Rehome your dog, cat or rabbit in Trowbridge

Before you rehome

• Responsible breeders and most rescues take an animal back; the RSPCA's first suggestion is to contact the original seller.
• If the problem is behaviour or money, Battersea's Behaviour Advice Line helps dog owners and PDSA is a vet charity for people who qualify.
• Never leave an animal outside a centre: Blue Cross warns it "could put them at risk". Arrange a handover first.

Your options in and around Trowbridge

1. List your pet on LocalPetFinder

Free, about ten minutes; a person checks every listing, adopters message you without seeing your email or phone, and you hand over in person.

2. Local rescues that take owners’ pets

• Cats Action Trustcats · A volunteer-run Melksham charity whose cats live with fosterers in Melksham, Bromham, Chippenham, Pewsey and Trowbridge; about 5 miles from Trowbridge

  It works within a 20 mile radius of Melksham only and can take in only cats from that area. To ask about admitting a cat for rehoming, its home page asks you to ring 07425 870956 (an answerphone is used at all times); it can’t deal with rehoming enquiries by email. It has no paid staff, so a reply may not be immediate.

• Cats in Distresscats · A cat welfare charity based in Frome, Somerset, with a purpose-built rescue and fosterers, about 7 miles south west of Trowbridge

  Through its Home to Home service “your cat remains in your home until we find a suitable home for her”, with the same interviews and checks it uses for the cats in its care. Its domestic cats page says it is there to help whatever the reason a cat needs a new home, and that healthy cats used to living in a home go to its fosterers rather than a rescue pen. Ask about either through its contact page, which has a Home-to-Home enquiry option.

• Cats Protection Frome & Districtcats · A volunteer branch covering postcodes BA10 to BA15, SN10 and SN12: Trowbridge, Westbury, Warminster, Bradford on Avon and Melksham among them

  Its branch page takes rehoming enquiries on 07733 390345 (after 6pm or at weekends, or leave a message) or by email with your postcode, and says it also arranges rehoming from one home to another. Cats Protection’s guide to giving up a cat warns there “can often be waiting lists”, so plan early. Find the branch through Cats Protection’s find your nearest search.

• Compassion for Catscats · Bramley Farm, Oakhill, Somerset (BA3), about 15 miles west of Trowbridge

  It takes in owners’ cats, but its intake policy asks for proof from your vet, before an appointment, that your cat is spayed or neutered (unless pregnant), microchipped, vaccinated and flea and worm treated. Visits are by appointment, 11.30am to 1pm.

• Dogs’ Friendsdogs · A Somerset rescue whose dogs live in foster homes, with kennels at Westbury-sub-Mendip, about 23 miles west of Trowbridge

  Its rehoming catchment is Somerset and the area around it, Wiltshire included. To give up a dog, fill in its Owner Surrender Form. It is “nearly always at full capacity”, so there is no guarantee it can help.

• Dogs Trust Salisburydogs · Newton Tony, Wiltshire (SP4), about 24 miles south east: Dogs Trust’s nearest centre to Trowbridge

  With Homestay “your dog stays with you in your home while we look for their new home”. Otherwise there is “usually a wait” before a kennel place, and it can’t offer temporary boarding. You don’t need to live near a centre, but you will need to travel to one. Call 0300 303 2188 or use the form on its giving up your dog page.

• 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.

Found a cat rather than giving up your own? Cats Protection’s Frome & District branch keeps a list of lost and found cats for the BA10 to BA14 areas; call 07733 390345 after 6pm or at weekends.

3. National charity schemes

• Dogs Trust: Dogs only, and free. Homestay keeps your dog with you while a new home is found; call 0300 303 2188.
• Blue Cross: Dogs, cats, rabbits and small pets. Home Direct keeps your pet with you, because its own space "is very limited"; call 0300 777 1960.
• Cats Protection: Cats. Contact your local branch or centre, where "there can often be waiting lists", or ask about Home to Home, which keeps your cat at home.
• Rabbit rescues: The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund points owners to Rescue Review, Save a Fluff and Rabbit Rehome to find a local rescue. Keep a bonded pair together.

Waiting times and how each scheme works: rehoming in England.

What’s listed in and around Trowbridge right now

Right now LocalPetFinder lists 32 dogs, 46 cats and 16 rabbits from 12 rescues reachable from Trowbridge.

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

More help

• Rehoming your pet: how LocalPetFinder works
• How to rehome your cat
• Surrendering or giving up a dog in the UK
• Where can I rehome my dog? Your options compared
• Need to rehome your dog urgently? What to do today
• Where to rehome a dog for free in the UK
• Rehoming safely: a guide for adopters and owners
• Rehoming a pet in England: the law and your options

Owner pages nearby: Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, Chippenham, Salisbury, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Taunton, Southampton, Oxford, Reading