Don't Bring Your Pet to a Shelter - Rehome with New County Website "Home to Home"

Editor’s note: As Covid (hopefully) ameliorates, people are not spending as much time at home with their pets. Some have chosen to surrender those pets to shelters. Home To Home is a national program that is used among animal shelters and rescues across the United States. They wrote this press release, in conjunction with the LA County Dept of Animal Care and Control. The animals depicted on this page, are not necessarily available for adoption.

One of the toughest decisions a pet owner can face is no longer being able to keep their beloved pet. Pet owners have limited options when rehoming their pet - find a new home on their own, without any safeguards or guidance, or bring their pet to an animal care center, which can cause stress to the pet and family. As part of our commitment of being a resource for pet owners in the Los Angeles County area, the Department of Animal Care and Control (DACC) has partnered with Home to Home to bring a new interactive tool to help families that need to rehome their pets. This online resource gives pet owners who can no longer keep their pets the opportunity to find them new, loving homes without bringing them to an animal care center.

Pet owners that need to re-home their pet will fill out a brief on-line form, upload a picture, and submit it to the Home to Home website. People interested in adopting can use the search feature on the website to connect with pets in need of a home. Home To Home is free to use and has built in adoption guidelines to promote good communications and practices for rehoming animals.

"Surrendering pets to an animal care center can be a distressing experience for pet parents and stressful for their animals," said Marcia Mayeda, Director. "By using Home to Home, pet parents can work directly with potential new adopters, communicate more thoroughly about their pet's needs, and find a great new home for their pet."

Home To Home pet postings will be promoted on a dedicated DACC website and through Facebook to get the word out to the community.

Not only will this tool make transitions into new homes easier for pets, but it will also leave more animal care center resources available to animals with no other options, such as strays and those suffering from neglect or abuse. While re-homing pets through Home to Home will alleviate the need for some pets to be surrendered to the animal care center, it's not a one-size-fits- all solution. As always, animals can be surrendered directly to the animal care center. And, in some cases, DACC may be able to provide resources such as veterinary care, supplies or temporary boarding to keep the pet in the home instead of re-homing. Says Director Mayeda, "Ultimately, we want to help pet owners make the best decision for their pet and their family, by providing resources, information and a helping hand."

Home To Home is a national program that is used among animal shelters and rescues across the United States. To learn more about this program, please visit our website https://animalcare.lacounty.gov/to-rehome-your-pet/.