Surrendering an animal is a serious decision, and we understand that it can be emotional and difficult. When an animal comes into our care, our responsibility changes. We are no longer simply helping an owner care for their animal—we become responsible for that animal's safety, medical care, rehabilitation, and eventual placement.

Because we operate a wildlife rehabilitation facility in addition to caring for surrendered animals, we have specific policies surrounding owner surrenders. These policies are not intended to make the process difficult. They exist to protect the animals in our care, maintain our required permits, protect biosecurity, and allow our staff to focus their limited time and resources on the animals who need us.

When an animal is officially surrendered to our rescue, ownership and responsibility are transferred to the rescue.

This means the decision to surrender must be considered carefully. Once an animal enters our program, we may begin veterinary treatment, rehabilitation, behavioral evaluation, quarantine, or other care. We may also begin making plans for that animal's permanent placement.

Because of this, surrendered animals cannot simply be returned to their previous owners later.

For the same reason, we do not allow previous owners to adopt their surrendered animals.

Once an animal has been surrendered, our goal is to make decisions based on what is best for that animal and the needs of our adoption program. Allowing previous owners to compete for or request their former animals can create conflicts of interest and makes it difficult for our staff to maintain a consistent adoption process.

A surrender is a permanent transfer of responsibility. If you are not ready to permanently give up the animal, please do not surrender it.

Our rescue is not a boarding facility.

When an animal is surrendered to us, we must have the resources and space to provide appropriate care. Our available kennels, enclosures, staff time, food, medical resources, and foster spaces are limited.

We cannot accept an animal with the expectation that we will temporarily house it until the owner is ready to take it back.

If you need short-term boarding or temporary care, please seek a boarding facility, pet sitter, foster arrangement, or other service specifically designed for temporary housing.

Our facility is not open to the public for tours.

This is particularly important because we operate under wildlife rehabilitation permits and have animals undergoing rehabilitation and medical care on the property. Excessive traffic, noise, talking, and activity can cause significant stress to wildlife.

There is also an important biosecurity reason for limiting public access.

Every person entering a facility can potentially introduce or carry pathogens. This risk becomes even greater when people are regularly around other animals. Limiting unnecessary foot traffic helps us reduce the risk of disease being introduced to the animals in our care.

For these reasons, we cannot accommodate tours or visits before or after an animal is surrendered.

Our veterinary resources are dedicated to animals that are in our care.

We understand that veterinary care can be expensive, and we know that some owners are struggling to afford treatment. However, our rescue cannot function as a free veterinary clinic for privately owned animals.

Unfortunately, we have also encountered situations where an owner brings an animal to us for veterinary care, expecting the rescue to pay for treatment, and then wants the animal returned once the expensive medical work has been completed.
That is not a surrender.

When an animal is surrendered, the rescue accepts responsibility for that animal—including the financial responsibility for its care. If you are asking us to take responsibility for the animal's medical care, the surrender must be permanent.

We understand that people may be curious about an animal after surrendering it. However, once an animal enters our care, our staff must focus on caring for the animals—not providing individual updates to former owners.

We have limited staffing and a large number of animals requiring daily care. Answering repeated questions, sending photographs, explaining medical decisions, or providing ongoing updates takes time away from the animals.

We have also experienced situations where former owners attempted to closely monitor or micromanage an animal's medical treatment, rehabilitation, or eventual adoption. While we understand that people may care deeply about an animal they previously owned, surrender means transferring that responsibility to the rescue.

Our staff must be able to make medical, rehabilitation, and adoption decisions based on the animal's needs and our professional protocols.

We know that surrendering an animal can be emotional. You may wonder what will happen next, who will care for the animal, whether it will receive medical treatment, and where it will eventually go.

Those concerns are understandable.

However, surrendering an animal means trusting the rescue to make those decisions.

Our staff will evaluate the animal, provide appropriate care, address medical or behavioral needs, and determine the best placement available based on the animal's individual circumstances.

We cannot promise a specific outcome, adopter, medical treatment, or timeline. What we can promise is that once an animal is accepted into our care, our goal is to do what is in that animal's best interest.

Every policy we have exists for a reason.

We have to protect the wildlife undergoing rehabilitation. We have to maintain our permits and comply with regulations. We have to protect the health of every animal in our facility through proper biosecurity. And we have to protect our staff's time so they can spend it where it matters most—caring for animals.

We are a rescue, not a boarding facility, veterinary clinic, or public animal-care center.

Our resources are limited, and every dollar, staff hour, enclosure, and medical resource has to be used as effectively as possible.
When you surrender an animal to us, you are entrusting that animal to our care. We take that responsibility seriously, and we ask that owners understand and respect these policies before making the decision to surrender.