At the end of the day, we would rather see you and your pet stay together than have them come to our shelter. We are dedicated to helping you keep your pet and can offer you resources to help, such as free pet food, veterinary assistance, behavior advice and much more. Do not hesitate to let us know how we can help you and your pet stay together!

If you are unable to keep your pet in your current home, check with a friend, co-worker, neighbor  or family member. Can they keep your pet temporarily until your situation changes? Would they be willing to care for your pet?

Try posting your pet in online community groups or Facebook pages. You can often connect directly with potential adopters and rehome a pet successfully. We recommend including a rehoming fee to help find the best possible adopter for your pet.

If you need help finding a new home for your pet, Adopt-a-Pet.com offers an easy to use re-homing service. Just click here: https://rehome.adoptapet.com/r/76207 

Listing your pet here will allow them to show on our Home to Home Adoptions Page as well.

If your dog is purebred or has a medical condition, a rescue group may be able to help you place your dog. The following listing includes some of the rescue groups that partner with McKamey. Many of these organizations do not have a physical shelter or boarding facility so it may take time before they can help you. This list is for your information only, McKamey cannot make any guarantees that your pet will be accepted into a rescue.

View Rescue List Here

If your pet’s behavior is the source of wanting to rehome them, check out some of these resources.

Dog Behavior and Training

Cat Behavior and Training

Try Free Virtual Pet Training with Good Pup! 

McKamey Animal Center takes in thousands of animals each year from our community. We firmly believe that adoptable animals should never have a time limit, and our staff and volunteers do everything we can to provide the best medical and behavioral support while our furry residents await their new homes.

The Admissions Department books by appointment only. If surrendering your pet to MAC remains your only option, you may schedule a surrender appointment by contacting our Admissions Department at (423) 305-6500 ext. 3. Appointments are made Tuesday through Saturday, except for holidays when the shelter is closed. If you do not schedule an appointment, there will be an inconvenience fee of $50 in addition to regular surrender fees.

Please compile any medical records for your pet(s) and bring them to your appointment. This will prevent your pet from receiving unnecessary medical procedures. Detailed and honest information is crucial to our placement process. Undesirable behaviors and medical issues do not necessarily prevent placement; however, not disclosing them may. 

MAC is only able to take surrendered pets from the Cities of Chattanooga, Red Bank or Lakesite. MAC has a surrender fee of $50 for each animal. For litters, the fee is $50 for the mother or first puppy/kitten and $5 for each additional puppy/kitten. These fees help to directly care for them while they are in our care.

You may have read news articles recently about the national crisis affecting animal shelters across the country. 

Unfortunately MAC is no exception. Today, we have well over 400 animals in our care, nearly 10% more than this time last year, and we have a waiting list of  hundreds of owned animals awaiting space to enter our shelter.  We know this puts a huge strain on the public, and we are doing all we can, but we need your help! 

If you have space in your home and your heart, please adopt or foster to make critical space for another animal needing shelter. If you have an animal you need to rehome, please try to rehome the animal yourself using the resources listed on this page.

But most of all, please be patient as we, along with all shelters around the nation, struggle with this unprecedented crisis.