Animal Admissions

As your community animal resource, we encourage and support you, should you need to find a new home for your pet.

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Rehoming Services

We can help you make your home a better fit for your pet or we can work with you to find the best way to rehome your pet.

Needing to rehome a pet is a very difficult decision for families, and we show compassion and understanding to those families who must make that choice. We support you and offer resources and services to help your pets find to the next chapter in their lives.

If you are caring for a stray pet (a pet that is not your own), please contact your local animal control officer first for next steps, rather than utilizing our admissions application. Your local animal control officer can be reached at your town’s non-emergency police department number by looking up the number here.

Rehoming Resources

Working together, we will try to help you to find a solution to rehome your pet(s) before considering admission to AWS. Pets that can be find new homes without having to come to AWS ensures that our valuable resources and kennel spaces at the shelter are reserved for at-risk and in-need animals with no owner.

We offer several programs and services to support you and your pet and maintain that lifelong bond. If you dog’s behavior is why you’re considering rehoming, we offer dog obedience training, both public classes and private consultations. We also may be able to provide suggestions and/or resources to alleviate pet behavior issues over the phone. If you are facing unaffordable veterinary bills, we provide affordable veterinary care at our Community Veterinary Clinic.

There are many community resources to help you find a suitable home for your pet. Try social media where you’ll find dedicated rehoming pages and groups. There are also online services available in some parts of the country to help people rehome their pets. We encourage you to explore all avenues in your community before submitting an animal admissions request to AWS.

We can help your mother dog/cat and her new litter through our Mother Spay Program. Once the litter is 8-10 weeks old, we will spay the mother at no cost to you (and she goes home with you!). We will find homes for all the little ones through our animal admissions and adoption processes. 

Animal Admissions Application

If other re-homing options aren’t suitable for your situation, we are here to help. To get started, please click on the application for your pet’s species.

Please note that all animal admissions are done by appointment only. Making an appointment allows us to plan for the best care and support for you and your pet and to maximize available resources.

While in our care, all animals receive safe and comfortable housing, nutritious meals, any necessary veterinary care, preventatives and vaccinations and plenty of enrichment and exercise with our professional staff and dedicated volunteers.

There is no fee to admit your pet to AWS. Donations are always accepted, and we will gladly take the pet’s favorite toys, beds, etc. and make sure they go home with the new family!

All admissions decisions are at the discretion of AWS staff and are based on available space and resources.

Questions?

For more information on our rehoming resources, including our pet admissions process, please contact Our Animal Care Team via email or telephone at (207) 985-3244.

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As @fema's Disaster Preparedness Month comes to a close, we remind everyone to prepare not only themselves, but their pets as well. As you put together your disaster preparedness kit, remember that no matter the type of emergency, it’s always important to have updated and accurate contact information for:

☎️ Your local first responders (911 and non-emergency contact information)
☎️ Your local animal shelters (like AWS if you live in York County)
☎️ Animal control officers (usually reached through the police or sheriff non-emergency number)

Bookmarking their websites and following them on social media is a great way to keep in touch during an emergency. These points of contact could help in a multitude of ways by providing information, safety, or resources for you and your pet during a disaster. Your County Animal Response Team (CART), part of your county’s emergency management agency may also offer resources. In times of great emergency, AWS partners with local emergency organizations to provide a safe haven for pets when their people must evacuate and enter a local emergency shelter.

For more information on disaster preparedness for your pet, visit our website: https://animalwelfaresociety.org/helpful-resources/disaster-preparedness/