Adoption Process

How to Adopt:

1. View Animals Online

   View our currently available cats and dogs online by clicking the Available Cats or Available Dogs links from the CCAS homepage. These lists of animals are updated automatically as animals are moved throughout our building. If you see an animal you are interested in, please take note of the animal's NAME and Pet ID for completing the Adoption Application. Please make sure to spell the animal's name correctly on your application.
   
   

2. Fill Out an Application

   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
   
   If you are forced to use the printable adoption application, scan the completed application, attach it to an email and send it to adoptCCAS@chathamcounty.org. You MUST put the animal's correctly-spelled name and Pet ID in the subject line of the email, or we will not be able to process the application. Clear cell phone pictures of the application pages are acceptable.
   
   Adoption Center staff will receive and process applications in chronological order. Please allow 24-48 hours for staff to get back to you regarding your application.
   
   

3. Speak with Adoption Center Staff

   Please call 912-652-6575 to set an onsite appointment to meet the animal of your choice.

   If you wish to submit an application onsite after meeting an animal you may do so, but you still need to call to set an appointment. If you submitted an application online please mention this to Adoption Center staff when you call to set your appointment. They can check to make sure your application came through. Adoption Center staff will request any required supporting documentation to complete the application process, then they will set the first available appointment for you to come to the Adoption Center to meet the animal you chose. Households with dogs and children may require additional visits.

   If other people have already applied for the animal you are interested in, Adoption Center staff will let you know, and you can opt to either wait to see if the animal becomes available again, or you may repeat the application process for a different animal.

4. Meet the Animal

   Patrons are not currently permitted to visit the Adoption Center without an appointment set by Adoptions staff. Please monitor the Animal Services website for updates regarding Adoption Center status.
   
   When you arrive at the Adoption Center for your pre-set appointment, you will call the main number to inform us you have arrived. Adoption Center staff will come out to greet you, bring you into the building or to the appropriate adoption visit location, and show the animal to you. If you like the animal and wish to adopt, expect to bring the animal home from this visit.
   
   Households with dogs or children may require additional visits.
   
   

   Operation New Hope dogs

   Dogs participating in the Operation New Hope program are housed offsite. Adoption Center staff will contact applicants in the same manner outlined above, then applicant contact information will be relayed to the Operation New Hope Manager. The Manager will then set an appointment for applicants to visit their selected dog at the New Hope facility.
   
   Please note: adoption visits can only be performed on weekdays for Operation New Hope animals.
   
   

5. 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. 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