How surrendering a pet works 

Advice and Support

We’re here to support dogs, cats, and pet owners, with open doors and open minds. This that means we don’t judge anyone who comes looking for our help.

If you are having a personal crisis the following services may be able to help: 

• Pet Fostering Service Scotland (PFSS) – offer pet fostering for people dealing with illness, homelessness, or domestic abuse. 

• Access Lifeline | Domestic violence & pets | Cats Protection – offer cat fostering for survivors of domestic abuse. 

• Dog’s Trust Freedom  – project offers dog fostering for people escaping from domestic abuse. 

• Shelter  – helps people in housing need by providing advice and practical assistance. 

• GOV.UK  – provides information on housing and other benefits. 

• Samaritans  – offer free, 24-hour emotional support to anyone in need. 

• Free, impartial and confidential advice for everyone | Citizens Advice Scotland 

If you are struggling financially and can’t afford to feed your pet, you may want to consider using our pet food bank. Pet Food Bank – Edinburgh Dog & Cat Home 

If your pet’s behaviour has changed recently, this may be due to the animal being in pain or having an unseen illness. We always advise getting your pet checked by a vet if there have been any changes in their behaviour. 

Toileting in the house is not always due to a lack of training. It can be due to the animal struggling to cope with changes in the home, with cats being particularly prone to stress which can cause cases of cystitis. Messes can also be due an infection. We advise checking with a vet that messes around the house are not due to a medical reason, or a pet requiring some help overcoming stress. 

If you are struggling to afford vet fees, the  PDSA  is the UK’s leading vet charity, providing free and low-cost treatment to pets in need. 

For Dog Owners

If you would like to keep your dog but are finding it’s behaviour difficult to manage, you may want to consider using a dog trainer who can help you work through these issues.  

For information on our individual training sessions Dog Training – Edinburgh Dog & Cat Home 

We also work closely with and would recommend Dog Trainer | East Coast Dog Training | East Lothian 

If searching for a local dog trainer, we recommend looking for someone who states that they use positive training methods, as they will help you train your dog without the use of punishment which has been proven to have a more effective result and less stress for your dog.  

When there are no other options 

There are many reasons why people can’t keep their pets, and we understand that giving up a dog or cat is never an easy choice. We know that sometimes the most compassionate and caring thing you can do is to surrender the pet you love to us.  

If you have made the difficult decision to give up your pet, please fill in our surrender application form below and we will get back in contact with you as soon as possible. 

Unfortunately, due to limited capacity and other factors, we are unable to take in every pet who may need our help. We will endeavour to provide owners with other options if we are unable to help.