Rescue dogs for adoption and rehoming in and around Cardiff

When we checked on 29 October 2026, most of the dogs listed here were with Cardiff Dogs Home on Penarth Road, the city's own dogs' home, which mostly cares for dogs found stray. All Creatures Great and Small, an animal sanctuary at Church Farm, Llanfrechfa, near Cwmbran, about 14 miles north east, rehomes dogs as well as cats and rabbits.

Every profile here links to the rescue that cares for the dog, and you apply with them: we don't rehome dogs ourselves. Newport, about 11 miles east, shares this listing, so a dog near Cwmbran is as close to Newport as to Cardiff (All Creatures Great and Small's adopt page).

In Wales, if you find a stray dog and can't contact the owner, you must report it to the council. In Cardiff that is Cardiff Dogs Home, on 029 2071 1243: a dog warden collects the dog and scans it for a microchip, and a dog with no microchip goes to the dogs' home.

The warden service runs 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Friday, with none at weekends or on bank holidays, but the dogs' home is staffed 24 hours a day and takes stray dogs in at any time. A vet can scan a dog too, though it may not give you the owner's details and will report the dog to the warden service.

Cardiff Dogs Home charges £250 to £550 to rehome a dog, and £300 for a puppy. The fee covers first and second vaccinations, a microchip and first flea and worm treatments, and isn't refunded if a dog comes back, though you may be able to rehome another dog free. Adult dogs are neutered before they go home, and puppies come back to be neutered, a cost usually covered by its charity, The Rescue Hotel.

All Creatures Great and Small asks a rehoming donation of £300 for an adult dog and £375 for a dog under 12 months, and every dog goes home neutered (unless medically exempt), microchipped and treated for fleas and worms, with 4 weeks' free insurance.

Each rescue sets its own adoption fee. Dogs Trust charges £300 for a puppy or adult dog in England, Wales and Scotland, and Blue Cross fees start from £235 for dogs aged 8 or over and £335 for dogs aged 1 to 7. The fee usually covers neutering, microchipping and first vaccinations, and each rescue confirms its own fee.

Cardiff's rescues match you to a dog by application and appointment, so read each one's own page before you apply (Cardiff Dogs Home's rehoming process).

• Email an application, then wait to hear. Cardiff Dogs Home asks you to email its application form, with photos of your garden if you have one. It reviews applications within 2 to 5 days, and if you hear nothing within 7 days you haven't been picked for that dog, though it keeps your form on file for another.
• Two meetings at the dogs' home. If Cardiff Dogs Home thinks you are a match, you meet the dog first, then introduce it to everyone it will live with, other pets included. It checks your home by video call and photos, and renters need the landlord's written permission.
• The whole household meets the dog. All Creatures Great and Small starts with its "Perfect match form", then a meet and greet that every member of the household must attend, then a home check of the house and garden before an adoption date. It can't rehome a dog into a home with an unneutered resident dog.

These rehoming centres near Cardiff aren't on LocalPetFinder. We don't list their dogs, so search their own sites (Dogs Trust Cardiff).

• Dogs Trust Cardiff is on Nettlefold Road, open for browsing 12 to 4pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, with Wednesday and Friday mornings by appointment. Dogs Trust Bridgend, about 19 miles west, sees adopters by appointment only.
• Hope Rescue, a stray dog rescue with a centre at Llanharan, asks a minimum adoption fee of £275 a dog and £350 a puppy, and you apply through the form on its page.
• Blue Cross Newport, at Langstone, has no kennels: most of its pets stay with their owners or foster carers until they are adopted. The RSPCA's Newport Animal Centre books visits as part of an application and is closed on Wednesdays.

Looking for a particular kind of dog? The Staffy, crossbreed, small dogs and puppies pages each list the dogs near Cardiff today.

Need to rehome your own dog instead? Our Cardiff rehoming page sets out the local routes, including Dogs Trust's Homestay and Hope Rescue.