Rescue and adoption

Rescue groups and shelters rehome puppies and kittens as well as adult dogs and cats. If you have your heart set on a breed, rescue groups can have particular breeds, and some focus on one breed. Choosing between a breeder and a rescue? See where to buy a puppy.

The RSPCA’s Smart Puppy and Dog Buyer’s Guide (PDF) suggests looking at your local RSPCA and other reputable rescue groups first. Adopting is also one of the RSPCA Knowledgebase’s tips for avoiding puppy farms. Our check confirms a rescue’s ABN and registration, not its reputation, so look it up and ask questions too.

Ask the rescue about:

• the animal’s history, and why it needs a new home
• its temperament, and how it gets on with children, dogs and cats
• its vet check and vaccinations, with dates
• desexing: whether it’s done, or when it will be
• the microchip transfer: who updates the registry with your details, and when
• what the adoption fee covers
• any trial period or return policy
• how its application works, and when you’ll hear back

Meet the animal at the rescue or foster home before you pay anything, including a fee or a deposit. The RSPCA says never to buy an animal sight unseen, and always to meet it first. A video call doesn’t count as meeting.

Pay only a name we show you. Once listings open and the rescue replies to your message, you can choose to see the rescue’s name and ABN as we checked them, and the checked name of the person who runs its account. Pay only into an account in one of those names, once your bank says the name matches. If your bank can’t check names, pay in person, once you’ve met the rescue and the animal. A matching name doesn’t make a payment safe. Never pay extra for transport, a crate or insurance. Read how to spot a pet scam.

Look the rescue up yourself. Search its name or ABN on ABN Lookup and, if it’s a charity, on the ACNC Charity Register. If you’ll pay a person rather than the rescue, ask the rescue to confirm they work for it, using contact details you find yourself, such as on its own website.

Look up the microchip. For a dog or cat, search its chip number on Pet Address, which searches several Australian microchip registries. It may miss chips on the NSW and SA government registries. If the listing shows only the last 4 digits, ask the rescue for the full number.

The RSPCA’s own animals. Adoptapet searches RSPCA animals across Australia. Or go to your state’s RSPCA:

• Victoria: RSPCA Victoria
• New South Wales: RSPCA NSW
• Queensland: RSPCA Queensland
• South Australia: RSPCA South Australia
• Western Australia: RSPCA WA
• Tasmania: Adoptapet
• ACT: RSPCA ACT
• Northern Territory: RSPCA Darwin

The RSPCA’s Smart Puppy and Dog Buyer’s Guide (PDF) and Smart Kitten and Cat Buyer’s Guide (PDF) both start with adopting.

Still looking? The RSPCA says adopting from an owner who’s rehoming lets you ask lots of questions and see where the animal has lived. Once listings open, browse older dogs from owners, rescues and breeders, or cats and kittens.

Rescue groups that pass our organisation check list free, with a free ID check.

We check your organisation. It needs:

• an active ABN, with a name that matches the ABN’s record; and
• a charity registration with the ACNC.

The person who runs your rescue’s account then takes our ID check, free: a photo of their photo ID and a quick selfie. If the organisation doesn’t pass, you can still list: the ID check is then $9.95, as for any seller. You list each animal separately, with its adoption fee.

Each listing also needs what your state’s law asks of an ad. The table above shows every state. For rescues, the main ones for dogs and cats are:

• Victoria: almost every dog and cat ad needs your rescue’s Pet Exchange Register source number and each animal’s full microchip number. Animal Welfare Victoria’s guidance says you need one too if you’re outside Victoria and will rehome to adopters there. Before a listing goes live, we check the register says the number is active. That doesn’t show who holds it. Check a source number.
• New South Wales: each dog’s microchip number, and a former racing greyhound’s racing number. For a dog born from 1 December 2025, also its breeder’s BIN, labelled as a BIN. If your rescue is a NSW rehoming organisation with a rehoming organisation number (RON) and doesn’t know who bred the dog, give your RON instead, labelled as a RON, whenever the dog was born. A rescue without a RON needs the breeder’s BIN for a dog born from 1 December 2025. Checking NSW numbers.
• Queensland: for each dog born on or after 26 May 2017, its supply number: usually its breeder’s, or an exemption number from the Queensland Dog Breeder Register. A pound or shelter whose dog arrived without one uses its own breeder ID. Checking a supply number.
• South Australia: the seller’s name and phone, and each breeder’s name and phone, with their DACO breeder ID if they’re registered. If you don’t know who bred the animal and couldn’t reasonably find out, our form asks you to say why.

The listing form asks for what we know your state requires, but it can’t cover every case. Following your state’s law is up to you. From each state’s law or regulator, checked 10 Oct 2026. Not legal advice. Our Listing Rules say what we check before any listing goes live.

Listings open soon. Join the list, choose “Rescue or shelter”, and we’ll email you when you can list, with what your state asks you to have ready.