**Due to the demand of our service and our limited resources please be aware that we may take a few days to weeks to get back to you.**
Please ensure you include your phone number AND email address in your application so we can contact you.
Please note, due to limited resources we don’t always have capacity to accept every rehoming request. To request assistance with rehoming, send through the below information and we will advise if we can assist.
To assist us to help more pets in need, please donate.
Before rehoming
We understand that there are circumstances from time to time where the need to rehome a pet can arise. For the health and wellbeing of your pet it is vital to properly screen potential new owners and find the right, suitable loving home.
Before considering rehoming, 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 behavioural 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, or being rehomed many times. 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 requirements
You will be required to fill out our rehoming form to get started with the rehoming process. You can expect to be asked for/about the following:
- Name, age, and pictures of pet
- Reason for rehoming
- Where the animal was sourced
- Evidence of desexing, microchip, and vaccinations
- Behavioural or medical concerns
- Pet’s likes, dislikes, and needs
- Current owner name, address, and contact information (for our internal use only)
Please provide as many details as possible. We may not be able to help you if you do not provide sufficient information/proof.
You should be willing to offer a two week trial period for the new owner in case it doesn’t work out and they come back to you.
The new owner will be asked to donate an adoption fee to Canberra Pet Rescue, we don’t promote free animals as it attracts the wrong type of enquiries. Our rehoming fee is a $50 tax deductible donation which goes directly to helping our animals in care. You will be asked to pay this fee once we receive the above information and accept your request. In exceptional circumstances (e.g. death of an owner or financial constraints) you may ask for this fee to be waived.
Once we receive this information and your rehoming donation, we will send you the relevant microchip change of owner form to fill in with the new owner. Depending on which microchip register you have your pet listed on, will depend if there is a small change of owner fee direct to the registry (i.e. $20 to the private registry, some are free).
While advertising
The pet remains in your care until a new home is found. This is the least stressful option for pets needing new homes and ensures spaces can be given to sick, abandoned and neonatal animals in need.
A condition of using our rehoming service is that you don’t advertise through other places or channels while advertising through us, however we encourage you to share the pets social media post that we put up which will contain a link to an expression of interest form.
If at any time you wish to cease the rehoming process, you must advise us immediately so we can manage enquiries and our resources.
We review all EOI applications for your pet(s) and select the most suitable one(s) to conduct a video interview with. During these interviews we ask questions about the household members, ability and commitment to provide for the pet, suitability of the environment, previous pet experience, whether they own or rent, contingency planning, and view where the pet will be residing. Not all interviews are successful, we keep interviewing until we find a new owner that we feel will be a good match for your pet and vice-versa.
Although we have a very high success rate, we cannot guarantee a new home or the exact timeframes to find a new home, but please let us know of any key dates a new home is needed by.
If your timeframe is very short or unlikely to be met, we would suggest you list your pet on the RSPCA surrender list, noting they state a wait time of four to eight weeks, and charge an RSPCA surrender fee.
Meeting the new owner
Once a potentially suitable new owner (the applicant) is found, we will pass their details on to you to arrange a meeting with the pet. We encourage you to discuss your pet openly and ask questions about the new owners suitability, as well as watch their interactions with the pet. It is only advised to proceed with the adoption if comfortable with the new owner being a match for the pet and vice-versa. Please note, you can contact us to discuss any concerns or chat about the meeting to discuss their suitability.
If the applicant is not a match please advise us and we can interview other applicants and re-advertise if need be. We’re also happy to contact them to advise that they are not suitable if you are not comfortable to.
Please ensure you advise us of the outcome of the meeting immediately afterwards and keep us in the loop.
When it’s a match
If the applicant is a match, please provide the new owner with:
- microchip change of owner form (we will have sent you this)
- advise what food the pet is on (we recommend keeping them on the same food while transitioning to the new home to avoid tummy upsets)
- any medications the pet has been prescribed
- paperwork (all records of desexing, microchip number, vaccination date, last parasite control given date), previous vet details
- any belongings they may be used to or attached to
- date / time to pickup (remind them to bring a carrier for cats)
- Our payment details (for the new owner to pay the adoption donation)
- Please ensure the new owner pays the adoption fee donation and provides you with evidence (e.g. screenshot), and signs the change of owner form before providing the animal.
Help, my pet isn’t desexed and microchipped…
Please note: If you have a cat or dog that is not desexed and microchipped, then it legally cannot be advertised for rehoming. In these instances you can request to surrender your pet to us, another rescue group, shelter or pound. We do not charge a surrender fee but have limited capacity and rely solely off donations with no Government funding.