How to Adopt

At Ross County Humane Society, we’re committed to helping you find the perfect pet for your family through our “Adopters Welcome” approach. We believe in making the adoption process as personal and conversational as possible to ensure the best fit for both you and your future pet. This means no appointments and no lengthy applications.

We invite you to come to our shelter, and our dedicated staff will be happy to assist you in finding the right dog for your family. We understand the importance of spending time together with a potential new pet, so take all the time you need to meet our prospective pets. For safety reasons, we kindly request that anyone 17 years of age or younger be accompanied by an adult guardian.

We encourage potential adopters to check out our website, rosscountyhumanesociety.org before visiting us in person. Our website is updated in real-time with information on available dogs, so you can get a sneak peek at the who might steal your heart.

We’re excited to welcome you into our shelter and guide you through the process of finding your new family member. Your journey to adoption starts with a visit to our shelter, where our team is ready to make it a memorable and happy experience.

Adoption Process

When you discover a pet you’d like to adopt, we’ll conduct an informal conversation to ensure that you and your chosen pet are a great match. During this process, we’ll review the pet’s medical and behavioral history, if available, and provide a clear understanding of our policies. We appreciate your patience and ask that you allow up to 1 hour to complete the adoption process.

Animal Holds and Adoption Procedures

To put an animal on hold or adopt one from RCHS, your presence at the RCHS adoption center is essential. Please note that we do not accept requests for holds via phone calls or email, and we do not accept deposits toward an animal’s adoption fee. For the safety and well-being of our puppies under the age of 6-months, adoption hold is not available.

If you are not ready to complete an adoption, you may place an animal on hold for 24 hours with a non-refundable, non-transferable fee of $30.  This hold fee supports the extra day of housing, staffing and care needed and will not be applied toward the adoption fee of the animal. Only one hold may be placed at a time. All adoptions and adoption holds must be processed in person.

View our Adoptable Puppies