surrendering an animal

Working with WHS

If you have already tried placing your pet through Home To Home or need to surrender urgently, please call our front desk at (360) 733-2080 ext. 0 before bringing the animal to the shelter. Our staff will discuss intake policies outlined below, the status of current kennel space, and collect information so we can be prepared for your pet when it arrives.

Animal Surrender Hours: Tuesday thru Sunday, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Note: Please do not arrive after 5:00 pm to surrender an animal. Our staff require proper time to intake surrendered animals, and owners arriving after 5:00 pm to surrender animals may be asked to come back at a later date.

We realize how difficult it is for you to come to us to surrender your pet. Because of the significance of your decision, we want to ensure that you thoroughly understand our policies on surrendered animals.

Animal Surrender Fees

Receiving and caring for surrendered animals is expensive, costing Whatcom Humane Society hundreds of dollars per animal. As a local nonprofit animal welfare organization, we request a fee for each surrendered animal to help offset the cost of care for animals in our shelter.

Animal Surrender Fees for Owned Animals from within Whatcom County:

The following list includes animals surrendered from the cities of Acme, Bellingham, Blaine, Custer, Deming, Everson, Ferndale, Glacier, Maple Falls, Nooksack, and Sumas, as well as the Lummi Reservation and Nooksack Reservation.

• Adult Dog Surrender Fee: $50.00
• Adult Cat Surrender Fee: $50.00
• Puppy/Kitten Surrender Fee: $50.00 per litter
• Rabbit Surrender Fee: $50.00
• Small Animal Surrender Fee: $25.00
• Horse/Livestock Surrender Fee: $100.00

Animal Surrender Fees for Owned Animals from outside of Whatcom County:

• Adult Dog Surrender Fee: $125.00
• Adult Cat Surrender Fee: $100.00
• Puppy/Kitten Surrender Fee: $100.00 per litter
• Rabbit Surrender Fee: $100.00
• Small Animal Surrender Fee: $50.00
• Horse/Livestock Surrender Fee: $250.00

Please discuss with a member of our customer service team if you have financial difficulties and are unable to provide the full surrender fee.

what to bring with you

Whenever possible, the legal owner over the age of 18 should be present to complete the surrender intake paperwork. If the legal owner is not available, please note that our staff are required to call them and receive verbal permission for a third party to complete the surrender paperwork.

Here is what our staff need to complete a surrender intake:

• Photo ID from the legal owner or guardian approved by the legal owner to complete the surrender paperwork.
• A completed personality profile for the pet (available below). If surrendering a dog that has shown aggression to people or animals, please also complete the appropriate Dog Bite Questionnaire (available below - can be completed without a bite incident having occurred)
• Copies of veterinary records, especially current vaccinations. If you are unable to provide physical copies, please call your veterinarian before surrendering your pet and ask them to email the pet’s records to adoptions@whatcomhumane.org
• Optional: the pet’s food, toys, or other supplies.

Eligibility criteria

It is important to know that the Whatcom Humane Society (WHS) is an open-admission humane society—this means that we will accept ANY animal that comes into us. Because of this, our facility takes in an average of over 3,700 domestic animals each year, not including many farm animals that are also brought into our facilities. Sadly, there are not enough homes for all of
these animals. Whatcom County, and our country as a whole, are still suffering a tragic pet overpopulation problem, with an average 1.3 million animals being euthanized annually nationwide because new homes are not available. At WHS our goal is to find a loving family for every animal, but unfortunately there are simply more animals than there are people who are
adopting them.

It is essential that you understand this information and also that you are transferring all legal ownership of this animal to WHS when you surrender them to the shelter. After you surrender your animal, our staff will examine and evaluate the animal to determine whether they can be placed into our adoption program. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to make them available for adoption, and this will depend on their health, temperament/behavior, and availability of space in our adoption kennels. Even if they are made available for adoption, we cannot guarantee that someone will choose to adopt them.

The following is a list of conditions under which an animal may not be placed for adoption:

• They are under 8 weeks of age.
• Their advanced age is causing extreme medical or physical problems.
• They are in poor general health or physical condition.
• Their temperament or behavior is such that they are not safe around humans or other animals.
• They are showing signs of extreme stress due to being placed in a kennel environment.
• They show signs of contagious/communicable disease that could infect other animals.
• There is no space available in the adoption kennels.

Depending on the specifics of the animal’s condition and availability of space, some animals may be placed in foster care until they are old enough to be made available for adoption, held for treatment/observation before being evaluated for adoption, or transferred to other facilities for potential adoption placement.

adoption duration

At WHS, every effort is made to find loving homes for animals in our adoption program. Once an animal is placed into our adoption program there is no time limit on how long the animal may remain available for adoption. Animals may remain available for adoption for a day, week, month, or longer. Animals available for adoptions may be euthanized if there is a decline in their health, temperament, or physical condition or if space becomes limited and we need to make room for new incoming animals, and there are no placement options with other rescue groups or facilities.

If you wish to check the status of an animal you surrendered, you may do so by calling the shelter at 360-733-2080 ext. 0. Please save your surrender paperwork to assist us in providing you with information. To reduce stress on the surrendered animal, we ask that you do not visit the pet while in our adoption kennels; staff are available to give updates over the phone.

Animal Personality Profile & Surrender Forms

If you decide to surrender your animal to the Whatcom Humane Society, please complete the appropriate personality profile below and bring it with you to the shelter. Please leave your animal(s) in the car when you arrive. Once paperwork is complete, staff will ask you to bring them in. Our surrender fee is $50. If this fee is a hardship for you, please call customer service at (360) 733-2080 ext. 3001.

If your dog has growled at, air snapped, or bitten a person or animal please complete these additional forms:

Our country is suffering a tragic pet overpopulation problem, with 1.5 million animals being euthanized nationwide each year because new homes are not available.