the Pet at the time of The Scheme Member鈥檚 death, these should be included in the Will and passed over to the 快活影院for the care of that Pet. For instance, a dog bed, collar, vivarium etc.
Rehoming an 快活影院Home for Life Pet
13. As per the 快活影院rehoming policy, the Pet鈥檚 health, behaviour and welfare will be assessed on arrival.
14. As per the rehoming policy, no Pet may be rehomed without reasonable steps to make sure they will have a good quality of life. Once a right match has been found for a Pet in our care, a home visit will usually be carried out by a trained volunteer. This will also apply to friends or family members applying to adopt the Pet, where ownership has been transferred to the RSPCA.
15. While we do everything we can to find a new home for Pets as quickly as possible, some Pets may take longer to rehome. Where a Pet is not coping well, we will try to find them a place in foster care. For Pets that are proving more challenging to rehome, we may carry out special appeals. In some instances, we may work with other animal welfare charities to help with rehoming of the Pet.
16. While every effort is made to accommodate Scheme Member requests, there may be some instances where this is not possible. For instance, where the request to rehome Pets together is preventing them from being placed in a new home which could subsequently impact the health or quality of life of one or both Pets.
17. 快活影院Home for Life is a rehoming scheme and the 快活影院cannot accept requests for indefinite care of a Pet by the RSPCA.
18. Under the Home for Life promise, the 快活影院will do everything possible to rehome a Pet providing they are rehomeable and coping well. A Pet may not be considered rehomeable where any of the following scenarios exist:
a. Their quality of life is or may become affected by issues stemming from severe or unmanageable health and/or behavioural problems.
b. They have mental health and behavioural problems that mean rehoming the Pet would create undue risks to humans or other animals.
c. They have a disease that is transmissible to humans or other animals.
d. It is a type of dog prohibited by The Dangerous Dogs Act (1991).
e. It is prohibited by The Dangerous Wild Animals Act (1976).
19. Where there are concerns about a Pet鈥檚 rehomeability, an initial assessment would be required at the point of application, and also on future collection of the animal if relevant. Additional steps may also need to be fulfilled before registration can be confirmed.
20. 快活影院Home for Life will arrange for Pets with terminal illnesses and long-term conditions to be taken in and rehomed or fostered, providing the conditions are manageable with treatment and subject to veterinary advice.
21. Pets with a minor disease transmissible to humans or other animals may still be rehomed to any home where it does not place others at risk and only on veterinary advice. In general this means that Pets with an infectious disease can only be rehomed to a single animal household.
Care of an 快活影院Home for Life Pet
22. The welfare interests of Pets within the Scheme are always our foremost priority. Where the Scheme Member has a reasonable request that falls outside of the standard Home for Life registration, the 快活影院will endeavour to do everything it can to honour these within the framework of the law and our organisational policies, in particular our Policies on Animal Welfare: www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/aboutus/policies
23. Providing friends/family have not taken ownership of the Pet and ownership has been officially transferred to the RSPCA, all decisions regarding the welfare of the Pet lies with the RSPCA. Any final decisions regarding the welfare of the Pet whilst under the care of the 快活影院are at the sole discretion of the RSPCA.
24. In some circumstances, and in the interests of the Pet鈥檚 welfare or if the Pet is not rehomeable as per clause 17 of these Terms, euthanasia will be considered. These decisions are subject to veterinary, and in some cases behaviourist, advice and are based on health, behaviour and current legislative guidance (where relevant).
25. Applicants cannot specify Pet euthanasia as a request on their death; we will not comply unless it is in the interests of the Pet鈥檚 welfare (based on veterinary, and in some cases behaviourist, advice concerning the Pet鈥檚 health and/or behaviour, and current legislative guidance) or if the Pet is not rehomeable as per clause 17 of these Terms.
26. It may be possible for The Scheme Member鈥檚 friends or family to visit the Pet within the Scheme whilst it is in 快活影院care, although this will be at the sole discretion of 快活影院staff based on the best interests of the Pet.
快活影院Home for Life applications
27. Where applicable, the Scheme Member should ensure that legal requirements are complied with including, but not limited to, microchipping and tagging/ringing of Pets and providing the relevant species Article 10 certificate if necessary (*Article 10 certificate is required for protected species falling under Appendix A of CITES regulations.
For more information visit the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cites-imports-and-exports). It is a legal requirement for dogs in England and Wales to be microchipped and registered on a database by the time they are
8 weeks old. It is a legal requirement for owned cats in England to be microchipped and registered on a database by the time they are 20 weeks. For more information visit the gov.uk website: www.gov.uk/get-your-dog-cat-microchipped
28. Upon registration, The Scheme Member should keep any ID documents and legal proof of ownership including, but not limited to, microchip and tag/ring numbers, and an Article 10 certificate if necessary; with their registration pack. They should consider including any photos that will help with identification of their Pet on collection.
Privacy - what we do with your information
29. Information on how we use your personal data is set out in our Privacy Notice, published at . Alternatively you can find out more by contacting our Customer Engagement Team on 0300 123 0346.