-Visiting Our Facility-
The Orange County Animal Shelter has many wonderful, available pets! Animals are available on a first-come, first-served basis. No appointment needed! Please stop by to view available pets and, while visiting, you may request to meet with an available pet. Meetings with pets last for 15 minutes. If you have questions about available pets or about visiting our facility, please call 919-942-7387, option 3, to speak with a staff member at our adoption desk. If the staff is unable to answer right away, please leave a clear message with your full name and contact number. Our staff responds to messages in the order they are received. Every effort will be made to respond to messages the same day, but it is possible that you may not receive a callback until the next business day due to the high volume of calls we often receive. See our hours on this page.
-Introducing Pets-
If you already have a dog at home and are considering adopting a dog from our facility, you may bring your dog for a brief meeting so that you can see how first impressions go between the two canines! These meetings are typically held outside.
- Only dogs that are 6 months of age or older are able to have these meetings - this includes dogs at our shelter and any owned dogs that are visiting.
- We ask that all dogs visiting our shelter for this type of meeting be current on their rabies vaccination.
Please call ahead to speak with the adoption desk if you have any questions about this type of meeting. We are not able to have our shelter cats meet with other animals. Check out this page for our recommendations on introducing new pets (dogs or cats) to other pets in your home.
-Adopting-
Some animals can be taken home the same day they are adopted, but those adoptions must occur before a certain time of day and are dependent upon several factors. If you are interested in taking a pet home on the same day you adopt, please consult with the adoption desk to find out if that pet is able to go home right away. See more information on adoption and adoption fees on this page.