How can I attend a hosted koi adoption event?

All koi adoptions are by appointment only. Submit a koi adoption request today.   Our hosted koi adoption events are intended for private hobbyists only. Koi dealers and others interested in acquiring koi fish for resale are strictly prohibited. Our goal is to find new forever homes for the beautiful koi entrusted to our care, so selling to dealers or resellers goes against our core mission.

Koi Adoption vs. Buying Koi from a Traditional Koi Dealer

By definition, a koi dealer is someone in the business of “selling” koi fish.  Southern California Koi Rescue is NOT a koi dealer nor are we koi resellers.  We are a registered nonprofit animal rescue specializing in koi fish and other common pond pets.  It is our mission to find properly vetted new forever homes for the precious living jewels entrusted to our care.  For this reason, a completed Koi Adoption Request form is REQUIRED for all koi adoptions made to private hobbyists.  This vetting process helps to ensure our rescued koi are placed into properly designed koi ponds with knowledgeable hobbyists who fully understand what it takes to maintain optimal koi health and how to treat koi issues as they occur. 

Our dedicated team of volunteers literally travels hundreds of miles at their own expense to successfully rescue and rehome these beautiful living works of art from private residential ponds and commercial water features located throughout CA, NV, and AZ. After finishing quarantine, these rescued koi fish are then made available for rehoming to properly vetted new forever homes either through placement into new proper koi ponds built by our supporting pond builders or through koi adoption to approved private hobbyists.  To help offset the considerable costs for the various free services we provide, a nominal rehoming fee applies to every koi adoption. While we are not koi dealers ourselves, we do try to support them and we are happy to recommend some respected koi dealers whom we trust wholeheartedly upon request.  

Adoptable Pond Pets

Besides koi fish, we also commonly make other common pond pets available for adoption to new forever homes at our hosted adoption events. These pets commonly include large pond goldfish, channel catfish and aquatic turtles.

Koi Adoption Process

The koi adoption process is very simple.  First, interested private hobbyists must submit a completed koi adoption request form.  Once this request has been received, if deemed necessary we may contact the hobbyist via SMS text at contact phone# provided to request photos and/or videos of their pond to confirm its suitability for koi.  After an adoption request has been approved, the hobbyist’s name is then added to our notification list.  When a future koi adoption event has been scheduled, we contact all hobbyists on our notification list via SMS text to request RSVPs and then to schedule appointments to attend.   Specific event location and other details are provided to hobbyists direct via SMS text once all available koi have been pulled and sorted, which usually takes place a few days before each event.   All available koi are adopted on a first come, first served basis. No holds. Available appointment times typically range from 10am – 1pm. On average, most koi adoption appointments are completed within 30 minutes but some appointments can last a full hour.

Koi Rehoming Fees

Just like when you adopt a new puppy from your local animal shelter, a nominal rehoming fee applies for all koi adoptions.  We try our very best to keep these rehoming fees as low as possible.  While a tiny fraction of typical koi dealer wholesale cost, these fees help to offset some of our considerable costs for the various free services we provide.  We typically make large koi fish available at our special hosted koi adoption events for only $50 each or adopt three for only $100.  We also commonly rescue large “show quality” Japanese koi, which were originally purchased thru koi dealers for thousands of dollars.  We cap our rehoming fees for these gorgeous specimens too, ensuring that virtually any hobbyist who attends an event can afford any koi fish they see or choose to stock their entire pond.   

Event Locations

Because Southern California Koi Rescue is a non-profit animal rescue run entirely by a team of dedicated volunteers, we do NOT operate a traditional business location.  Therefore, our special koi adoption events are hosted at private residential locations belonging to some of our volunteers.   In the past these special adoption events have been hosted within the cities of Riverside, San Bernardino, and Victorville.  The actual location for future adoption events will vary based on a variety of factors.        

Koi Transport

If you plan to attend one of our special hosted koi adoption events, there is no need for you to bring any containers or bags for transport.  All selected koi fish are professionally bagged and boxed by us to help ensure their safe transport back to their new forever homes.  We package the koi very much the same way as if they were being shipped via UPS of FedEx.  During the warm summer months, we highly recommend transporting your new koi within an air conditioned vehicle. We do NOT recommend transporting koi in an open truck bed during the summer heat. We do NOT supply ice packs, but if you bring some of your own ice packs to your appointment we are happy to package them along with your koi to help keep them cool during transport.

Live Arrival Guarantee

Our rescued koi are typically quarantined and cared for by us for a minimum period of 4-6 weeks before we make them available to new forever homes through adoption.  Because we already offer several “free koi” promotions during our special hosted koi adoption events, we do NOT offer free replacements for any koi losses occurring after adoption date.  If any issues occur during transit or shortly thereafter, please notify us immediately to qualify for credit towards free replacement koi at our next scheduled koi adoption event. All koi adoptions are AS-IS and FINAL. No refunds.

Koi Health Resources

Koi are living creatures and great care must be taken to help keep them alive and healthy. We have published a Koi Health resource page to help hobbyists ensure optimal koi health regardless of whether they adopted these koi from us or not.

Click here to view our Koi Health resource page.

Upcoming Adoption Events

We generally host koi adoption events for private hobbyists every 6-8 weeks. These events are dependent on sufficient interest from private hobbyists on our approved adoption notification list. We commonly promote these events via social media so be sure to follow us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram.