Surrendering Your Companion Animal

Giving up a family pet is never an easy decision. However, in some circumstances, it is ultimately the best choice for you and your animal.

For no-judgement surrender advice, give our team a call on 03 6709 8100.

Why are you considering surrendering your pet?

There are many reasons why people chose to surrender to us. Each circumstance is unique and there are many factors that you need to consider before making the decision to surrender.

Ask yourself these questions:

Have you had a discussion with all other people who will be impacted by this decision?
 Is there a family member or friend who could provide a suitable home for your animal?

Sometimes having a pet doesn’t work out the way you planned. For example, some animals have severe behaviour issues that you may not be able to manage with your current lifestyle.

We encourage you to consider how keeping your pet may impact your, and your pet’s, quality of life now and into the future.

Remember having a pet is a lifelong commitment; sometimes surrendering an animal to a shelter is the best welfare outcome for both you and them.

Chat with the experts

You will need to book an appointment to surrender your pet to RSPCA Tasmania. This ensures that you have enough time to consider your decision and don’t feel pressure to make your choice on the spot.

If you are considering surrendering your pet, please fill in the Animal Surrender Expression of Interest Application on this page and wait to be contacted. If it is an emergency, we will attempt to accommodate you, but we are often full and might need to schedule a time in the following days to organise the surrender.

Once your application has been processed and we have organised a time to surrender your animal we will ask you to come to the centre and a staff member will sit with you and together create a profile for your pet. An animal care centre can be a stressful environment for an animal to come to and the behaviour of your pet may change. This profile allows us to get an idea of your pet’s behaviour in a home environment.

We ask for a surrender fee to help with the feeding, boarding, and any medical treatment that your pet may need. Please bring any belongings that you wish to send off with your pet and they will be passed on to the new owners.

If you are encountering behavioural or medical issues with your pet, we recommend making an appointment with your chosen vet or behaviourist to discuss options prior to submitting an Animal Surrender Expression of Interest Application.

If you have exhausted all other rehoming options, fill in an application for each animal you wish to surrender.

We will do all we can to rehome your animals; rest assured we prioritise their care. For stats on our current rehoming rates, please check our annual reports.

* Please note that we have difficulty rehoming roosters and generally cannot accept them.