Almost Home Humane Society is able to accept some owner surrendered pets, based upon the number of animals in the building and the pet’s likelihood to thrive in the shelter environment. We understand that surrendering your pet is an extremely difficult decision and we hope to make the process as smooth as possible, while also helping you explore all of your options for surrendering. AHHS will always accept any pet adopted from our organization, regardless of the reason for return. If your pet has been adopted from another rescue organization, please contact them first if you need to surrender your pet.
If you are in the process of considering surrendering your pet, here are a few of things to consider first.
Is there some type of assistance that could help you keep your pet?
AHHS would always prefer to keep families together with their pets. Call us at 765-474-5222 if you are considering surrender and would like to discuss your options. If you have exhausted all of your options for placing your pet yourself and we are not able to help you resolve your issues, Almost Home can make you can appointment for surrender.
AHHS schedules surrenders to ensure that we have the space to add a pet to our population, give us time to talk with you about your pet, and perform basic health and temperament exams.
What should you bring and/or expect at your surrender appointment?
Bring any medical records for your pet with you at the time of surrender.
You will fill out a surrender survey for your pet to give us as much knowledge of your pet and its habits/preferences to help us make the best match possible in rehoming
If you are surrendering a dog, we will do a brief temperament and medical exam to determine if we think the shelter environment will be a good fit for your dog.
What medical tests do we perform?
If you are surrendering a dog, we will test your dog for heart worms.
If you are surrendering a cat, we will test your cat for feline leukemia.
What do we look for in temperament?
An animal that is able to adjust well to change. Extremely shy or fearful pets typically do not do well in a shelter environment.
Pets that do well with strangers and people of all types, due to the frequent visitors to shelters and changing of staff and volunteers.
Pets that are able to live in a home with other pets.
What happens if we can’t take your pet?
If we believe that your pet will do poorly in our adoption program, we will give you as many alternative options as possible. There are many local rescue organizations that might be a better fit for various situations (i.e. home-based rescues might be a better fit for a shy or nervous pet).