Services For Pet Owners

While the primary mission at the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast is to care for our community's homeless pet population, we also provide support, resources, and services to Martin County pet owners. 

Please find more information on these services throughout this page:

• Martin County Pet Licensing
• Public Spay/Neuter Program
• Pet Microchipping
• Pet Lost & Found
• Pet Surrender & Rehoming
• Owner Requested Euthanasia & Cremations

You can find additional resources, including behavioral concerns, on our website here.

Martin County Pet Licensing

On behalf of Martin County, HSTC offers county pet licensing to all Martin County residents, regardless of whether they adopted from the shelter or not. In accordance with county low, pet owners have 30 days to register their pets with the county. All money from these transactions goes back to the County.

Fees:

Public Spay & Neuter

The Humane Society of the Treasure Coast’s Public Spay/Neuter Program is the largest low-cost spay/neuter program on the Treasure Coast. Every year nearly 2,000 dogs, cats, and rabbits are brought to our Shelter Clinic by responsible pet owners

This procedure includes:

*Rabies vaccines are one year vaccines and only available for cats and dogs over the age of 4 months at the time of surgery.

**Bloodwork is only available for patients undergoing spay/neuter surgery at HSTC.

• Pre-surgical bloodwork is necessary for sending medication home with the patient post operatively. Bloodwork also helps evaluate body systems that may be affected by anesthesia and pain medication.
• Bloodwork is highly recommend on patients 5 years and older.
• If blood cannot be obtained from patient pre-anesthesia, the patient will be sedated to collect and run the sample.

Additional fees may apply for patients that are cryptorchid (undescended testicle) or have an umbilical hernia. Dogs and cats must be at least 2 months old and 2 lbs. for surgery. Rabbits must be at least 4 months old and weigh 2 pounds (breed dependent).   

For more information on the spay/neuter program or to schedule an appointment, please contact the shelter at (772) 223-8822.

Spay/Neuter Voucher Program

HSTC also offers a Voucher Program that provides low cost spay/neuter vouchers to be used at a private veterinarian’s office.  The voucher, which covers the costs of the surgery, microchip and registration, rabies vaccination, and nail clipping, can be used at a participating veterinarian in the area that have signed up with the HSTC program. Additional fees may apply at the veterinarian's office.

Vouchers can be purchased in-person at our shelter in Palm City during regular business hours. These vouchers cannot be purchased via mail or phone. Click the button below to download the voucher application to be used at private veterinarian clinics. This application will need to be submitted to HSTC with payment in person, before a voucher is issued.

For more information on the spay/neuter program, to schedule an appointment, or to learn more about the spay/neuter voucher system, please contact the shelter at (772) 223-8822.

Pet Microchipping

A microchip is a radio-frequency identification transponder that carries a unique identification number. When the microchip is scanned by a vet or shelter, it transmits the ID number. This unique identifier can be used to find contact information for the registered pet owner so efforts can be made to reunite the lost pet with its owner.

Fast facts about microchips:

• A microchip is not a GPS
• It's a permanent form of ID, registered to a recovery database which holds pet and owner information
• A microchip is only as useful as the information tied to it, so ensure your contact details are up-to-date at all times
• A microchip is the only permanent, reliable way to identify a lost pet.

Using 24PetWatch, the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast microchips every pet adopted from our shelter. During the adoption process, we help adopters register their pet's microchip on the recovery database (24PetWatch) and add the owner's contact information.

Even if you did not adopt your pet from our shelter, we offer microchipping services for the public. Simply call the shelter at (772) 223-8822 to schedule an appointment.

Remember, a microchip and its unique ID are only as useful as the information on record with the recovery database. As a responsible pet owner, it's important to make sure that you keep this information current through your microchip registrar.

Fees:

Pet Lost & Found

The Humane Society of the Treasure Coast in Martin County is open from 8:00am-5:00pm Monday-Saturday and 8:00am-4:00pm on Sunday, by appointment only. We can be reached by phone at (772) 223-8822.

Animal Services is open 8:00am-6:00pm, 7 days a week, and can be reached at (772) 463-3211 or (772) 220-7170. Animal Services Officers are on call after-hours only for emergencies.

