Expert Help Rehoming

We understand that sometimes a pet turns out not to be a good fit for your family. Or your situation has changed, and you have no choice but to find the animal a new home. If you must rehome your pet, take the time to do so as safely as possible.

​

How can you rehome your pet safely? If you are in or near Frederick County, Maryland, email us. While we are not able to take in your pet ourselves, we will do our best to help you find a new home or rescue for your pet. We can refer you to responsible rescues and can post your pet online for rehoming. We have a rehoming application/process to help ensure that the adopter is a good match for your pet.

​​

Finding a new home or rescue can take time, especially for senior pets, those with chronic medical conditions, those who must be an only pet, and those who are wary of new people. Dogs and cats who are not spayed/neutered and/or not up to date on vaccinations cannot be rehomed but may be able to go to a rescue organization. However, rescues are very selective in which animals they accept and are limited by the availability of foster homes. It’s best to be sure your pet’s vetting is up to date so that we have rehoming as an option. 

 

Click here to find affordable options and assistance for general vetting or click here for affordable spay/neuter options. 

 

For a DIY option, you may post your pet for rehoming on Adoptapet

Caution: We urge rehoming pet parents who are using sites like Adoptapet to use some kind of rehoming application or interview process to ensure that a potential adopter is truly ready for the commitment and responsibility of pet ownership and is a good fit for your pet. If you give your pet away without carefully screening and preparing the new family, the animal could end up surrendered to a stressful, crowded shelter; given away multiple times; or even neglected or abused. Articles with helpful info for rehoming pet parents are available here.

​​

Pets with Aggression or Other Serious Behavior Issues

If you are thinking of rehoming a pet with serious behavior issues, such as severe or unpredictable aggression toward humans or severe and debilitating separation anxiety, it is important to consider whether rehoming is ethical. Animals displaying aggression and other inappropriate or problematic behaviors are doing so for a reason; often, fear, discomfort/pain, and/or prior inadvertent reinforcement of the behavior play roles. A professional behavior consultant or veterinary behaviorist (specialist) may be able to help.

 

It may be possible to help your pet using behavior modification (with the help of a professional behavior consultant) — and potentially medication (with the help of your vet or a veterinary behaviorist) — and reduce or even eliminate the aggressive behavior or other serious behavior issue. However, working with your pet on their behavior is your job. Most adopters are not looking for a "project," to put it bluntly, and it would be unfair — to the pet and the adopter — to rehome an animal who needs serious behavioral support. If you cannot keep and work with your pet — and you cannot find a family member or close friend (who knows the pet well) to essentially "co-parent" your pet while working on the behavior issues — then, in some cases, behavioral euthanasia may be a reasonable option. For resources to help you assess whether behavioral euthanasia is appropriate, check out this page. It is specific to dogs with aggression issues, but most of the concepts are also applicable to cats or to dogs with other serious behavior issues.