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Surrendering a Pet You Can No Longer Keep

If you have an animal you feel you can no longer keep, please exhaust all other avenues before surrendering the animal. If the animal is unruly or misbehaving perhaps training classes would solve the problem. If the animal is not housebroken then crate training is an idea you may wish to try. Most problems can be solved or managed with a little bit of knowledge on the owners part. Please consider the choices before surrendering an animal. Even with the larger facility and ability to hold animals for longer periods of time and treat many common illnesses, anytime you surrender an animal to an animal shelter you put his life at risk.

While it is our goal to place each animal into a loving home where they will be members of the family, that is not always realistic and euthanasia is a possibility after they have been offered for adoption for a period of time.

If at all possible, try to rehome your pet. There is a wonderful service thru Adopt-a-Pet and the Petco Foundation that will assist you in every step of the process & offer helpful suggestions in placing your pet into the best home available. If you'd like to try this option first, please visit their website to get started.

 

SJRAS also has a Community Outreach program. This program serves two separate purposes:

 

    1. Our outreach coordinators will attempt to help owners keep their pets by providing resources like access to veterinary care, behavioral advice/training or financial assistance to assist an owner in being able to overcome the reason for needing to rehome the pet.
    1. If an owner has no choice but to give up a pet that is typically a challenge to get adopted from a shelter, our coordinators can assist with placement of the pet into one of our partner shelters or breed rescues where more resources are available, which may help improve the chances of the pet being placed into an appropriate home.

 

For more information please visit the Community Outreach page here on our website.

 

If you have no choice but to surrender your pet, SJRAS accepts owner surrendered pets by appointment only as the number of animals we can take in daily depends on the number of open kennels or cat cages we have available.  If the need to surrender an animal is urgent (i.e.. moving, eviction, etc.) the office staff should be made aware of this when you call. Generally your surrender will not be accepted for at least a week, so take advantage of that time & use the REHOME tool to try & place your pet in a new home while you wait for space to become available at the shelter.

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Surrenders of Cats/Kittens to SJRAS:

Generally we will ask you basic questions about your cat or kitten(s).

    • If we determine that we will not be able to assist you in placing your pet for any reason, you will be informed of this & given alternate routes that you may explore such as private placement, rescue groups or having your animal euthanized by your vet.
    • If we feel that we can successfully offer your pet for adoption, we will check our surrender schedule to determine when we will have space open to accept your pet.

 

The amount of time you have to wait to surrender your cats/kittens will depend on several factors, including the number of upcoming adoptions, the number of upcoming transfers, and the number of stray animals that are entering our facility each day. The wait could be as short as 1 week and as long as 2 months or more during high intake times such as spring & summer. You should plan ahead, and if at all possible use our HOW TO PLACE YOUR OWN ANIMAL INTO A NEW HOME reference guide to find the right home for your cat on your own. If you still need to surrender your pet by the time your scheduled surrender appointment arrives, please be prepared to pay the surrender fee in cash or by credit, as we do not accept checks. See the chart of fees below. Appointments to surrender run from 1pm until 4pm each day of the week, and we do not accept surrenders on Saturdays.

Please complete our Cat Surrender Profile and bring it with you to your surrender appointment so that we use it to assist us in placing your cat/kitten into a new home. Remember when filling out this paper - be honest, and give as much information as you can. The more info we have about your pet the better chance we have to place them into the right home.

Surrenders of  Dogs/Puppies to SJRAS:

When you call, you will be asked a few basic questions about your dog & it's personality. This is to get a tiny bit of an idea about where your dog may fit into our adoption program. You'll then either be put on the phone with one of our intake specialists or they will contact you within 24 hours to set up an EVALUATION APPOINTMENT. During your dogs' evaluation our intake specialists will develop an understanding of your pet & attempt to get to know what resources he is likely to need in order to place him into a new home.

    • If we determine that we will not be able to assist you in placing your pet for any reason, you will be informed of this & given alternate routes that you may explore such as private placement, rescue groups or having your animal euthanized by your vet.
    • If we determine that your pet is a candidate for our adoption program, we'll look at when we will have the necessary resources available & schedule your surrender date.  Your evaluation fee is due at the time of your evaluation appointment and must be paid in cash or by credit card - we do not accept checks. Please be prepared to pay the evaluation fee upon arriving for your appointment. See the chart of fees below.

 

The amount of time you have to wait to surrender your dog will depend on several factors, including the number of upcoming adoptions, the number of upcoming transfers, and the number of stray animals that are entering our facility each day. The wait could be as short as 1 week and as long as 1 month or more during high intake times such as spring & summer. You should plan ahead, and if at all possible use the AdoptaPet.com HOW TO PLACE YOUR OWN ANIMAL INTO A NEW HOME program to find the right home for your pet on your own. If your surrender appointment arrives & you still need to surrender your pet, appointments to surrender run from 1pm until 4pm each day of the week, and we do not accept surrenders on Saturdays.

Please complete our Dog Surrender Profile  and bring it with you to your surrender appointment so that we use it to assist us in placing your dog into a new home. Remember when filling out this paper - be honest, and give as much information as you can. The more info we have about your pet the better chance we have to place them into the right home.

For Other Types of Pets:

For all other types of pets, please contact our reception staff by phone to determine the availability & fees to surrender. We are VERY limited on the amount of space available to house other types of animals and will need to schedule your pet to enter our facility to be sure that space is available. If you need to place a rabbit or ferret please print & complete the following questionnaire so that we have more information about your pet                              Rabbit Surrender Profile                                Ferret Surrender Profile

Surrender Fees

Type of Animal
Fee
Cats over 4 months old
$60
Dogs up to 25 pounds
$80
Dogs 26-50 pounds
$100
Dogs over 51-100 pounds
$150
Dogs over 101 pounds
$200


Kittens 4months old or younger
Fee
Puppies 4months old or younger
Fee
Single Kitten
$30
Single Puppy
$30
Litter of 2
$50
Litter of 2
$50
Litter of 3
$60
Litter of 3
$70
Litter of 4
$70
Litter of 4
$90
Litter of 5
$80
Litter of 5
$110
Litter of 6
$90
Litter of 6
$130
For a larger litters please add $10 for each kittenFor a larger litters please add $20 for each puppy

Fees to surrender other types of pets vary. Please contact the shelter to discuss the type of pet your need to surrender and they can explain what the fees would be based on the number of pets, type of pets and containment required by such pets.