Adopt Malificent

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Hancock County (SPCA) is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of animal welfare, to the protection, sheltering, and placement of companion animals into responsible, loving homes, to humane education in the community, and to local, state and national animal advocacy. We are a life-saving shelter serving, first and foremost, local animal populations and pet owners.

We serve the entirety of Hancock County of Maine and are dedicated to the sheltering, rehabilitation, and rehoming of cats and dogs that need us. If you need to make a surrender, please call 207-667-8088 or visit our Admissions page at spcahancockcounty.org for information. Please note that because of the increased number of surrenders, you may be asked if you can provide care for the animal you wish to surrender until we have space.

All available animals are listed online. Our adoption process follows these steps: 1) You fill out an application for the animal(s) you are interested in adopting. Our application process requires a vet check if you have owned pets within the last 7 years and a landlord check if you rent. 2) Our adoption specialists receive your application and review your information. Depending on the quantity of applications received and when the veterinary clinic you visit is open, this step may take from 1 to 5 days. 3) Our adoption specialists will contact you and update you on the status of your application. If they have no concerns, they will proceed to Step 4. Otherwise, they may talk you through the following steps. 3.a) If your application looks good but you are behind on current vaccinations or exams with your current pets, they may ask that you set up an appointment with your pet's vet and call back once the visit is scheduled or completed to proceed with your application. 3. b) If you rent and your landlord has not replied or has disapproved, you may be asked to continue to wait until receiving approval or if the landlord permits only a certain type of pet, you will be asked to comply with their standards and consider and alternative animal. 3.c) If you rent and your lease does not permit pets, then we must deny your application. 3.d) If you have/had other pets and your vet check does not go well, then our adoption specialists will likely deny your application. Vet checks are our primary way of telling whether a person has the animal's best interests at heart and are one of our steadfast rules. Discretion may be used if it is clear you tried to treat any concerns of a previous pet. 4) Once your application is approved, it's time to meet the pets you're interested in! Meet-and-greets are made by appointment-only and you may see several animals throughout the course of your appointment, simply schedule time to see them all. 5) At the time of your meet-and-greet, you can decide if you and the animal are a perfect fit and one of the following results will happen: a. You love this animal and will not leave without them. You can straight up adopt (pay the adoption fee and have ownership transferred) or in most cases foster-to-adopt (take the animal home for a trial period of an expressed amount of days). You must commit to either adopt or not adopt at the end of your foster-to-adopt period (or during any part of it). b. You love the animal but realize you would not be a right fit for each other. That's okay! Your application remains on file, you can talk with our staff about your needs, and future meet-and-greets can be scheduled when we have animals you would like to meet. c. You decide you like what you see but need another visit. You can schedule another meet-and-greet with that animal but they will not be placed on hold for you and will continue to meet other potential adopters. d. Most dogs and shy cats may require a second or third meet-and-greet if they need time to acclimate to you before going home. If it is clear you are going to adopt but giving them time to adapt before taking them out of a familiar environment, the animal is placed on hold for you and will not meet other adopters between your visits. 6) Happy tails! If you like, you can have your picture taken with your newly adopted fur baby, or you can send adoption updates to happytails@spcahancockcounty.org. Please let us know if you give permission to share them online with our followers (personal information omitted, of course!) Because of COVID-19, we try to reduce exposure to both our staff and volunteers and our animals, we are doing a Foster to adopt where you take the cat or dog home and have 2 weeks to try them out. If it does not work out you return them and get your adoption fee back