How to Reach the Editorial Team
Got a correction, a dial-test failure, a question, a press request, or a privacy inquiry? You’re in the right place. This page sets out the right channel for each kind of message and what to expect from us in response — and the right places to go for animal emergencies, which we cannot handle.
animal-shelter.org/ is editorial only. We do not respond, dispatch, or rescue. For an active emergency, contact the right authority directly:
- 911 — animal cruelty in progress, dog attack, person injured by an animal
- Your county animal control — number on the relevant county or city page on this site
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — 1-888-426-4435 (24/7, $95 fee)
- Pet Poison Helpline — 1-855-764-7661 (24/7, $89 fee)
- Animal Help Now (NAR) — ahnow.org for wildlife and emergency vets
- FBI animal-fighting tip line — 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov
- HSUS / Humane World for Animals — large-scale cruelty, hoarding, animal fighting
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — for animal-welfare workers and pet owners experiencing crisis
- National Domestic Violence Hotline — 1-800-799-7233 (pets in DV situations: see safehavenforpets.org)
If you have a complaint about a specific shelter, animal control office, or rescue — slow response, mistreatment of animals, dispute over an adoption or surrender — animal-shelter.org/ cannot investigate, intervene, or escalate. Service complaints go to the agency itself, the city or county manager, the police chief or sheriff (where animal control reports up that chain), or the state attorney general's office for non-profit oversight. See the routing table at the bottom of this page.
Pick the Right Subject Line
All inquiries go through one inbox: info@animal-shelter.org. The right subject line gets your message to the right person fastest.
Dial-test failure / broken contact
You called a phone number on our site and it didn’t work, or the address is wrong. Expedited 48-hour path because broken contacts cost shelters adoptions and pet reunions.
Subject: Dial-test failure 48-hour expedited updateCorrection
Wrong shelter director name, outdated procedure, redesigned interface that no longer matches our walkthrough, fee schedule update.
Subject: Correction Response within 7 business daysGeneral editorial
Suggestions for new content, missing counties or topics, requests to expand a section, suggestions for new state-law coverage.
Subject: Editorial feedback Response within 14 business daysAdd or update a shelter listing
Are you a shelter, rescue, or animal-control agency wanting to be added or update your listing? We add organisations that meet our editorial standards (see Editorial Policy).
Subject: Add a listing Response within 14 business daysPress & media
Reporters, policy researchers, and broadcasters wanting to discuss our methodology, comment on a national animal-welfare story, or interview our editorial team.
Subject: Press inquiry Same-day or next-business-day responsePrivacy & data
State-privacy rights — access, correction, deletion, opt-out of sale/sharing, portability — under CCPA/CPRA, TDPSA, FDBR, and similar state laws.
Subject: Privacy request Within 45 days where required by state lawDMCA & copyright
Copyright complaints, DMCA notice and counter-notice submissions, trademark concerns. See our DMCA Policy first.
Subject: Legal — DMCA Acknowledgment within 5 business daysAccessibility
If something on the site doesn’t work for you with a screen reader, keyboard navigation, magnification, or another assistive technology.
Subject: Accessibility issue Priority — usually 1–3 business daysWhat to Include in Your Message
- The page URL on animal-shelter.org/ you're referring to
- The county and state your question relates to
- What you expected to find or what you think is wrong
- For a dial-test failure: the number you called and what happened (no answer, disconnected, wrong organisation, voicemail full)
- If possible, the link from the official agency page that supports the correction
- A contact email so we can reply (we don’t share your email — see our Privacy Policy)
Please don’t include Social Security numbers, full bank-account information, medical information, photos of injured animals (we cannot help — go to a vet), or other sensitive data in messages to us. We don’t need it and we can’t act on it.
What We Cannot Help With — Routing Table
| If you need… | Go to… |
|---|---|
| Find a lost pet | Your county animal control’s lost-pet desk + AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup at petmicrochiplookup.org + Petfinder + Pawboost + walk the local shelter every 24-48 hours |
| Found a stray and want to keep it | File a found-pet report with your county animal control; observe the legal hold period under your state law |
| Surrender a pet | Your local open-admission shelter or humane society — contacts on every county page; or rehome through Petfinder Foundation’s Rehome / Adopt-a-Pet’s Rehome |
| Adopt a pet | Your local shelter, humane society, SPCA, or breed rescue — contacts on every county page; or browse Petfinder / Adopt-a-Pet |
| Report animal cruelty | Your local animal control / humane investigator / police — county page lists the right routing for your state |
| Report animal fighting | FBI tip line 1-800-CALL-FBI / tips.fbi.gov + your local police (federal felony under 7 U.S.C. § 2156) |
| Pet poisoning | ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center 1-888-426-4435 ($95 fee) or Pet Poison Helpline 1-855-764-7661 ($89 fee) |
| Sick or injured pet | Your veterinarian or the nearest emergency veterinary hospital |
| Injured wildlife | Animal Help Now at ahnow.org for licensed wildlife rehabilitator |
| Low-cost spay/neuter | Local low-cost clinic, voucher programme, Pets for Life community programme; we list these on county pages |
| Animal Welfare Act complaint (USDA-licensed facility) | USDA APHIS Animal Care at aphis.usda.gov/animal-welfare |
| Pet-related crime / theft | Local police; in some states pet theft is a separate offence |
| Disaster response for pets | Local CART / state SART; ASPCA disaster response; HumanePro disaster preparedness |
| Non-profit oversight (suspect a shelter is misusing donations) | State attorney general’s charity bureau; Charity Navigator; Candid (formerly GuideStar); BBB Wise Giving Alliance |
| Crisis or mental-health support | 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline · 1-800-799-7233 Domestic Violence (pets in DV situations: safehavensforpets.org) |
How We Operate
animal-shelter.org/ is a digital-only publication. We don't have a physical office open to the public, do not accept walk-in visitors, and do not publish a postal address for general correspondence. Email is the way to reach us. We do not monitor email 24/7 — for animal emergencies, use the resources at the top of this page.
What We Won’t Engage With
- Abusive, threatening, or harassing messages — these are not acted on and may be reported to authorities
- Bulk SEO outreach, link-insertion requests, and “guest post” pitches that aren’t relevant to our editorial focus
- Requests to remove factual statements about a shelter, agency, or organisation that are accurate and properly sourced
- Service complaints — we don’t dispatch animal control, replace shelter management, or investigate non-profit decisions
- Pet emergencies — we cannot rescue animals, dispatch services, or transport anyone
- Breeder advertising requests — we do not accept breeder advertising
- Generic marketing emails, sales pitches, and unsolicited proposals not specific to our work
- Requests to act as a microchip registry or to maintain pet ownership data
Ready to Send Us a Message?
Pick the right subject line, include the page URL and any supporting documentation, and we’ll respond within the time stated for that channel. For animal emergencies — see the resources at the top of this page.
📧 info@animal-shelter.org