Rehome your dog, cat or other pet

Before you rehome

Before you list, check whether there’s a way to keep your pet, or a home that already knows them. Many of the problems that lead people to rehome can be sorted with the right help.

• Ask where your pet came from. If your pet came from a breeder or a rescue group, contact them first, and check your adoption agreement or purchase contract. A responsible breeder may take your pet back, or help you find a new home. Many rescue groups’ adoption agreements say they’ll take back an animal they rehomed.
• Behaviour or health the reason? Talk to your vet, or a qualified animal trainer or behaviourist.
• Moving, or between rentals? Talk to your landlord about your options. Family, friends or pet boarding may be able to mind your pet while you sort out a new place.
• Ask people who know your pet. Some of the best homes are with family or friends who already know and like them.
• Rescue groups, shelters and the RSPCA. If you can’t rehome your pet yourself, a rescue group, your council or your state’s RSPCA may be able to take them in. RSPCA Victoria says its shelters have limited intake and can’t guarantee a place.
• Never abandon a pet. In Victoria, for example, dumping an animal is an offence. If you’re stuck, ask your council, a shelter, a rescue group or your vet for help.

More help: Animal Welfare Victoria’s If you can’t keep your pet, RSPCA Queensland’s rehoming advice and RSPCA Victoria’s surrender page.

What you’ll need, by state

You won’t need a breeder number unless your state’s law asks for one. Some do: Victoria, NSW, Queensland and South Australia, as the table shows. The form asks for what we know your state requires of owners, plus your pet’s microchip number.

Every dog and cat must be microchipped before you list it: our rule everywhere. In several states, the law also requires a microchip before a dog or cat is sold or given away.

From each state’s law or regulator, checked October 2026 (in the Northern Territory, the territory’s animal protection law (PDF), not council by-laws). A plain summary, not legal advice: if you’re unsure, ask your council or state regulator.

Victoria. Enrol on Animal Welfare Victoria’s Pet Exchange Register: $25.90 to enrol or renew, and the number lasts a year (about the fee). You don’t need one to surrender a pet to a shelter, pound or rescue group, or to give it to someone without advertising it, as long as your pet is already microchipped. We check your number is active on the register before your listing goes live, and regularly while it’s up. Animal Welfare Victoria’s guidance says you need one too if you live outside Victoria but would rehome to someone there: the form asks.

New South Wales. If you don’t have your dog’s BIN, ask the breeder for it. For now, our form asks for it for every dog born on or after 1 December 2025, even once the law no longer needs it on the ad.

Queensland. If the breeder’s supply number isn’t recorded with your dog’s microchip, or you can’t find it, apply on the Queensland Dog Breeder Register for an exemption number for your dog. You can if you didn’t breed the dog and don’t run a business supplying dogs. Before you list, check with your microchip registry that the number is recorded with your dog’s microchip details, as the law (Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008) requires.

Rabbits, birds and other pets. Victoria’s source number covers only dogs and cats, but some other animals need numbers. In Victoria, a native bird or reptile that needs a wildlife licence needs your licence number on the ad, and can go only to someone with the right licence. Victorian livestock ads, such as for a pet goat or sheep, need a property identification code (PIC); poultry only from 50 birds. Tasmanian cattle, sheep, goat and pig ads show your PIC, name, phone and a postal or email address. By our own rule, Queensland sellers can’t list rabbits or ferrets, and Northern Territory sellers can’t list ferrets.

Some animals can’t be listed at all, including restricted dog breeds and their crosses, and dogs declared dangerous or menacing, or under a council control or destruction order. See what can’t be listed.

What it costs

• Free to list. A one-off $9.95 ID check before your first listing, covering up to 3 tries. If all 3 fail, a new check is another $9.95. It’s a photo of your photo ID and a quick selfie, run by Stripe. How the check and refunds work.
• Each pet’s listing is free, and Pet Sales Australia charges nothing extra for rehoming. People looking for a pet pay nothing.
• Victoria’s fee is separate. The source number costs $25.90 to enrol or renew each year, paid to Animal Welfare Victoria, not us.
• Rescue groups: the ID check is free once we’ve checked the organisation. See Rescue and Adoption.

