The Greater Birmingham Humane Society would love to see every pet in our community in a safe and loving home. Sometimes those safe and loving homes experience hardships and challenges that make it difficult to keep their pets at home. GBHS is here to support pet owners through these hardships and challenges so that pets can stay at home, where they belong, instead of being surrendered to the shelter.
Pet Owner Support Programs
The GBHS Outreach Team provides support programs for pet owners facing barriers to keeping their pets. If you are at risk of having to surrender your pet and are interested in one of the following surrender prevention services, fill out our Pet Assistance Request form, and someone from our Outreach Team will reach out to you to discuss options for you and your pet. Please only fill out one form. It will allow you to enter up to five pets - if you have more than five, we will get that information from you when we reach out.
Pet Food & Supplies
Spay/Neuter Surgery
Vaccinations and Preventative Care
Pet Identification & Microchipping
Behavioral/Training Assistance
Medical Grooming (for severely matted pets, overgrown nails)
Short Term Emergency Boarding for:
Victims of Abuse
Seniors and Veterans entering short-term hospital care
Individuals entering short-term rehabilitation programs
Individuals experiencing Unsheltered & Sheltered Homelessness
Humane Sheltering Options (dog houses, fencing issues, kennels, crates, etc.)
Supported Self-Rehoming
The goal of Supported Self-Rehoming is to provide pet owners with resources, services, connections, and assistance to rehome their own pet, without that pet having to enter the shelter. If you are interested in Supported Self-Rehoming, please fill out the Pet Assistance Request form and someone from our Outreach Team will reach out to you to discuss options. You can also check out the links below for websites where you can post your pet for rehoming:
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Surrendering a Pet to the Shelter
The Greater Birmingham Humane Society is a managed intake facility. This means that appointments must be made to surrender a pet, and that appointments are based on the space available in the shelter. No same-day appointments will be made. This process ensures that there is a space available for incoming surrendered pets. There are fees associated with surrendering a pet to the shelter.
Please follow this process to request an appointment to surrender your pet:
Fill out our Pet Surrender Request Form
This is a request form. There is no guarantee that we will be able to intake your pet, and this form is the only way for your pet to be considered for a surrender appointment.
Wait for your request form to be reviewed. Please be patient with us, we receive many requests each day.
The GBHS Intake Department will reach out to you to discuss your pet and circumstance for surrendering, programs that may help you keep your pet, rehoming resources, and if we are able to make an appointment with you.
If you have made an appointment with the Intake Department, you’ll come in for your appointment at the scheduled date and time, at the back of the building at 300 Snow Drive.
The Pet Surrender appointment requires your identification and signature. The pet owner must be present at the time of surrender, unless otherwise previously approved by the Intake Department.
Pet Surrender Fees will be due at the time of the appointment and can be paid for by cash or credit card.
Please Note: Due to the high volume of animals in our care, our staff do not provide updates to pet owners after they are surrendered. If you surrender or return a pet to our shelter, there is a waiting period of 90 days to adopt another pet.
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If you would like to discuss your options with our Outreach Team or Intake Department before filling out a request form, you are welcome to do so! Please note, you must fill out one of the request forms above to be considered for services or surrender appointments.
Outreach Team: krawlings@gbhs.org or 205-942-1211, extension 238
Intake Department: intake@gbhs.org or 205-942-1211, extension 234
If you don’t see a service in this list that you might need, and you’re interested in keeping your pet at home, fill out the Pet Assistance Request form, and someone from our Outreach Team will reach out to you and see how we can help.