Want to Relenquish Your Beagle?

Oklahoma Beagle Rescue has a policy regarding owner surrenders, or people who want to "get rid of" their beagle. We do not as a rule take owner surrenders. The reason for this is because we have made a committment to beagles in kill shelters who often only have 3-4 days alive. Your situation, while it may be inconvenient at the moment, is not one we consider "life threatening" because the beagle now presently has a home.

If we took owner surrenders, we would not have open slots for those beagles who really are on death row at shelters. When that happens, we are forced to board the owner surrender beagle to make room for the shelter beagle. As I'm sure you know, rescues are on VERY limited income (donations, etc) and boarding is expensive.

As animal lovers and rescuers, we believe that adopting a pet is a life-long committment. You are agreeing to take care of that animal for the duration of his or her life. We also understand that there are sometimes situations that prevent people from fulfilling their committment to their pets.

While we do not condone owner surrenders, we would much rather help you place your animal than have you take him to a shelter, where he will SURELY be euthanized within a few days. Most kill shelters will take in an owner surrender animal and keep it for 3-4 days for adoption. If no one adopts it, the animal will be euthanized by gas or intravenously.

Please remember that your animal has had its own warm bed in your home for X number of years. You take him to a cold, wet, dirty and noisy shelter where he will spend the last 3-4 days of his life in misery. Please be more considerate of your pet's unconditional love towards you before you decide to take that route.

OKBR has established a procedure for dealing with owner surrender situations. We will make every attempt to place your animal for you, but the animal must remain in your custody. You will, in a sense, become an OKBR foster parent and foster your own dog until he finds his own forever home.

Our procedure is as follows:

• We need emailed photos of the beagle, preferably 3 or 4 pictures.
• Once we receive the photos, we will put him on our site, and on www.petfinder.com.
• You can bring the beagle to our OKBR adoptions, provided he has had all necessary vaccinations (rabies, 7-in-1, etc.) and has been neutered (altered).

Only in the most dire of circumstances, and once the above steps have been completed, will we consider taking the beagle. There is a fee associated with this. We require a donation of $275 to place an owner surrender beagle into rescue, provided the beagle has had all necessary vaccinations (with proof from veterinarian) and has been altered (spayed/neutered). If those have not been done to the beagle, we require a donation of $350 to cover those costs, before the beagle will be accepted into rescue. The reason it is so high is to cover the costs of spay, vaccinations and boarding if another more dire beagle needs to be pulled from a shelter.

If you have no other options, and must inquire about relenquishing your beagle, please email us and we will get back with you as soon as possible.