Rehome your dog, cat or rabbit in Leicester

Checked 26 October 2026

The short answer

Start with the schemes that keep your dog at home while a new owner is found: Jerry Green Dog Rescue’s Home from Home, run from its centre near Blidworth, and Dogs Trust’s Homestay (its nearest centre is Loughborough, at Wymeswold). Or list your pet on LocalPetFinder and choose the new home yourself. For a cat, contact the Cats Protection centre for your postcode, which runs a waiting list.

Leicester shares its rescues with the Nottingham area: our Leicester pages list animals in Leicester first, then those with rescues around Nottingham, so the options below cover both. Rehoming in Nottingham

List your pet in Leicester 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 Leicester

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

Jerry Green Dog Rescuedogs · Nottinghamshire Centre, Warsop Lane, near Blidworth (NG21), about 11 miles north of the city centre
Its find your dog a new home page offers help to keep your dog first, such as food, bedding and training advice. If rehoming is right, your dog may come into one of its centres or join its Home from Home® scheme and “stay with you whilst we find them a new home”, with meetings arranged by the rescue so you and the adopter need not be in direct contact. Apply with the form on that page, or call the Nottinghamshire Centre on 01623 792886. It doesn’t offer emergency boarding as a mainstream service, but says it will try to help in a crisis: use its emergency boarding enquiry form.
Dogs Trust Loughboroughdogs · Wide Lane, Wymeswold, Leicestershire (LE12), about 11 miles south of the city centre
With Homestay “your dog stays with you in your home while we look for their new home”. Or your dog can wait for a kennel place, but Dogs Trust operates “at full capacity, so there is usually a wait”. Call 0300 303 2188 or use the form on its giving up your dog page. It can’t offer temporary boarding.
Doggy Dens UK Rescuedogs · Kennels at Cuckney, Nottinghamshire (NG20), about 20 miles north
The “Surrender a dog” link on its site opens a UK Rehome Request form. It asks for your dog’s vet history (“this is a requirement”), a donation towards neutering if your dog isn’t neutered, and whether you can keep your dog at home until a new home is found. It is “currently unable to rehome XL Bullys”, and if it asks its trainer to assess your dog, a home visit assessment is charged, while bringing your dog to its Cuckney kennels for assessment is free.
Just For Dogsdogs · Mansell Meadows, Brailsford, near Ashbourne, Derbyshire (DE6), about 20 miles west
It asks owners who can’t keep their dog to get in touch as soon as possible, not at the last minute, on 01335 361363. It may not have space at its centre, but it says it will advertise your dog on its social media pages, vet anyone interested and put you in touch.
Cats Protection (Nottinghamshire, Mansfield and Derbyshire)cats · Three centres, each covering its own postcodes
Go to the centre for your postcode. NG1 to NG16: the Nottinghamshire Cat Centre, which runs “a waiting list system” and takes cats in only by prior arrangement. NG17 to NG25, including Mansfield: the Mansfield Cat Centre at Warsop, 01623 845 846. Derby and most Derbyshire DE postcodes (check the list on its page): the Derbyshire Cat Centre, 01332 824950. Long Eaton (NG10), Ilkeston (DE7) and Draycott, Breaston and Borrowash (DE72) are on both the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire lists, so ask either. Read its guide to giving up a cat first.

Some of the rescues listed on LocalPetFinder near Nottingham, such as Ashbourne Animal Welfare, Meow and Furever Cat Rescue and Feline and Wildlife Rescue Nottingham, describe only adoption on their sites, with no route for owners giving up a pet. Ask them directly if you hope they can help.

Found a stray rather than giving up your own dog? In the City of Nottingham, report it to the council with its online form; it collects strays Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm, and Saturday, 9am to 4pm. A dog not reclaimed within 7 days becomes the council’s, and it says most unclaimed strays are rehomed.

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 Leicester right now

LocalPetFinder gathers adoptable animals from rescues reachable from Leicester. Right now that is 102 dogs, 42 cats and 15 rabbits from 17 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 Leicester · 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 Leicester: your questions

Tap a question to expand

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

Start with Jerry Green Dog Rescue’s centre near Blidworth or Dogs Trust Loughborough at Wymeswold: both can keep him at home with you while they find an adopter, or take him in when they have space. Doggy Dens UK Rescue at Cuckney has a surrender form, and Just For Dogs near Ashbourne can advertise him for you. Or list him on LocalPetFinder and choose the new home yourself.

How do I rehome a cat in Nottingham?

Contact the Cats Protection centre for your postcode: the Nottinghamshire Cat Centre for NG1 to NG16, which runs a waiting list, the Mansfield Cat Centre for NG17 to NG25, or the Derbyshire Cat Centre for Derby. You can list your cat on LocalPetFinder at the same time, so a local adopter may find her sooner.

Will Nottingham City Council take my dog?

No. The council’s dog control service 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 Leicester?

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 Leicester for free

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

Start your listing

Sources: Jerry Green Dog Rescue: Find your dog a new home · Jerry Green Dog Rescue: Nottinghamshire Centre · Dogs Trust: Loughborough · Dogs Trust: Giving up your dog · Doggy Dens UK Rescue: UK Rehome Request form · Just For Dogs: Contact · Cats Protection: Nottinghamshire Cat Centre · Cats Protection: Mansfield Cat Centre · Cats Protection: Derbyshire Cat Centre · Cats Protection: Giving up a cat · Nottingham City Council: Report a found, lost or stray dog · 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)