What to do if you lost an animal

1. Call Animal Services Dispatch at (772) 463-3211 or (772) 220-7170 and file lost report.
2. Call Humane Society of the Treasure Coast at (772) 223-8822 and file a lost report.
3. If your pet is microchipped, call your microchip registrar and make sure your microchip information is current and updated. If your pet was adopted from HSTC, the registrar is 24PetWatch. If you're unsure who the registrar for your pet's microchip is, simply key in the microchip number into the Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool. This registry will tell you which company your microchip is registered with.
4. Walk around the area the pet was found and ask people they have seen your lost pet.
5. Make flyers, reach out to local veterinarians, shops, gas stations, etc. to post flyers and get the word out.
6. Check and post on “Lost and Found pets in Martin County” Facebook page, neighborhood apps, etc. and get the word out your missing pet.

You can find more tips here.

What to do if you found an animal

1. Call Animal Dispatch at (772) 463-3211 or (772) 220-7170 and file a found report.
2. Call Humane Society of the Treasure Coast at (772) 223-8822 and file a found report.
3. Walk the animal around the area you found the pet and ask people you see if they recognize the pet. Pets may try and make their way home once they get back into a familiar area.
4. Check/Post on Lost and Found Pets in Martin County Facebook page, neighborhood apps, etc. get the word out.
5. Take animal to local veterinarian or shelter to be scanned for a microchip. Microchip ID's can be looked up through the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup Tool.

For Support After Hours

1. Please hold onto animal until shelter or animal services is open the following day if owner unable to be located.
2. Check/Post on Lost and Found pets in Martin County Facebook page, neighborhood apps, etc. get the word out.
3. If you cannot hold onto pet for the night, ask friends or neighbors if they are able to watch the animal until the next morning.
4. If all means are exhausted, release the animal or take to a Pet Emergency office.

What to do if you found injured/sick wildlife after hours:

Injured/Sick Wildlife call Animal Services (772) 463-3211 or (772) 220-7170

HSTC's After-Hours Drop Boxes

After a temporary closure for the past year, due to COVID, the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast has ultimately decided not to reopen its after-hours ("nighttime") drop boxes. This decision follows suit with national welfare organizations, such as Best Friends Animal Society and ASPCA, as well as other leading shelters accross the country. Maintaining top tier humane treatment of animals and best practices for pet sheltering is our chief priority at HSTC and after-hours drop boxes no longer supports this goal. Thank you for understanding.

Not a Martin County resident?

It is most likely the your pet will be found closest to where you lost it. We can offer additional resources to help you, based on your area of residence:

• Fort Pierce residents, click here.
• St. Lucie County residents, click here.
• Okeechobee residents, click here.

Pet Surrender & Rehoming

We understand it is a difficult decision to have to rehome your pet. When calling to scheduling your appointment you will speak with a pet surrender counselor. It’s our goal to work with you to assure you have exhausted all resources available to keep your pet and resolve any barriers you may have. We will help to remove those barriers and prevent the need for surrendering the pet to a shelter. If it is ultimately decided surrendering ownership of your pet is the only option, we will schedule an appointment at that time. The Humane Society of the Treasure Coast accepts all domestic pets from residents in Martin County, regardless of species, breed, age, and health. Out of county surrenders will be accepted as space dictates and if resources are available to assist that animal.

For tips on rehoming your pet without surrendering your pet to our shelter, please click here.

To speak to a pet surrender counselor or schedule an appointment please call 772-223-8822. Once your appointment is scheduled, please bring the following to your appointment:

• A valid driver’s license or state ID
• Any veterinary paperwork and any medications the animal is currently taking
• A completed intake questionnaire for your pet:
  • Download the Dog Intake Questionnaire here.
  • Download the Cat Intake Questionnaire here.
  • Download the Critter/Small Animal Intake Questionnaire here.

Not a Martin County resident?

Please understand that as an open-admission shelter for Martin County, our first priority is to utilize our resources for Martin County pets. Therefore, we cannot gaurantee the intake of pets outside of our county. In this case, we can offer additional resources to help you, based on your area of residence:

• Fort Pierce residents, click here.
• St. Lucie County residents, click here.
• Okeechobee residents, click here.

For tips on rehoming your pet without surrendering your pet to a shelter, please click here.

Fees:

Owner Requested Euthanasia & Cremations

Our shelter is committed to saving every animal in our care who can be saved. We do not euthanize healthy or treatable pets, even at an owner’s request.

We only euthanize a pet if:

• A veterinarian has assessed that there is no chance of recovering an acceptable quality of life, or
• It would be clearly inhumane or unsafe not to do so immediately, or
• In cases of irremediable canine aggression when (1) a veterinarian has eliminated medical treatment as a solution; (2) rehabilitation by a specialist in canine behavior has failed; and (3) staff and public safety cannot be reasonably assured, or other management protocols seriously compromise quality of life.

Fees: