Bringing Us a Pet
Surrendering an animal to HSCC
Pet owners make the often heartbreaking decision to surrender their animals to HSCC for many reasons. Unpredictable changes in life situations, allergies in the family, financial difficulties, or developing behavioral problems with the pet are just a few of them.
Some of the animals that come to us are stray cats who have been rescued by a concerned citizen, or dogs who are transferred by an Animal Control Officer.
Before deciding to surrender your pet to HSCC, please call and ask for advice on what to do. We can refer you to experts, or just give some helpful hints over the phone, that may enable you to continue living with your pet. If you've reached the decision that you simply cannot continue to care for your pet, please understand that we are here to help and that, in order to do so, we've put in place policies and practices that ensure the health, safety, and comfort of each animal that comes to our facility.
When calling, please be honest. If you are surrendering your pet due to a behavioral problem (such as biting or aggression, inappropriate urination, etc.), please let us know so that we may work with animal behavioral specialists as needed to help your animal work through their issues and work to find them a suitable home.
HSCC is the sometimes necessary link between an animal’s unfortunate circumstance and its forever home. We are a controlled-admission shelter which simply means we will accept any animal from Chittenden or Grand Isle County regardless of age, health, or disposition. We do so by appointment only, however, so be sure to call prior to visiting our facility. When doing so, please keep in mind that our facility has limited space and our staff is only so large. Since we refuse to euthanize animals simply due to the need for space or the length of their stay, it sometimes means you may be asked to wait as many as several days or even weeks prior to your appointment. In many cases, cancellations of other appointments shorten that time considerably. We do our best to respond to emergency situations and, when possible, we're happy to offer support and supplies until the next available intake appointment.
We're often asked if surrendering an animal means that an individual will not be allowed to adopt from us in the future. Please know that is not the case. Making a good match is our top priority - and if that means that someone who previously surrendered an animal winds up being a great match for another pet somewhere in the future, then we're thrilled to make that match. We understand that people's lives change and that sometimes, due to a variety of circumstances, people are unable to keep, maintain, and care for their pets. Years later, under different circumstances, that same person may be ready and interested in adopting a new pet. Assuming that an individual or family meets all of our general adoption requirements, they'll still be eligible to adopt from HSCC.
To make an appointment to relinquish an animal, please call our Adoption Center & Animal Care Facility during open hours at 802.862.0135 ext. 10.
There are several things we ask you to remember when you make/arrive for your appointment:
- Be on time. Our day is very carefully scheduled according to our staff availability, the number of intakes and adoptions scheduled, and the number of residents in our facility. It's often difficult for us to assist you if you're significantly early and it's nearly impossible to accommodate late arrivals.
- Bring all of your pet's veterinary records and important documents. Having as much information as possible about your pet makes it much easier for us to get to know him or her, to expedite their intake process, and to get started evaluating them and working to find them a new home.
- Consider a donation.
HSCC receives no
public funding and relies solely on private donations in order to provide care
to the roughly 1,000 animals that come to our shelter each year. On average, each resident costs some $300 to $500 to treat, care for, and place. While we have no required intake or surrender
fee, and no animal is ever turned away because of an inability to make a
donation, we kindly ask that you consider a minimum donation of $50. Please give what you can; even a $5 or $10
donation makes a difference!
- Call to cancel if you've made other arrangements. At least once or twice each week, we wait patiently for an intake appointment only to find that the individual fails to arrive. As stated earlier, our days are carefully (and often tightly) scheduled and intake appointments are in greater demand than our space and resources allow. While we make an effort to confirm each and every appointment by phone, failing to notify us of your change in circumstances means that not only have we allocated time that could have been used to address other needs, we've also had to push someone else another day or week out. Please be courteous and simply let us know if you no longer need the appointment you've scheduled by calling 802.862.0135 ext. 10.