Rehome your dog, cat or rabbit in Bristol

Checked 27 October 2026

The short answer

Start with the local rescues that take owners’ pets: Dogs’ Friends has an owner surrender form for dogs, The Littlest Lives Rescue takes rabbits, and Bristol & Wales Cat Rescue keeps a waiting list for cats. Each says it is full or close to it, so contact more than one, or list your pet on LocalPetFinder and choose the new home yourself. Dogs Trust has no centre in Bristol, but its Homestay scheme keeps your dog with you while it looks for a home.

List your pet in Bristol for free

Every listing checked by a person. Adopters message you through the site; your details stay private.

Start your listing

Before you rehome: worth trying first

Ask the breeder or rescue you got them from

The RSPCA's first suggestion is to contact the original seller. Responsible breeders and most rescues will take an animal back. Dogs Trust says it will "always take back a dog adopted from us".

Get help with the problem itself

Many rehomings are about behaviour, housing or money rather than the pet. Battersea runs a Behaviour Advice Line for dog owners, and PDSA is a vet charity for pets of people who qualify for help. Both are worth checking before you decide.

Keep your pet at home while they’re rehomed

If you can wait a little, stay-at-home schemes spare your pet a kennel: Dogs Trust Homestay, Blue Cross Home Direct and Cats Protection Home to Home. Listing on LocalPetFinder works the same way: your pet stays with you until you've chosen the new home.

Don’t leave a pet anywhere

Blue Cross warns that leaving an animal outside a centre, especially when it's closed, "could put them at risk", so always arrange a handover. And vets aren't rehoming centres, the RSPCA notes.

Your options in and around Bristol

There are three routes: list your pet yourself on LocalPetFinder, ask a local rescue to take them, or use a national charity scheme. Which is right depends on your pet, how soon you need to move them, and how involved you want to be.

1. List your pet on LocalPetFinder

Fill in the listing form. It takes about ten minutes, and listing is free.
A person checks every listing before it goes live, usually within a day.
Adopters message you through LocalPetFinder; your email address and phone number stay private.
You choose who to meet, and you hand your pet over in person, never by courier.

2. Local rescues that take owners’ pets

Bristol & Wales Cat Rescuecats · Volunteer foster homes around Bristol, with a charity shop in Nailsea
Its rehoming page asks you to email it with as much detail as you can about the cat: age, health, colour, where it is and why it needs a home. Its foster homes are full and the average wait for a place is “about 3 months”, though pregnant cats, mothers with kittens and litters of kittens come first.
The Littlest Lives Rescuerabbits · A volunteer-led rabbit rescue based in Bristol, with foster homes
Fill in the surrender form with your rabbits’ ages, neutering, vaccinations and any health or behaviour needs. It is full most of the time and runs a waiting list: a space can take “one week to up to four months”, so it suggests joining several rescues’ lists. In an emergency, contact it anyway; it usually replies within 48 hours.
Dogs’ Friendsdogs · A Somerset rescue with foster homes across Somerset and the surrounding area, including Bristol, and kennels at Westbury-sub-Mendip, about 16 miles south west
Its contact page asks owners who need to rehome a dog to complete its Owner Surrender Form. It is “nearly always at full capacity”, so there is no guarantee it can help, and if it accepts your dog you will need your dog’s vet history.
Compassion for Catscats · Bramley Farm, Oakhill, Somerset (BA3), about 16 miles south
It takes in owners’ cats, but its intake policy asks for proof in advance, from your vet, that your cat is spayed or neutered (unless pregnant), microchipped, vaccinated with boosters up to date, and flea and worm treated.
Teckels Animal Sanctuariesdogs, cats · Bristol Road, Whitminster, Gloucestershire (GL2), about 25 miles north
Its FAQ asks owners who can no longer look after a pet to contact its reception team on 01452 740300. The centre is “currently very full”, but it will send a pre-admission form and get in touch when it can help.
Dogs Trust Cardiffdogs · Nettlefold Road, Cardiff (CF24), in Wales, about 24 miles west: Dogs Trust’s nearest centre to Bristol
With Homestay “your dog stays with you in your home while we look for their new home”. Otherwise there is “usually a wait” for a kennel place. Call 0300 303 2188 or use the form on its giving up your dog page. It can’t offer temporary boarding.
Cats Protection (Bristol & District, Weston-super-Mare & District)cats · Two volunteer branches, each covering its own postcodes
Contact the branch for your postcode. Bristol, south Gloucestershire and Keynsham (BS1 to BS11, BS13 to BS16, BS30 to BS32, BS34 to BS37, BS40, BS41): Bristol & District, 0117 966 5428. Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon, Portishead, Nailsea and Burnham-on-Sea (BS20 to BS25, BS29, BS48, BS49, TA5 to TA9): Weston-super-Mare & District, 0345 371 2066. Bath postcodes are on neither list, so use Cats Protection’s own search. Its guide to giving up a cat warns there “can often be waiting lists”.

