What should I do with a stray animal?

We ask that you try to temporarily care for or pick up any stray or abandoned animals until you can find a responsible home for them or until you can contact ARK for suggestions. When someone calls us, we typically ask for details so that we can try to determine if the pet is a stray or just lost from its owner. We need species, breed, gender, age, color, temperament, etc. to compare with reports of lost animals and so that we can determine whether a potential new owner has inquired about adopting a similar animal. We may ask you to take pictures, either with a camera-phone or a camera, if you have one. We then evaluate with you what your means are to provide foster care for it while we attempt to find it a home. If you are unable to care for it, we check whether there is an ARK foster home with room to take it. If you are unable to care for it temporarily and we do not have foster space available, we can discuss having it euthanized humanely, so that it does not have to be placed back out in the community with no one to care for it.

Please consider having the animal fixed and then keep it, find it a new home, or foster it while we assist you in finding it a home. Having it fixed before passing it on to a new home will ensure that it will not add its offspring to our already overpopulated county. This is the only way to permanently reduce the suffering of stray and unwanted animals.

We strive to foster and save as many homeless animals as possible.  ARK does not have an animal shelter. At any given time, our volunteers typically have 80-100 animals in foster care in private homes. Most foster animals have been spayed or neutered, vaccinated and wormed, and all are awaiting new permanent homes. Several of our volunteers spend the better part of their days caring for animals in foster care. We ask that you please be understanding if we cannot immediately take in more pets, as our foster homes can only take so many.