Surrendering a dog

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Dogs are family. But we understand that sometimes extreme circumstances force humans to give up their pets.

Ultimately, our capacity to assist with rehoming is extremely limited. Since all of our dogs are housed in foster homes, we must evaluate detailed information about the dog to assess whether we have the resources to assist. 

1. Read this page in detail to decide whether surrendering your dog to Live Love is right for you.
2. Gather the required information (photos, medical records, behavior history, and reason for surrendering).
3. Submit an owner surrender application. Please note that we cannot evaluate incomplete applications. Also, we ask for complete honesty in completing your application. There is nothing that disqualifies a dog from receiving our help, but we can only help effectively if we know what type of home your dog needs.
4. We will respond to complete applications within 24 hours. If we think we may be able to assist, we will schedule a behavior and medical assessment at our office in Long Beach.
5. After the assessment, if both parties agree to move forward, we will identify a foster home for the dog. This process typically takes about two weeks.
6. Once a foster home is identified, you pay the surrender fee and bring the dog to our office at the scheduled time.
7. We take it from there. The dog remains in foster care until they are adopted. All foster and adoptive homes are screened through interviews and home checks.

We have compassion for how difficult it can be to surrender your pet. However, we want to be completely transparent about what to expect. 

We get to know you and your dog's needs before selecting a foster home. Once you surrender the dog into our care, we cannot accept your input on our choice of foster/adoptive family, nor can we put you into contact with the dog's caregivers. 

While the dog is in foster care, your intake coordinator can give you updates 1-2 times per month and let you know once the dog has been adopted. Please understand that we cannot provided continued updates about adopted dogs. 

These boundaries protect everyone's privacy. They also protect everyone's time, which helps us run an efficient rescue operation that serves as many dogs as possible. 

We receive no government funding. Surrender fees cover only a portion of the costs of care for a foster dog. 

Surrender fees are as follows:

• $100 for a dog that is spayed/neutered and up to date on vaccines
• $250 for a dog that needs spay/neuter and vaccines

If you have reviewed all of this information and have further questions, you may contact us.