Please note that our intakes are unfortunately booked out a few weeks. An appointment is required to surrender any animal to the Atlanta Humane Society. This enables us to provide you with better service when you arrive and appropriate care for your animal. See below for more information on how to schedule an appointment as well as what to expect and bring to your appointment.

If you need resources, such as affordable vet care, pet food, training, or boarding, to help keep your pet in your home or during this transition time prior to rehoming, please visit atlantahumane.org/resources.

If you are losing your housing or experiencing domestic violence, Paws Between Homes or Ahimsa House may be able to temporarily foster your pet until you are in safe housing. We work with both of these organizations by providing veterinary care and fosters to increase their capacity to help.

If you’re unable to wait for an appointment, you can also reach out to other animal organizations, including PAWS Atlanta or FurKids, that might be able to take in your pet sooner. You can also rehome your pet yourself through AdoptAPet or dedicated rehoming Facebook groups, including Rehome Me Georgia (Dogs and Cats). Please note that Atlanta Humane does not run or oversee these groups.

We understand that this is a difficult time and will do what we can to support you and your pet in a timely manner.

Application Review

After submitting your admissions application, a member of our Admissions Team will review your application and reach out with any questions they might have.

If Your Application is Accepted

Admission of any pet into the Atlanta Humane Society is at the sole discretion of the Atlanta Humane Society management team and is based on the animal’s health and behavior. After you submit an application, a member of our Admissions Team will talk with you about your pet and determine if he or she might be a good fit for shelter rehoming. If we feel the animal might adapt to the shelter well, we will schedule your pet for an in-house animal assessment. If we admit your animal, we will require a non-refundable assessment and admissions fee at the time of your appointment.

We will do our best to admit your animal into our care, but we cannot guarantee the admission of any animal.

If we are able to accept your animal, we will schedule an admissions appointment for you. Please note that the timing of your appointment will vary depending on the type of animal you are looking to surrender and other upcoming intakes we might already have scheduled. If we cannot admit your animal or cannot admit your animal in a timeframe that works for you, we can provide you with contacts of other groups who might be able to assist you.

What will my appointment be like?

On your appointment day, we ask that you bring:

• Your valid driver’s license or state ID.
• Any veterinary paperwork and any medications the animal is currently taking
• You are also welcome to bring a familiar toy or something with a familiar scent on it to help the animal adjust once in our facility.

When you arrive, come to our admissions door at your appointment time. Someone from our Admissions Team will be in the lobby to ask you any additional questions and to assess your pet. The animal assessment generally takes 20-40 minutes.

If the animal passes their assessment, we will keep your animal at our admissions department and set them up with cozy blankets, toys, food, and water. However, once the animal is admitted into our care, we will not be able to update you on their status.

If they do not pass the assessment, your animal will be returned to you.