Some of the rescues listed on LocalPetFinder near Bristol, such as Happy Landings Animal Rescue Centre near Shepton Mallet, Forest of Dean Dog Rescue in Gloucestershire, and All Creatures Great and Small in south Wales, describe only adoption on their sites, with no route for owners giving up a pet. The Moggery in Bishopston has no owner form; call it on 0117 924 3128 if you hope it can help with a cat.

Found a stray dog rather than giving up your own? In Bristol, call the council’s dog warden on 0117 922 2500 (8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday); strays go to Bristol Animal Rescue Centre, and a dog not collected by its owner is put up for adoption. In Bath and North East Somerset, report it to the council on 01225 394041 or online; it collects strays that are safely contained.

Live in Wales, with an NP or CF postcode? Your listing is filed on a Welsh page and Welsh law applies to rehoming your pet: see rehoming a pet in Wales.

3. National charity schemes

Dogs Trustdogs
Two routes: Homestay, where your dog stays with you while Dogs Trust finds a new home (it says Homestay dogs "generally find a new home within two weeks"), or a kennel or foster place, which "could take a few weeks". Giving up a dog to Dogs Trust is free, and it aims to reply within 72 hours. Start with a call on 0300 303 2188 or its online form.
Blue Crossdogs, cats, rabbits
Home Direct keeps your pet with you while Blue Cross finds a new owner. That is "the quickest way", it says, because space in its own kennels, cattery and small pet units "is very limited". It takes dogs, cats, rabbits and small pets. Call pet admissions on 0300 777 1960 or use its online form.
Cats Protectioncats
Contact your local Cats Protection branch or centre (not its charity shops), and plan ahead: "there can often be waiting lists". Its Home to Home scheme lets your cat stay at home while it's rehomed, with no specific fee.
Rabbit rescuesrabbits
The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund doesn't rehome rabbits itself, but points owners to Rescue Review, Save a Fluff and Rabbit Rehome to find a local rescue. It also asks you never to split a bonded pair.

If you rehome privately: the must-dos

The microchip has to be transferred

In England, a dog or cat can't be passed to a new keeper until it's microchipped, and the new keeper must update the microchip database (Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023, reg. 9). Check the chip is on a government-approved database and do the transfer at the handover.

No deposits, no couriers

Never ask for, or accept, money before an adopter has met your pet in person, and hand over face to face. A request for a deposit is the classic sign of a pet scam, and on LocalPetFinder it gets a listing taken down.

Banned dog types can’t be rehomed at all

In England it's against the law to give away a banned dog, and in England and Wales it's illegal to "rehome, sell, buy, or transfer ownership of an XL Bully" (gov.uk: England and Wales). If you think your dog could be an XL Bully, contact your local police force rather than listing.

Adopters must be adults, and you must be honest

Adopters must be 18 or over, and the listing must be accurate about health, behaviour, and whether your pet is good with children, dogs and cats. A good match is the one that lasts.

What’s listed in and around Bristol right now

LocalPetFinder gathers adoptable animals from rescues within about 25 miles of Bristol. Right now that is 30 dogs, 41 cats and 16 rabbits from 10 rescues. Local rescues are often full, which is one reason owner-to-owner rehoming exists. But if a rescue can take your pet, its assessment and matching are worth a lot.

Looking to adopt instead? Rescue dogs in and around Bristol · rescue cats · rabbits

Rehoming a particular breed?

Each guide covers what to tell adopters about the breed, and the breed rescues that take owners’ pets.

Cats

British Shorthair Siamese Bengal Cat Maine Coon Ragdoll Persian Cat Russian Blue Burmese Birman Norwegian Forest Cat Sphynx Cat

Rehoming a pet in Bristol: your questions

Tap a question to expand

Where can I take my dog in Bristol if I can’t keep him?

