Rehoming Your Pet

Richmond Animal League is a no-kill facility that can house up to 24 adult dogs and 3 litters of puppies at a time.  We also house an average of 60 to 100 cats/kittens at a time.

We are the oldest non-euthanizing shelter in Metro Richmond.  Most of the pets in our care are transferred from municipal shelters around Central Virgina.  We also take in stray pets as space allows.  However, we typically do not take in owner surrender pets because of the volume of requests and our limited shelter space.  

In an effort to assist as many people as possible who do need to re-home their pets, we can offer the following options. You may take advantage of either or both options.

Your pet must be current on its rabies vaccine and already spayed or neutered in order to be listed
as a courtesy posting or attend any adoption event. If you need assistance in getting your pet spayed or neutered, please let us know.

Adoptions resulting from a courtesy posting or courtesy attendance at an off-site adoption event are not considered RAL adoptions.

Option 1:  Website Courtesy Posting

a) Email 2-3 pictures of your pet(s) to pam@ral.org.  Please provide a picture of your pet only and be sure it shows his/her face clearly. Please include the photo (preferably in .jpg format) as an attachment to an email, not on a flier or embedded in the body of your email.

b) Write a bio on your pet.  Include fun tidbits about your pet but be honest about the reason you are trying to re-home your pet.  For example, if your cat is urinating inappropriately in your home and has been cleared of infection or urinary crystals by your vet, share that information.  Behavior that you are not willing to tolerate will more than likely not be tolerated by someone else.  However, someone who is looking for an indoor/outdoor cat may be interested in your pet.

c) Include information such as

• breed (mix),
• age 
• is the pet is up to date on other items such as distemper vaccines, etc.?
• name
• gender
• description of color or markings
• weight/size

d) Provide your name (or the person who would be responsible for providing information to anyone interested in adopting your pet) and a phone number or email address for interested adopters to contact you.

Please let us know if your pet is adopted, otherwise all postings will remain on our webpage for 60 days. If you need your posting listed longer than 60 days, please email pam@ral.org and we will gladly extend the posting.

Option 2:  Attend our weekly Sunday adoption stands

a) You or someone who can make decisions on who can adopt your pet must stay with the pet at all times.  If your pet is not adopted, the pet returns to your home.
b) We do not promote free pets at our adoption stands. Please be prepared to ask for an adoption fee (at an amount of your choosing). This fee is yours to keep or donate.
c) Be sure to bring your pet either in a carrier or leashed. We will have another crate your pet can be transferred into for the adoption event.

d) Bring your pet's paperwork showing he/she is up to date on rabies vaccine and is already sterilized 

If you would like to participate in PetSMART Sunday Adoption events, you must notify Pam at pam@ral.org, by noon on the Friday prior to the Sunday you wish to attend. 

If you are in need of immediate rehoming resources, there is contact information for other area shelters and rescue groups available here and here.