Southern Siberian Rescue does not accept owner turn-ins. We pull our foster dogs from shelters when they are facing euthanization. We have very limited foster homes and reserve those spaces for Siberians facing death in shelters.

We recommend that you DO NOT list your dog as “free to a good home” in the newspaper or online as there are individuals and groups out here that prey on that to gather dogs for research or to use at bait for fighting dogs. Please ask for at least a minimum re-homing fee of $50 and if you do not care to have that money, donate it to a local shelter or rescue or your choice. We DO recommend that you obtain both vet and personal references on anyone that inquires on your dog AND call those references.

Please email us if you need suggestions on questions to ask a potential adopter. It is our experience that many people do not keep their dogs up to date medically. Also, you should take your dog to the potential adopters home to see how and where the dog will live, in addition to making sure your dog gets along with any existing pets, as not all dogs get along and it is very stressful on dogs to be swapped from home to home. For your own safety, please do not do this alone. Take a friend or family member with you. SSR has a “shortened” application and we are happy to email it to you upon request.

NOTE: Click here for our online referral form Online Referral Form. For a form to Print Out and Mail click here: referral form.

If you have found a stray, please contact your local animal control or Sheriff's office first. It is a felony to steal a dog in North Carolina (http://www.animallaw.info/statutes/stusncst19A_20_130A_201.htm#s14_81) so we cannot bring this dog into our program. We too have to wait for a dog to go through "stray-hold" (a period of time determined by individual shelters and counties allowing for an owner to find and re-claim his/her at large dog.) Please list the dog as found with your local shelters, humane societies and veterinarians. Please take to a shelter or vet to have him/her scanned for a microchip or look for a tattoo. Many newspapers will allow you to place a found ad for free as well. Post flyers in the area that the dog was found in the event someone is looking for him/her. Do keep one or two identifying things private (such as collar color) so you can use those to determine if someone is calling about the particular dog you have. For your safety, do not meet parties by yourself or have them come to your home. Pick a neutral location to meet (say outside of a shelter) and ask the potential owner to bring pictures and/or vet records. Siberians can travel long distances in a short period of time so we recommend notifying shelters and vets in a 20 mile radius. Many lost Siberians have been found 7 to 10 miles from home. If you cannot keep the dog at your house and need to turn it into your local shelter, please email us at SouthernSibes@yahoo.com with the name, location and phone number of the shelter so we can follow up to see if he/she was re-claimed.

Not all dogs are good with young children. If you are expecting a child or having difficulties with your dog and your child, please consult a trainer and/or behaviorist that can properly evaluate your dog and work with you on training tips and how to safely integrate your dog(s) with your children. We support and recommend Jen at jens@familypaws.com. You can visit her website at www.familypaws.com. This is Jen’s business and she is great at it so please email her with any questions and/or concerns you may have.

Please call your local animal control and advise them of the situation. They are the only authority that can make the decision on whether it is a valid complaint or not. By North Carolina law, a dog needs constant water, shade and a means to get out of the elements (wind, rain, sun, cold.) Animal Control will come out and evaluate the situation and give the owners a warning and/or suggestions on how to properly care and provide for the dog, based on the counties code. They will follow up to see that the owner’s have made the suggested changes, or deem the situation neglect or abuse. Rescue cannot help. It is a felony to steal a dog in North Carolina so we can’t remove the dog from the property. We do not take owner surrenders either as all of our foster dogs are pulled from shelters. We have no legal authority over someone’s personal dog. Please do not take these matters into your own hands either because you are opening yourself up to felony charges as well.

How do I recognize responsible rescues? (pdf)

Top ten reasons people turn their pets into shelters (external site) Southern Siberian Rescue is not responsible for content off our site.

Southern Siberian Rescue is based out of Raleigh, NC and serve SE states only (NC, SC, VA, WV, KY, GA, TN) due to our required home check. We will try to serve other areas, only if there is no comparable Siberian Rescue or Siberian in your area. If we have a volunteer in your area that can do a home check for us, we will ask that you be prepared to drive to Raleigh, NC to meet the foster dog of interest. You will need to bring all of your existing pets and immediate family members to meet our dogs. We need to know that it is a good match for all involved. For local adopters, we will bring the foster dog(s) of interest to you at the time of the home check. We will not and do not ship our foster dogs.

SSR can not and will not hold dogs for anyone. If we do, that means another Siberian will die in a shelter because a shelter dogs time is very limited, as is our foster space. We do our best to process applications in the order received and first application gets first interest in our foster dog(s). We understand that there will be scheduling conflicts with home checks and meet and greets with our foster homes and foster dogs. We will accommodate for that if a potential adopter has interest in a particular foster dog in our program.