Giving up your own pet:
The Santa Fe Animal Shelter wants to save as many lives as possible. We believe the best place for a companion animal is in their home but understand that there are times when circumstances change and a guardian must relinquish a pet. Before bringing your companion to the shelter, you will need to make an appointment by calling 505.983.4309 ext. 1606. We want to help keep families together and if you need support to keep your pet the CASA program might be able to help, see what resources are available to you today!
We do everything possible within our means to accommodate the acceptance of pets based on both parties’ needs, however, our resources determine when and how many animals we can accept. If you need to surrender your pet, please call us to discuss the relinquishing process with an Admissions Counselor at 505.983.4309 ext. 1606.
Also, please consider the following: A health examination, behavior assessment, and/or history review will determine if your pet is suited for our adoption program. To offset the cost of this evaluation, we ask that you consider a suggested donation of $50 when you relinquish your pet. It is not required but is appreciated if you are able.
Under our managed-admissions program, guardian-relinquished animals are accepted by appointment only. For questions, call our Admissions staff at 505.983.4309 ext. 1606.
Regarding surrendered animals and their journey through the shelter:
As a private, nonprofit animal shelter, we are entrusted to use our very limited resources to best serve the animals and people of our community. For this reason, once an animal is surrendered to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter, we are unable to respond to inquiries or proactively communicate about how the animal is adjusting or whether it has been adopted or reunited with its owner. SFAS holds this policy because we believe that we best serve animals and people by empowering our customer service teams to respond, uninterrupted, to the high volume of requests for alternatives to shelter intake and by allowing our animal care and veterinary teams to attend, uninterrupted, to the care of animals who have no alternatives.
To support us in our life-saving work, please consider donating, adopting, fostering, or volunteering.
If you are curious about whether a specific animal has been made available for adoption, we ask that you please visit our website at sfhumanesociety.org/adoptions. Once an animal has been adopted, reclaimed or is no longer available, they will automatically be removed from the website. Thank you for your continued support!
Rehoming & matchmaking:
Want to try and rehome your pet yourself? Consider this online matchmaking service.
If you’ve found an animal in Santa Fe City or County:
Call City Animal Services at 505.955.2700 or County Animal Control at 505.428.3720. If you need to bring an animal in, please bring a valid ID and information about where the animal was found. Please note that Santa Fe City and County Animal Services have a contract with the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and these taxpayer-supported services operate out of the Admissions building at the shelter.
What if I’m having issues with my adopted pet?
If there are challenges welcoming this animal into your home, please contact Animal Resource Center at 505.983.4309 ext. 1606 to discuss possible solutions.