Second Chance Program
The Second Chance Program at the Oregon Humane Society was established in 1997 in an effort to help shelters in Oregon and Southern Washington – which may have less space, fewer resources and fewer visitors to their shelter –place highly adoptable animals into homes. OHS received approximately 131,000 visitors to our shelter last year and over 11,500 animals were adopted. More than 6,000 of those animals came from shelters in our Second Chance Program. The program has grown over the years and now works with over 90 shelters and rescue groups all with the same goal in mind – to save lives! The program has created a win/win situation for the transfer partner shelters by allowing them to place animals that otherwise would have been euthanized. The Second Chance program enables OHS to serve a larger community of animals and people.
Become a Second Chance Partner (for shelters only)
Are you interested in becoming a Second Chance partner? Please fill out our Request Form. If you have additional questions, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.
Resources for Other Shelters
Second Chance FAQs
Each animal that comes in through our Second Chance Program will have their original shelter listed on their animal profile. You can look at the Transfer Agency map below to see where that shelter is located.
The dogs and cats coming in through our Second Chance Program are from shelters with a high volume of animals and limited space to house them. These shelters take in stray animals and owner relinquished pets. Very few of these animals come in with a history of being in a home, so things such as house/litterbox training and interactions with children and other animals is unknown. A lot of these animals come from more rural environments, whereas Portland and Salem are animal loving cities! It can be a very different environment for them. To continue the success of Second Chance animal adoptions, we will continue to provide adopters with the education and tools needed to get your new best friend settled in their new life!
Thank you for your interest in helping Hawaii dogs! If you have a vacation planned to Hawaii and would like bring a dog back with you, please contact the shelter in Hawaii directly.
