About Us (& our policies)

Serendipity German Shepherd Dog Rescue (SGSDR) is a state licensed, incorporated, non-profit rescue organization founded in May 2004.

Our rescue is recognized by the IRS as a 501c3 charitable organization. All donations to this rescue are tax deductible.

100% of your donations benefit our rescue dogs. All our officers, directors and board, as well as all our group members volunteer their time and efforts to this rescue without compensation.

Our mission is to find loving permanent homes for abandoned and surrendered German Shepherd Dogs in Missouri and surrounding states.

Our rescue does not have a shelter facility and our program dogs live with volunteer foster families who care for our dogs until their adoption. We have foster homes located throughout Missouri and Illinois.

Our Rescue & Surrender Policies

  • We are not a shelter or a kennel. We do not have a physical location.
  • We are a network of volunteers, some who are willing to accept a foster dog into their home. We only have room for as many dogs as we have foster space for at any one time. As a dog gets adopted, so a space may open up to take another.
  • The rescue is made up of unpaid volunteers. We devote as much SPARE time as we can to this effort. Please keep in mind that we have homes, children and parents that we care for, we work, and we try to have personal lives. We will respond to you in as timely matter as we can.
  • A dog surrender request form is available on our forms and info page.
  • We do not have adopters lined up looking for dogs who have been allowed to develop undesirable behavioral issues or aggression. If you have failed to provide your dog with the necessary training, socialization or veterinary care please understand that we are not the answer to your problem. You need to address the issues before we can assist you in re-homing your dog. We can direct you to trainers who can assist you.
  • Incomplete requests are less likely to get a response. We do not have time to chase you down to get the information we need to assist you.
  • The average time to re-home a dog is one month. If it is Friday, and you need to find a home for your dog by Monday, we can not help you.

Due to the overwhelming number of requests we receive from owners wishing to surrender their German Shepherd Dogs, we must ask that before a request is made, the dog meet the following criteria:

  • Must be a purebred German Shepherd Dog. We cannot accept mixed breed dogs – there are just too many for our small rescue to handle.
  • The dog must be friendly and not show any type of unprovoked aggression to humans or other animals. We can cope with dogs who are not compatible with cats, but we cannot accept dogs who exhibit aggression to other dogs, as our foster families all have their own pets.
  • If we do not have available foster space to take the dog into our program we can also courtesy list the dog on petfinder.com providing the dog is not aggressive and has been neutered or spayed. We will help screen potential applicants.
  • SGSDR must receive a copy of the dog's vet record prior to being considered.
  • Even if your dog fits the above criteria, we must still personally evaluate each dog on a case by case basis.
  • You must be the legal owner of the dog for which the owner surrender form is being submitted. DO NOT use this form to report dogs in shelters or strays.

Due to regulations we cannot accept stray or abandoned dogs. We are only allowed to accept dogs that have been released from an animal shelter, another rescue or from the legal owner of the dog. Please do not contact us about stray dogs.

Any submissions which do not meet the above criteria will be discarded without review.

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