Mission Valley Animal Shelter is a small, private, no-kill facility in Polson, Montana. Their goal is to reduce the number of abandoned, unwanted, and homeless pets through adoption and education.
They serve an area spanned by Lake County and the Flathead Indian Reservation and are faced with both rural and reservation environments, where there’s a higher prevalence of stray and unsterilized animals. They’re the only animal shelter between Missoula (60 miles to the south) and Kalispell (60 miles to the north) and serve a county where no animal control services exist.
With no animal control ordinances, Mission Valley Animal Shelter is regularly challenged by the number of animals in need. The single tribal officer with some jurisdiction over domestic animals is severely restricted in authority, time, and funding, so most stray animals end up at Mission Valley Animal Shelter.
Their facility has 15 indoors dog kennels (including one large puppy kennel and three indoor isolation kennels), 2 quarantine kennels, 19 outdoor dog runs, 4 outdoor isolation kennels, and 2 separated fenced-in yards for dogs. The shelter also has a large adult cat room and a separate smaller kitten room where cats and kittens can freely roam and socialize. Additionally, there's a cat isolation room with cages where new or ailing cats and kittens are observed before joining the general population.
Considering adoption from Mission Valley Animal Shelter? Read below for more information on their adoption process and fees.
The process to adopt from Mission Valley Animal Shelter is simple:
If you're adopting a puppy younger than 4 months, the process is slightly different.
Adoption forms for Mission Valley Animal Shelter can be found below:
Adoption fees at Mission Valley Animal Shelter are as follows:
Your adoption fee covers spay/neuter surgery, various vaccinations, and microchipping.
Our writing team is hard at work researching this shelter's adoption process and fees, so this page will be updated soon!
In the meantime, here's some nice-to-know info that applies to nearly every animal shelter, humane society, and rescue.
Because shelter dogs are full of love!
Is it because they know you saved them and love you harder for it?
I can't say for certain, but yes.
Jokes aside, there are three things all shelter dogs need to thrive in their new home:
Older shelter dogs, generally 1+ years old, may have experienced a lot of trauma, which often results in one of 8 common behavioral issues:
These issues are correctable! Your dog isn't broken, they're just damaged. You can fix them with enough love, patience, and a good training plan.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, finding good dog trainers can be hard. Like everything else, dog training is moving only. but there are great online dog trainers that are proven to work and can help get your new pup on the right path.
You can learn a lot about an animal welfare organization just by looking at their name.
Adoption processes vary drastically from organization to organization, but here are some general tips that apply in most instances. Note that we'll use the term "shelters" here for simplicity but it includes all types of rescue organizations.
If you have any questions about adopting an animal (what you'll need, what to expect, etc.) feel free to contact the PetLists team!
If you're looking to adopt a new dog, our Dog Adoption Guide is a must-read. It has everything you need to know about bringing a shelter dog home:
And we're adding new guides all the time.