The ID check helps keep scammers off Pet Sales Australia. A pass shows on your listing as a dated “ID Checked” stamp. It doesn’t show that you own your pet, or that your pet is healthy, and we tell buyers so. Got a litter? That lists as a breeder: see Sell or Advertise a Pet.

Writing an honest ad

The more a new owner knows about your pet, the better the match, and the better the chance the home lasts.

• Why you’re rehoming. A sentence or two is enough.
• Temperament. How your pet is with children, other dogs, cats and visitors. How much exercise they need. How they cope when left alone.
• Health. Date of birth, expected adult size, sex, microchip, desexing, vaccinations, any vet check in the last 12 months, and any medication or ongoing treatment.
• Problems you know of. Tell people about any health, injury or behaviour problem. It’s our rule, and being upfront helps you find a home that can cope.
• Recent photos. Up to 8 recent photos of your pet, showing the whole animal. We remove hidden location details from photo files, but we can’t hide what a picture shows, such as a street sign or letterbox.
• No contact details. Leave out phone numbers, email addresses and links.

Choosing the new home

You decide which home your pet goes to. Take your time.

• Talk on the site first. People contact you through Message the Seller, which opens with listings. Keep the conversation there. To give someone your phone number, use Share My Phone Number, which shows once you’ve both written. Our messages check for common scam requests as they come in, though they won’t catch every scam.
• Ask questions. You’re entitled to. Some to start with:
  • Who lives at home? Any children, and how old are they?
  • What other pets do you have?
  • Do you rent? Does your lease allow pets?
  • Is the yard fenced, and where will my pet sleep?
  • How long would my pet be alone each day?
  • Have you had a dog or cat before? Can I talk to your vet?
• Meet in person. Let them meet your pet first. If you can, visit their home before you hand over your pet. RSPCA Queensland strongly advises it.
• Don’t be rushed. Someone who pressures you, or wants your pet without meeting it, is a red flag.
• A rehoming fee is your choice. You can ask a fee, or give your pet away free. Either way, the ad needs what your state requires. Don’t ask for or take a fee, a deposit or any other payment until the person has met you and your pet in person. Then take it into an account in your checked name (the first and last name from your ID check), or in person. Pet Sales Australia doesn’t hold or protect payments.
• You can say no to anyone, at any stage. If you’ve taken a fee or deposit and don’t go ahead, refund it in full.

Your privacy. People see your first name, suburb, state and postcode, never your street address. (On Tasmanian cattle, sheep, goat and pig ads, the law also puts your name, phone number and a postal or email address on the ad.) Your source number and your pet’s full microchip number show where your state’s rules ask; elsewhere, only the chip’s last 4 digits. Once you reply to someone’s message, they can choose to see your checked name, so they know whose account to pay. In South Australia, your full name and phone number show on dog and cat listings, as the law requires when you sell (a rehoming fee counts), and on free listings too.

The law. The NSW Government’s buying a pet page says a pet bought from a business comes with consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law. That page and Western Australia’s Consumer Protection both say the guarantees don’t cover a one-off sale by a private seller. By our own rule, you must have the right to sell or give away your pet. If you’re unsure what applies to you, ask your council or state regulator.

Scams that target people rehoming

Scammers target people rehoming a pet, not just buyers.

• Never refund an “overpayment”. A fake buyer sends more than the agreed amount, then asks for the difference back.
• Check the money has arrived in your own account before you hand over your pet. A screenshot or email of a payment isn’t proof.
• Be wary of anyone who won’t meet your pet, sends their own courier, or wants to pay by gift card, crypto or a money transfer service. These are common scam signs. Ask them to visit.
• Never share a sign-in code. Anyone who asks you for it is a scammer, even if they say they’re us.
• We never ask for your bank or card details or a sign-in code, by email or message, or ask you to pay another member. Until listings open, we don’t charge for anything.