Dogs’ Friends, a Somerset rescue with foster homes across Somerset and the surrounding area, has an owner surrender form, and Teckels Animal Sanctuaries at Whitminster, Gloucestershire, sends a pre-admission form and gets in touch when it can help. Both say they are full. Dogs Trust’s Homestay scheme can keep him at home with you while it finds an adopter. Or list him on LocalPetFinder and choose the new home yourself.

How do I rehome a cat or a rabbit in Bristol?

For a cat, contact Bristol & Wales Cat Rescue (its average wait is about 3 months), Compassion for Cats at Oakhill, or the Cats Protection branch for your postcode. For rabbits, The Littlest Lives Rescue in Bristol has a surrender form and a waiting list. You can list your pet on LocalPetFinder at the same time, so a local adopter may find her sooner.

Is there a Dogs Trust in Bristol?

No. Dogs Trust’s nearest rehoming centre to Bristol is in Cardiff, in Wales. To start, call 0300 303 2188 or use the form on its giving up your dog page, and ask about Homestay, which keeps your dog with you while it looks for a new home. Dogs Trust says you will need to travel to one of the areas it works in.

Will Bristol City Council take my dog?

No. The council’s dog warden collects stray dogs found in the city; it is not a route for owners giving up their own. To rehome your dog, contact the rescues on this page or list him yourself.

How do I rehome my dog in Bristol?

You have three routes: list your dog yourself on LocalPetFinder (free, with every listing checked by a person and messages relayed so your details stay private), ask a local rescue to take them, or use a national scheme such as Dogs Trust Homestay, which keeps your dog at home while it finds a new owner. Whichever you choose, your dog must be microchipped and the chip transferred to the new keeper.

Is it free to rehome my pet?

Listing on LocalPetFinder is free. Giving up a dog to Dogs Trust is free; Battersea asks for a suggested donation of £50; many other rescues ask for a donation but, the RSPCA says, will still help if you're struggling financially.

Can I charge a rehoming fee?

You can ask for a rehoming fee, paid at the handover after the adopter has met your pet, and never as a deposit beforehand. PAAG's worry with "free to good home" adverts is that people may take an animal on impulse and that a free advert "may devalue an animal" (PAAG). A fee does make the handover a sale, though, so animals can't go to anyone under 16 and you should be honest about your pet's health.

Will the RSPCA take my pet?

Usually not: the RSPCA says its national centres "can't take in unwanted pets" because it prioritises cruelty and neglect cases. A local RSPCA branch may be able to help, and it points owners to other rehoming charities.

How long does it take to rehome a pet?

It varies. Dogs Trust says a kennel space "could take a few weeks", while dogs on its Homestay scheme "generally find a new home within two weeks". On LocalPetFinder your listing is reviewed usually within a day and then goes live to adopters near you.

What about rehoming a rabbit?

Rabbit rescues are often full, so start early. The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund suggests your vet's noticeboard and local rescues (found through Rescue Review, Save a Fluff or Rabbit Rehome), never a "free to good home" advert. Keep a bonded pair together. You can list rabbits on LocalPetFinder too.

Can I rehome a puppy or kitten?

Not on LocalPetFinder: we only list animals aged 6 months or older, in the spirit of Lucy's Law. If you have a young animal or a litter, a rescue can help.

More help

List your pet in Bristol for free

Every listing checked by a person. Adopters message you through the site; your details stay private.

Start your listing

Sources: Dogs’ Friends: Contact us · Dogs’ Friends: Owner Surrender Form · Teckels Animal Sanctuaries: FAQ · The Littlest Lives Rescue: Surrender · Bristol & Wales Cat Rescue: Rehoming · Compassion for Cats: What we do · Cats Protection: Bristol & District · Cats Protection: Weston-super-Mare & District · Cats Protection: Giving up a cat · Dogs Trust: Cardiff · Dogs Trust: Giving up your dog · Bristol City Council: Dog and animal issues · Bath and North East Somerset Council: Dealing with issues related to dogs · Dogs Trust: Giving up your dog · Blue Cross: Giving up a pet · Cats Protection: Giving up a cat · RSPCA: Giving up a pet · RWAF: Rehoming rabbits · Battersea: Giving your dog up for adoption · PAAG: Free to a good home adverts · Microchipping of Cats and Dogs (England) Regulations 2023 · gov.uk: Get your dog or cat microchipped · gov.uk: Ban on XL Bully dogs (England and Wales)