If approved by the county’s Board of Health, the new procedures for the selection and rescue of animals from the county’s shelter will be as follows:

• Animals surrendered by owners or impounded as strays will be evaluated as adoption candidates according to the protocols in place at Surry County Animal Control. Shelter officials reserve the right to deem an animal unadoptable and therefore not available to the public or rescue groups. Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and Chows will not be considered adoptable due to their aggressive nature. As a result, rescue placement of these breeds must be outside of Surry County.

• If a stray animal without tags is considered adoptable by shelter management, it will be made available for adoption first to the general public after the completion of a mandatory holding period.

• Rescue groups may express an interest in a particular animal by notifying the shelter’s veterinary technician. However, the animal will not be released to the group until there has been an opportunity for adoption by the general public and it is slated to be killed.

• Individual members of a rescue group may adopt an animal by complying with the same criteria set forth for the general public.

• When an animal becomes available for rescue, the shelter’s veterinary technical will attempt to contact a rescue group. Every effort will be made to ensure that opportunities for rescue are distributed equitably among rescues according to breed preferences.

• The shelter will hold an animal for 24 hours after the rescue group is notified, unless otherwise stated.

• A certificate of rescue must be completed at the time the animal is transferred to a rescue group.