Surrender An Animal

You can surrender your dog, cat, or other pet at Calgary Humane Society. Before we can take them in, you will need to complete the Surrender Intake Form and make an appointment; we cannot accept unscheduled drop-offs of pets at the shelter.

If you need to surrender an animal, please complete the Surrender Intake Form. The Animal Admissions team will call or email you to schedule an appointment or put you on a waitlist if our shelter is at capacity.

If you do not have access to email or are uncomfortable with the technology, call us at (403) 723-6025. Please note that email is the preferred and quickest way to contact the team. You can contact found@calgaryhumane.ca any day of the week.

If your animal needs immediate medical attention and you cannot afford veterinary care, get in touch with our Animal Admissions team immediately by calling (403) 723-6025.

We have several animals moving through the shelter on any given day. We strive to ensure that each animal who comes through our doors gets the best care possible, including basic needs, health care, or behaviour support. If we are at capacity, we cannot take in more animals until we can free up space to provide your pet with the highest quality of care.

By managing our intakes, we can ensure we have the appropriate staffing and space to care for each animal that comes through our doors. This helps ensure less crowding, less disease, and a greater chance our animals will move to the adoption floor quickly. While a shelter is a good place to start for some animals, it is not a long-term solution, and we want to see them get into a forever home as quickly as possible.

If you do come without scheduling an appointment, you will be asked to leave and schedule an appointment. If we can accommodate your animal that day, it could be a long wait so we do encourage you to call first.

If you have an urgent situation, please contact our Animal Admissions team at (403) 723-6025. We will do our best to accommodate emergencies.

While we are an open admissions shelter, we must plan accordingly to ensure each animal receives the care, attention, and space they need. We can help more animals when we plan our intakes and ensure proper animal flow through the shelter. Scheduling non-urgent intakes means we can help more animals without sacrificing the quality of care. We appreciate your help and cooperation in caring for all animals in need.

We know that surrendering a pet is a heartbreaking decision that is not chosen lightly. Our caring animal admissions staff will support you and your pet throughout the surrender by explaining the process, collecting vital information for future adopters, and respecting your right to confidentiality. We will ask for information about you and your pet during the surrender process, including identification.

This information is never passed on to future adopters or used for any purpose other than the legal requirements related to animal surrender. When surrendering smaller animals, please bring them in with a hand-held kennel to ensure safe transportation and handling for our staff.

We ensure that your pet is provided with the highest quality of care throughout their stay here. Our in-house veterinary clinic provides health exams and medical treatment to every animal that arrives at Calgary Humane Society.

While in our shelter, all animals are cared for by our compassionate animal care team and receive environmental enrichment and support from our behaviour team to address any behaviour concerns they may exhibit. When a pet is ready for adoption, potential adoptees will be carefully screened to ensure the best possible match with the new family.