04/26/2025
I have a very important announcement to share. 📣
The shelter where I live—where I’ve been waiting for 336 days—is making some big changes. Starting soon, stray animals without identification (like a microchip or a collar with a current phone number) might not have a guaranteed spot here if the shelter is full.
I got lucky. I arrived before these changes, which meant I had time—time to heal, time to trust, and time to hope for my forever family (still waiting, by the way). But not every lost pet will get that same chance moving forward. 💔
🐾 Make sure your pets are microchipped.
🐾 Keep collars and tags updated with your current phone number.
🐾 Have a backup plan if your pet ever gets loose.
This could truly mean the difference between getting home safely and having nowhere to go.
These are just the current changes—but more updates might be coming soon. So now, more than ever, it’s important to keep your pets safe, identified, and close to home.
ANNOUNCEMENT: IMPORTANT CHANGES TO SHELTER ADMISSIONS & HOURS
It breaks our hearts to share this update, but effective immediately, Hancock County Animal Shelter is no longer an open-door admission shelter.
Due to new capacity limits, updated regulations, and staffing constraints, we must now operate under the following guidelines:
🐾 We can no longer accept birds, reptiles, bunnies, pocket pets, or livestock of any kind.
🐾 Our dog housing capacity is limited to 28 dogs.
Once full, any additional dog surrenders will be placed on a waitlist until a space becomes available.
🐾 Our cat housing capacity is limited to 25 adult cats and 2 litters of kittens.
Once at capacity, any additional cats or kittens will also be waitlisted.
🐾 We can no longer accept unsocialized or feral cats.
Our feral cat/TNR (trap-neuter-return) program has been discontinued.
We cannot trap or intake cats who are not friendly or adoptable.
🐾 New intake requirements for all surrenders:
A copy of your most recent utility bill and a current, valid driver’s license or photo ID — both showing a HANCOCK COUNTY address — are now mandatory.
Without these items, we will not be able to accept your surrender.
Unfortunately, this also means if you have previously adopted from us and are no longer able to keep your pet you will need to go to your local shelter. We will not be able to take returns if you are not a county resident. We will write you a release to the rescue or shelter of your choice.
🐾 Updated Public Hours:
We are now open to the public only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 12 PM to 4 PM.
Adoptions, meet-and-greets, surrenders, and other visits are during these times.
❗️Important Reminder:
Shelter staff have no control over these changes.
We are heartbroken too.
Please be kind to our employees — they are doing their best under these new restrictions.
If you have concerns about these changes, please direct them to the Hancock County Commission Office at 304-564-3311.
