**PLEASE NOTE** Unfortunately due to the severe vandalism of our premises we have had to stop our PetAssist program until we move into new premises. Stay tuned to our social media for updates.
Due to the demand of our service and our limited resources please be aware that we may take a few weeks to get back to you. You can message us on Facebook if you haven’t received an email or call within a few weeks.
Please ensure you include your phone number AND email address in your application so we can contact you.
**NOTE: stray cat assistance is prioritised**
Please note, due to limited resources we don’t always have capacity to accept every surrender into our care. To request assistance with surrendering, send through the below information and we will advise if we can assist.
If your pet is desexed and microchipped, you may choose to rehome your pet using our highly successful PetConnect direct rehoming service.
To assist us to help more pets in need, please donate.
Before surrendering
We understand that there are circumstances from time to time where the need to surrender a pet can arise.
Before considering surrendering, please get in contact with us if you would like advice on how to handle difficult behaviour your pet may be displaying. We have had great success in solving many challenging behavoural issues leading to less pets needing to be surrendered or rehomed.
Our screening and adoption process is highly regarded in our community. It is designed to minimise the risk of your pet ending up in a stressful pound, RSPCA shelter, dog fighting ring, hoarding situation, being rehomed many times or to irresponsible people. We always strive to match pet(s) to new owner(s) to the best of our ability. We always keep bonded pairs together. If your case is sensitive (e.g. domestic violence) please advise us ASAP and we will provide alternate instructions.
The cost
Unlike other places in the ACT, we do NOT charge a fee for surrendering pets into our care.
As we rely solely on donations from the community and have no Government funding, we have very limited resources. We greatly appreciate donations to support our vital work. We go above and beyond to ethically rescue and rehabilitate pets in need, saving thousands of animals each year.
Info needed
To surrender your pet, please fill out our surrender form. You can expect to be asked about the following:
- Name, age, and pictures of pet
- Reason for surrender
- Vet records, if available
- Behavioural or medical concerns
- Pet’s likes and dislikes (including food), and needs
- Your name, address, and contact information (for our internal use only)
Please provide as many details as you can to aid us in the process of finding your pet a new home.
The outcome
Once we receive your request it will be triaged and you will receive information on if and when we can take your pet into care. Following this you will receive instructions on pickup or drop off for your pet to come into our care.
We endeavor to get back to your enquiry as soon as possible but please understand we can easily have 50 or more foster pets in our group at any given point in time. Our busiest time of year is September to April (kitten season).
We kindly ask that you don’t request help from other rescue groups until you hear back from us as it wastes valuable resources to have multiple groups assess applications and move fosters around to fit in new fosters when they don’t eventuate. We work with a number of ethical rescue groups in our region to share resources and save more little lives.
Alternate surrendering options
We kindly ask that you don’t request help from other rescue groups until you hear back from us as it wastes valuable resources to have multiple groups assess applications and move fosters around to fit in new fosters when they don’t eventuate. We work with a number of ethical rescue groups in our region to share resources and save more little lives.
If we are unable to take your pet into our care, you can seek assistance from:
- other ethical and registered rescue groups in our region
- the RSPCA shelter, surrender waitlist of 4-8 weeks or so and surrender fees of approx. $100-150 depending on animal
- Domestic Animal Services (Canberra’s dog pound), surrender fee is $65.90 fee as of 1 July 2021
- Queanbeyan Pound
For farm animals we suggest contacting one of the following farm animal sanctuaries:
For wildlife in the ACT, please contact