Want to adopt a pet? Need to surrender one? Seven things to know.

I want to adopt a pet. What do I do?

People can help by adopting a dog, fostering a dog and by sharing information about animals that are up for adoption on the SNAP, short for Surf the Net About a Pet, at https://secure.co.palm-beach.fl.us/snap/home

To encourage adoptions, the fee is $14 during February. The usual adoption fees are $60 for adult dogs, $75 for puppies and $50 for cats and kittens.

I have an animal I can't care for any longer. What do I do?

Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control will take it and try to find it a new family.

Pet owners are required to make an appointment by calling 561-233-2450 and to try to find a home for their animals before surrendering them.

'It is a crisis':County pet shelters over capacity as rising costs push people to surrender animals

Jan Steele, the agency’s executive director, says no one should feel guilty about surrendering a pet if they don’t have the means to care for it. It’s far better than deserting them to become a stray, where at the least, they will become ill and malnourished.

“This is no one’s fault. It is about us as a community coming together to save animals,” Steele said.

My neighbors have been sick. What happens if they're hospitalized and can't care for their pets?

If no one else is available, Animal Care and Control will pick up those pets, holding them for months if need be.

Does Animal Care and Control care only for dogs and cats?

Hardly. It also takes in livestock such as pigs, chickens, horses and goats, often after they’re found running loose in rural areas.

What are the strangest creatures Animal Care and Control has housed?

The shelter has been home to pets as exotic as rats, bearded dragons, snakes and hamsters.

What leads Animal Care and Control to decide it's time to euthanize an animal?

The agency does not limit the length of time it keeps an animal and will keep them for months as long as the animal is doing well. When an animal becomes sad and depressed, self-mutilates or becomes more aggressive, they become unadoptable. If a rescue, foster or adopter cannot be found, those are the animals that go on the euthanasia list, Steele said.

Is there hope for animals that appear sad and depressed?

Yes, especially for dogs who get a chance to return to home life. Even a week away from the shelter’s kennels can help a dog improve enough to become adoptable.

“A volunteer saw a dog that needed time away and took it for a week. The dog went home with her and spent the first 24 hours sleeping,” Steele said. “The dog became a normal dog, came back and got adopted."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Animal Control: How to adopt or surrender a pet in Palm Beach County