Rehoming Your Pet?
Animal shelters should be the place of last resort for dogs and cats – even the best of shelters can’t compare to a loving home.
Although our vision is to save every healthy and behaviorally sound companion animal, this is a challenge since all animals are accepted from our jurisdiction regardless of health, age, or behavior. There are many community animals that may need shelter more than one that has a home already.
We ask that you exhaust all options before deciding to bring a pet to the shelter.
Do what you can to rehome your pet. Check with family, friends, co-workers, and rescue organizations. Since you know your pet, you are the very best judge of the perfect new home for him, and by rehoming yourself, you will have peace of mind in knowing that you chose a good home for your pet.
Helpful tips to rehoming a pet:
- Spay or neuter your pet.
- Make sure your pet is healthy and current on vaccinations.
- Work with your pet to make sure he is friendly and comfortable with different people and situations.
- Allow your pet indoors, so that he can learn better social manners.
- If it is a behavior issue, there are a lot of resources on the internet to assist you. Visit our Training & Resources page to find helpful tips and tricks. The shelter may also be able to assist you in finding an appropriate behaviorist to work with.
Rehoming resources available:
Surrendering a Pet to the shelter:
If you are unable to rehome your pet after considerable effort, you can arrange to surrender your pet to the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter.
Follow these Steps:
- Call 512-943-3322 or email the shelter at [email protected] to schedule an appointment
- Be prepared to take about 30 minutes while at the shelter to answer questions about your pet. This will assist us in placing him in the best home possible.
- Bring your ID with address or other proof of residency in our jurisdiction and a $25 surrender fee. Texas driver’s license or other proof of residency in this jurisdiction will be required for owner surrender of animals.
- Please bring all veterinarian and/or vaccination records.
*** High Risk/ Euthanasia Fee ***
After staff evaluation, if your pet is deemed a medical or behavioral high risk, there is an additional $35 fee for the extra labor, behavioral enrichment, hospice care, medication, and possible euthanasia if you choose to still surrender your pet to the shelter.
Surrendering your pet to our shelter means you are giving up all rights to that animal. We are not required to notify you of any development regarding health or status, nor will we give the animal you surrendered special treatment over another animal. You may use our website or call the shelter for updates.
WCRAS is an open intake shelter serving all of Williamson County with the exception of the cities of Georgetown, Taylor, and Austin. We accept any animal from our jurisdiction that needs shelter regardless of age, health, species, breed, or behavior and no matter whether it is a stray or owned animal.
Click here to print this page: Rehoming a Pet.pdf