Adoption Process

How to Adopt:

1. View Animals

   Citizens may walk in to the adoption center during open hours to view animals available for adoption. The Adoption Center is open 1 – 4:30 PM 6 days a week, closed on Wednesdays.

   You may also view our currently available pets online by clicking the Available Pets link (also on the CCAS homepage). If you see an animal you are interested in, please take note of the animal's NAME and Pet ID for completing an Adoption Application. Please make sure to spell the animal's name correctly on your application.

   Not all animals on our adoption floors are included in the online listings, as animals tend to move ahead of their online status. The online listings do change automatically as animals are adopted.

2. Meet The Animal

   If you see an animal you would like to meet, either online or in person, staff will assist you as soon as possible.

   Citizens may walk through the adoption areas during open hours to choose animals they would like to meet, and staff will assist them upon order of arrival, around appointments. You may choose to set a future appointment if the wait is long.

   It is best to set an appointment before coming to the Adoption Center to make sure there will be staff available to assist you. Please call 912-652-6575 to set an onsite appointment to meet the animal of your choice. When you arrive at the Adoption Center please check in at the front desk with shelter staff. Let them know you have an appointment and you will be served as close to your appointment time as possible.

   If you submitted an application online please mention this to Adoption Center staff.

   Operation New Hope dogs
   If you wish to meet a dog that is at the Operation New Hope facility, please contact Program Manager Jennifer Messer to schedule a meet and greet at (912) 644-9430, or jrmesser@chathamcounty.org.
   
   Visitation of Operation New Hope dogs are by appointment only and handled by Operation New Hope staff.

3. Fill Out an Application

   If you meet an animal onsite you would like to adopt, there are physical applications available at the Adoption Center.

   If you see an animal from the online listings you would like to adopt, fill out the Adoption Application below for the animal you chose. Remember to include the animal's name and Pet ID.

   Click here for the Online Adoption Application form
   
   Click here to download and print the Adoption Application form

   You may also bring the printable version of the application with you to an onsite visit, or you can scan the completed application, attach it to an email and send it to adoptCCAS@chathamcounty.org. Please put the animal's correctly-spelled name and Pet ID in the subject line of the email, or we may not be able to process the application. Clear cell phone pictures of the application pages are acceptable.

   Please call to set an appointment to meet the animal you applied on by calling 912-652-6575, or walk in during open hours.

   Staff will request required supporting documentation to complete the application process, and households with dogs and children may require additional visits.

4. Pay for and adopt your new pet!

   Please be prepared to meet and adopt your animal in the same visit. If you cannot take the animal home right away, all adoptions must be completed within 24 hours of approval or the animal will become available for others to adopt. Bring along a collar and/or harness, and leash for your potential dog, and an appropriately sized carrier for a cat.

   Adoption fees are $70 for dogs and $10 for cats. A $5 tag/license fee will be applied to Chatham County residents.

   Animals are spayed or neutered prior to adoption and their surgeries are performed at Pet Fix. You will be given aftercare instructions if the surgery was performed within 10 days of adoption.

   Full list of items included in adoption below. Some items are age-dependent:

   Dogs	Cats
   Spay or neuter, DHPP, Bordatella, and rabies vaccines, heartworm test, deworming, microchip Information for free heartworm treatment, if applicable	Spay or neuter, FVRCP and rabies vaccines, FeLV/FIV test, deworming, microchip

   Questions regarding the adoption process can be sent to adoptCCAS@chathamcounty.org