Surrendering An Animal
The Rutland County Humane Society accepts all owned domestic animals who are surrendered to us by residents of Rutland County without fee or discrimination based on potential adoptability.
We do not charge any fees for the animals who are surrendered to us but please consider a donation. Each year, approximately 1,100 animals come through our doors and the average cost of caring for and preparing each animal for adoption is $300 - $700. If you would like to make a donation to help us cover the costs of caring, you may make your contribution at the time of surrender. While we have no required intake or surrender fee, we kindly ask that you consider a minimum donation of $50. Please give what you can as every dollar makes a difference and will go to providing food, medical care and enrichment for all the shelter animals.
Although we do not charge fees for surrendered animals, we do request that you call 802.483.6700 to schedule an appointment so that we may be prepared to accommodate your animals as efficiently as possible. On average, we can schedule an appointment for you within a week to ten days of when you call but there are times in the summer months when the wait may be up to 3-4 weeks.
When you bring an animal to us, please enter through the door marked “Animal Intake.” Be sure that dogs are on leashes and cats or other small animals are in carriers. We encourage you to bring personal belongings, such as toys or blankets, that will ease your pet’s transition to the shelter. We cannot, however, guarantee that those belongings will stay with your pet throughout his stay here. Your appointment will take about 15-20 minutes and we will ask you to answer questions that will better help us understand your pet’s needs. Please bring recent vaccination records. If you are not the owner, bring a signed and dated letter from that person giving you permission to relinquish the pet. We do not have the staff or resources to pick up animals for surrender to the shelter.
When you surrender an animal to us, we assume you have done so because you had no other alternative and we expect you to trust us to make the best choice for the animal and the community. We will inform you of our placement decision if you ask, but we are unable to notify you beforehand. All efforts are made to place animals in our care into lifetime, loving homes. We do not have pre-established time limits for how long animals can stay in the shelter. However, there are times that an animal will not be put up for adoption because a health or behavior/aggression issue makes a responsible placement impossible. In these cases, we make the humane decision to euthanize the animal.
