The Pound – Adopt, Transfer, Abandon, Your Choice!

To quote the pound (as I would be hard pressed to put it any better), “The Neopian Pound... is where kind-hearted souls can find the perfect Neopet for themselves, often far smarter and much better behaved than the younger Neopets. Cruel, irresponsible owners can abandon their unwanted Neopets and hope that someone will eventually come along and care for them. If you have a consenting new owner in mind, you may also transfer one Neopet per month to a new owner.”

Below the welcome greeting are three doors, very different in style to each other and each offering a different service. Each function has its own set of rules, detailed below:

Abandon

To abandon one of your Neopets, choose the rather battered blue door on the right, taking care not to tread on the spyders that left those cobwebs behind. Behind this door is a familiar yellow Techo, rubbing his hands eagerly. Try not to look at the eyes that can be seen in the background; I am sure they are nothing to worry about!

Dr Death oversees the area of the pound which handles the abandonment of Neopets. If you decide, for whatever reason, that you no longer wish to care for your pet, you can visit him. For a fee of 250 neopoints he will take away your unwanted pet and place it into the pound. This fee is the same for any pet, whether painted or plain, limited edition or ordinary, strong or weak, intelligent or a dim... you get the idea. ;)

When you go through this door, you will be presented with a page showing your pets, who, not surprising, all look very upset. Below each picture and pet’s name is a button you can press to indicate the pet you wish to disown. You have to press this button four times before, on the fifth click, your pet is finally placed into the pound. Be sure you really, really want to do this as it may prove very difficult to reacquire a pet that is pounded in error.

There are certain rules that may prevent you from abandoning your pet. You cannot abandon a pet that is under 7 days old. You also cannot abandon more than one pet per day.

When you abandon your pet, their wearable items (clothes, backgrounds, painted clothes, etc) will be returned to your closet and all Battledome equipment will be returned to your inventory. Any petpet will go into the pound with your pet. If you want to keep the petpet, you will have to remove it by using the link in the Quick Reference section. If altered by the Petpet Laboratory, the petpet will revert to its original form when removed, and any petpetpet will fly away. The petpet will lose any age it had attained and will be returned to your inventory.

Adoption

To adopt a pet, choose the pretty pink, flowery door on the left. This section of the pound is run by an equally pretty pink Uni who always appears pleased to receive visitors. Rosalie will take you to the area of the pound where those pets previously abandoned are waiting to be rehomed. Only visit this section if you have a free space on your account for a pet, or else you will receive an error during the adoption process.

You will be presented with three columns, each showing details about a random Neopet that is in the pound, waiting to be adopted. These details include a picture of the pet, its species, colour, gender, level, strength, defence, movement, likes, attitude and habitat. At the top, above the pet’s picture, is the cost of adoption. This price is based upon the Battledome abilities of the pet, not its species or colour.

To adopt one of these Neopets, select the pet by clicking on it and then click on the Adopt button below and to the right. You will then have the opportunity to review your pet choice and the cost before clicking to confirm that you wish to proceed with the adoption. Once adopted, your new Neopet will become your active pet and you will leave the pound. If you do not wish to adopt any of the pets on the page, click the View More Neopets option on the right of the screen until you find the pet you are looking for.

If you already know the name of the pet you wish to adopt, you can type this into the search section to look at that specific pet. You need to type the whole name in as it appears on the pet’s lookup, or the search function will not work. If the pet is in the pound, it will appear in the window below, together with all its details and the cost of adoption. You can then select this pet and adopt it. Alternatively, a message will be displayed indicating that the pet is not in the pound.

When you adopt a Neopet from the pound, their paint brush clothes will not be included, as these will remain in the closet of the Neopian who abandoned the pet. If you wish to clothe your new pet to match its species, then you will need to buy the appropriate paint brush. If you wish to adopt a painted pet with its paint brush clothes, this can be achieved by using the transfer option, detailed below, once you have found an owner willing to part with their Neopet.

Please note that accounts under 4 months of age cannot adopt limited edition or painted pets, only pets of standard colours and types.

Transfer

The middle, metallic door is for transferring pets, a new feature to the pound. It is run by a robot Hissi with glowing red eyes. This Hissi performs an important function, although he has very strict rules that have to be followed.

You can only transfer one pet into and out of an account each month. It is therefore important to plan transfers carefully and only use this option when necessary, as you will have to wait another month before you can repeat the process. It is also important to note that any particular Neopet can only be transferred once per day, so if you want to transfer that pet more than once, you will have to wait for a new Neopian day to start. There is a transfer fee of 1,000 neopoints, which is non-refundable even if the transfer is not completed.

When a pet is transferred, it takes its clothes, background, etc. to the new account. The only items that remain with your account are any NC items and Battledome equipment. If you do not want to transfer these items, then you will need to remove them first. Paint brush clothes can also be removed and placed in your closet before the pet is transferred if you wish, leaving the new owner with the option to re-cloth the pet in the future.

To use the transfer process, select the middle door and select the pet you wish to transfer from your line-up of Neopets. You will then be prompted to enter the name of the account to which you wish to transfer your Neopet. Ensure that the name is typed in correctly, as if you make an error, you may lose your pet. The account to which you are trying to transfer your pet to must have a spare space for the pet and have not received a pet through transfer during that month. As with adoption, the transfer option is only available to accounts that are more than 4 months old. It is also not possible to transfer pets that are less than 7 days old.

The potential recipient will receive notification that a pet is waiting to be transferred to them. When clicking on the notification, they will be presented with the name, a picture of the pet awaiting transfer and the cost of the transfer. They will also be given the option to accept or reject the pet being offered. If the recipient does not accept the Neopet within 3 days, then it will be returned to you. Until the pet has been accepted by the new owner, you will be unable to create or adopt a pet to replace it as the pet will be returned to you if the transfer is not successfully completed.

Conclusion

In the time that it has been closed, the Neopian Pound has had more than just a lick of paint: it has undergone a total transformation. It is now possible to view more details about a pet and adopt any of the three pets on view without changing screens. Even the shabby greetings desk has been replaced by smart new doors, giving Neopians greater privacy in their dealings with the Pound employees. The new transfer feature gives a safe option for those wishing to transfer their Neopets to a different account without the risk of anyone else adopting their pet during transit.

It is important to remember that only the pound itself may profit from the transfer of pets, whether carried out through the conventional adoption process or the more modern transfer method. The sale of pets is against Neopets rules and is a freezable offence. This applies even if you are transferring a pet with clothes, background, etc. If you are concerned about loss of neopoints spent on such wearables, remove them before transferring your pet. Also if you do not want to lose money through the loss of a petpet, remove this also as it, too, cannot be sold whilst attached to a Neopet.

When using the pound, remember that Neopets have feeling too. Abandon pets only if absolutely necessary, and look after any Neopet under your care, whether adopted from the pound or created from new. If you do find you need to rehome one of your pets, try and find someone willing to take on responsibility for it and as a last resort pay a visit to Dr Death.

Finally, I am sure that Neopians everywhere will join me in thanking TNT for the excellent job they have done in relaunching the Neopian Pound and for ensuring that it takes good care of any pets unfortunate enough to find their way into its care.

THE END