Read scams that target sellers, and what to do if you’ve been scammed.

Handover

• Hand over in person, once any fee has arrived in your account or been paid to you in person.
• Transfer the microchip. Search your pet’s chip number at Pet Address to find which registry holds it, then follow that registry’s change-of-owner steps. Pet Address may miss chips on the NSW and South Australian registries.
  • NSW: transfer ownership on the NSW Pet Registry (online, no fee), or lodge a paper change-of-owner form with your council within 14 days. The new owner must be 18 or over.
  • South Australia: transfer the microchip to the new owner in Dogs and Cats Online.
  • Western Australia: update a microchip registry the state recognises with the new owner’s details within 7 days. HomeSafeID no longer counts: if your pet’s chip is registered only there, move it to another registry.
• Hand over the records: vaccinations, vet history, desexing, and any medication and diet notes. Your pet’s usual food, blanket and toys help them settle.
• Hand over the papers your state requires or recommends:
  • Victoria: the microchip certificate with a signed change-of-ownership form (Animal Welfare Victoria’s guidance).
  • Queensland (dogs): a notice with your name and the dog’s supply number, and a change-of-ownership form from the dog’s microchip registry that you’ve completed and signed.
  • South Australia (dogs and cats), if you ask a fee: a written notice with your and each breeder’s name, address and phone number (and DACO ID if registered), vaccinations, desexing and other vet treatment, the microchip details and registry, any exemptions, and any known illness. It’s a good idea for a free pet too. Dogs and cats born after 1 July 2018 must be desexed by 6 months old, or within 28 days of a new owner getting them, unless an exemption applies.
  • Tasmania (any dog): a vaccination certificate signed by a vet, and the date of the dog’s last vet health check. Before you rehome, tell the new owner about any injury, sickness, disease, physical impairment, pregnancy, aggression or behaviour problem you know of or suspect, and why. If there’s anything to tell, you can rehome the dog only if you’ve also made all reasonable enquiries that the new owner can care for it as the law requires. For a dog under 12 months, also give its own or its mother’s microchip number.
  • Western Australia (cats): WA’s Cat Act 2011 says a cat must be sterilised before it goes to a new owner. The exceptions include giving the new owner a voucher for free sterilisation by a vet, and a vet’s certificate for a cat 6 months or older.
  • Tasmania (cats): Tasmanian law (Cat Management Act 2009) says a cat sold, given away or offered for sale must be at least 8 weeks old, microchipped and desexed, and meet the health checks the law prescribes. The Tasmanian Government (NRE Tas) lists them as free of external parasites, wormed at least once and vaccinated to F3. A vet’s certificate can excuse the microchip or the desexing, and a cat going to a registered breeder or a cat breeding permit holder needn’t be desexed.
  • ACT: your rehoming identifier (a state rehoming number if you have one, otherwise your ABN, or your name if you have no ABN) and the microchip number. You can’t sell a dog 6 months or older, or a cat 3 months or older, that isn’t desexed, unless you hold a permit or a vet certifies that desexing would be a serious health risk.
• Remind the new owner to register your pet with their council, where their council requires it.
• Mark it Gone Home. When your pet has gone, mark the listing Gone Home from your account. Until that button opens, email info@petsales.net.au the listing number.

Looking for a rehomed pet?

Looking for a dog or cat that needs a new home, or a kitten free to a good home? When listings open, owners and rescue groups list them here, one pet per listing.

• Older dogs: adult and retired dogs from breeders, owners and rescues.
• Cats and kittens
• Rescue and adoption

Free or not, meet the owner and the pet in person before you pay anything, including a deposit. Never pay a seller for transport, a crate or insurance: book any transport yourself. See how to spot a pet scam.