Adoption Process

Embark on your adoption journey today and give the animal of your dreams the love and happiness they deserve

Adoption Process

As leaders in animal welfare for over 150 years, RSPCA NSW embraces love for all creatures, great or small. Whether they’re injured, abandoned, vulnerable, or surrendered into our care, we believe that every animal has the capacity to bring light to people’s lives.

Many Australians search, far and wide, for their perfect ‘designer pets,’ not realising you don’t have to shop around to find an amazing forever friend. That’s why RSPCA NSW is committed to celebrating our Rescuoodles, the newest breed of must-have companions sweeping hearts across the state!

We can help you find your very own Rescuoodle at our shelters and adoption centres. You can also adopt our wonderful animals from over 30 Petbarn stores.

When visiting our shelter to adopt, a member of our team will ask you to complete a quick questionnaire to help us understand the kind of animal that matches your preferences, lifestyle, and home. Once we understand your needs and hopes for an animal companion, our friendly animal care staff will guide you through the entire adoption process.

When you’re ready to adopt, don’t forget that you’ll be required to present a photographic identity document, complete with your name and current address. If you already have a dog, you may need bring them in for a meet and greet to ensure they’ll get along with the newest member of the family.

Animal Types Available for Adoption or Foster Care

Pet of the Day:
Meet Northern, our featured Rescuoodle!

Northern

Each day, we shine a spotlight on an animal in need, like Northern, to help them find a loving home or foster care.

Northern is currently located at our Hunter Shelter and can’t wait to meet you.

View Northern's profile
Northern

Meet our pet of the day:
Alfie

Every day we highlight a Rescuoodle. Today we would like you to meet {animal_name} who is a {breed} and {age} located at {shelter_location}.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I adopt an animal from RSPCA NSW?

RSPCA NSW rehomes a range of rare Rescuoodles, including cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, guinea pigs,
and more! We can help find your perfect friend at one of our shelters and adoption centres.

We also work with partners like Petbarn to find homes for all our animals. As a result of our ongoing partnership with certain Petbarn stores, you can adopt our animals from more than 30 Petbarn Adoption Centres.

When you’re ready to adopt, don’t forget that you’ll be required to present a photographic identity document, complete with your name and current address. If you already have a dog, you may need bring them in for a meet and greet to ensure they’ll get along with the newest member of the family.

Please note that although we update our online lists of available animals every day, there is always a chance that an animal you are interested in will have found another loving home before your arrival at our facilities.

When deciding whether to adopt an animal companion of your own, remember to first consider the
potential cost of caring for a pet. While there are no universal requirements when adopting a forever friend, different animals will require suitable homes to meet their behavioural or breed-dependent needs. As such, it’s important to ensure your lifestyle and living situation can  accommodate for an animal companion. 

When you’ve finally decided to adopt, don’t forget to arrive at our facilities with a photographic identity document, complete with your name and current address. If you already have a dog, you may need bring them in for a meet and greet to ensure they’ll get along with the newest member of the family.

After every canine or feline adoption, we promptly reach out to new pet parents to offer support via phone or email, offering advice, referrals to our teams, or access to additional helpful resources. Whether we continue to follow up is entirely up to you, and whether you’d like us to keep checking in to provide advice to help you and your new Rescuoodle.

Though we strive to ensure that new adopters feel supported when adjusting to life with their animal companions, our support channels are always open to any animal lovers in need of assistance. From general over-the-phone advice to referrals to our behaviour or veterinary teams, we have plenty of options available to those seeking post-adoption support.

If you’d like some help with your animal companion and need to reach out to our teams, then feel free to contact us at (02) 9770 7555.

Every RSPCA NSW animal that requires desexing, microchipping, parasite treatment, and vaccinations undergoes all these procedures prior to adoption. Each animal also goes through a series of comprehensive veterinary checks along with any necessary training, quarantine, and rehabilitation.

As a charity, we use our adoption fees to help us recover a portion of these costs, so we can spend more of our resources on supporting people and pets in need.

RSPCA NSW understands that there may be some instances where a newly adopted pet will become unwell after being adopted and settling into a new home. Although we do everything in our power to avoid the presence of infectious diseases at our shelters and adoption centres, some pets can leave us in a healthy condition before going on to develop an illness.  

RSPCA NSW provides adoption warranty for our adopted pets to cover such circumstances. The warranty applies to RSPCA NSW animals adopted through RSPCA NSW shelters, adoption centres, behaviour and rehabilitation centres, and affiliated Petbarn stores. It is very specific in that it exclusively provides assistance for infectious medical conditions that are likely to have arisen because of your pet being in an animal care facility prior to adoption. 

If you believe you are eligible for an adoption warranty claim, click here to learn more about how we can assist you further. 

Rescuoodle Stories