Animals in the Vermont 211 Database

Orange tabby cat sitting with animal shelter fence behind him

Vermont 211 includes a wide range of animal resources and services in its database, from A-W: Animal Adoption to Well Animal Checkups. Programs can be searched for in our online Community Resource Directory at https://www.navigateresources.net/211vermont/. Use the keywords suggested or click the underlined keyword/s to see a listing of those services.


Animal Adoption is available from shelters and rescues around the state. Some offer multiple services, from adoption to Neuter/Spay Services, to pet food shelves, Animal Surrender Services, and Veterinary Care Expense Assistance. Rescues are often a network of foster volunteers who care for and socialize abandoned or surrendered pets for later adoption. Many humane societies, shelters, and rescues offer pets that come from high-kill shelters in southern states.

Some shelters and humane societies also offer Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) services that help cut down on over population, by humanely trapping feral cats, neutering them and then returning them to their outside environments. A handful of shelters also offer Spay The Mom programs, which also help cut down on populations by accepting mother cats after they have weened their litter, spaying them and their litter, returning the mother to its home, while putting the kittens up for adoption. A few organizations also offer barn cat programs that spay/neuter the animal and then provide it to a farmer or other agricultural business to monitor the rodent population, with the understanding the owner will take care of the cat's needs. All  programs can be searched for by using Feral Cat Management Programs.

A few shelters also provide temporary boarding for pets whose owners are fleeing domestic violence or who are homeless. Foster Care/Temporary Shelter for Animals*Domestic Violence or Foster Care/Temporary Shelter for Animals*Homeless People are the keywords.

For people with military or first responder experience with a disability or PTSD who wish to adopt and train a service animal, there’s a free statewide organization that takes rescue dogs and pairs them with people with that experience for training. Search for that using the following keywords: Service Animals and then select your service affiliation and disability. Veterans with PTSD can also get help with purchasing a service animal by searching: Service Animal Purchase Assistance.

Even if you can’t take on another pet or aren’t allowed to keep one where you live, there are 24 humane societies, shelters and rescues listed in our database that welcome volunteers. Search using the following keywords: Animal Services Volunteer Opportunities.

The historic flooding this summer that devastated several areas of the state forced some families to leave their homes uncertain about what to do with their pets. To the rescue came organizations that help respond to the needs of pets and other animals in state or federally declared disasters. The keywords to search for this care are Disaster Services for Animals. Vermont Disaster Animal Response Team (VDART) and other similar organizations provide this service.

Here are some other keywords and phrases to search:
Animal Food/Supplies Donation Programs (19 organizations in database)
Animal Rescue (6)
Animal Rights Groups (2)
Animal Shelters (13)
Cruelty to Animals Investigation (6)
Mobile Veterinary Care (1)
Neuter/Spay Services (15)
Pet Food (10)
Pet Tracking Microchips (4)