The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization's mission is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States."
Pet adoption is the process of transferring responsibility for a pet that was previously owned by another party. Common sources for adoptable pets are animal shelters, rescue groups, or other pet owners. Some organizations give adopters ownership of the pet, while others use a guardianship model wherein the organization retains some control over the animal's future use or care.
An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would be penned or impounded until they were claimed by their owners.
An animal rescue group or animal rescue organization is a group dedicated to pet adoption. These groups take unwanted, abandoned, abused, or stray pets and attempt to find suitable homes for them. Many rescue groups are created by and run by volunteers, who take animals into their homes and care for them — including training, playing, handling medical issues, and solving behaviour problems — until a suitable permanent home can be found.
In some countries there is an overpopulation of pets such as cats, dogs, and exotic animals. In the United States, six to eight million animals are brought to shelters each year, of which an estimated three to four million are subsequently euthanized, including 2.7 million considered healthy and adoptable. Euthanasia numbers have declined since the 1970s, when U.S. shelters euthanized an estimated 12 to 20 million animals. Most humane societies, animal shelters and rescue groups urge animal caregivers to have their animals spayed or neutered to prevent the births of unwanted and accidental litters that could contribute to this dynamic.
Coastal Pet Rescue (CPR) is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to saving the lives of homeless, abused and neglected animals in the coastal areas of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. Its goal is to save as many pet lives as possible through rescue, reduce pet overpopulation through spaying/neutering, and to provide opportunities to the public to become better pet guardians.
The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA) is one of the largest humane organizations in the United States. Located in San Mateo County, California, it is a private non-profit charitable organization. It is an animal rescue, rehabilitation and adoption operation with two locations. The Tom and Annette Lantos Center for Compassion, where adoptable animals are housed, is in the city of Burlingame and the older physical plant, which serves as the intake shelter, is located at Coyote Point in the city of San Mateo. PHS/SPCA has been responsible for considerable progress in the California Legislature with new humane laws in the state, especially since the late 1970s. PHS/SPCA has been characterized as a progressive and innovative humane organization.
A no-kill shelter is an animal shelter that does not kill healthy or treatable animals based on time limits or capacity, reserving euthanasia for terminally ill animals, animals suffering poor quality of life, or those considered dangerous to public safety. A no-kill shelter uses many strategies to promote shelter animals; to expanding its resources using volunteers, housing and medical protocols; and to work actively to lower the number of homeless animals entering the shelter system. Up to ten percent of animals could be killed in a no-kill shelter and still be considered a no-kill shelter.
Best Friends Animal Society, (BFAS) founded in its present form in 1993, is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) animal welfare organization based in Kanab, Utah with satellite offices in Atlanta, Georgia, Bentonville, Arkansas, Houston, Texas, Los Angeles, California, New York City, and Salt Lake City, Utah. It also has a partnership network with shelters, rescue groups and members in all 50 states and Washington, DC, to promote pet adoption, no-kill animal rescue, and spay-and-neuter practices. Best Friends has a 3-star 'Give With Confidence' rating from Charity Navigator.
The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is a volunteer-based, non-government organization whose goal is to prevent animal cruelty through education, animal sheltering and advocacy, based in Quezon City, Philippines. It was founded in 1954 by Muriel Jay. PAWS believes that the creation of a more peaceful society starts with the widening of mankind's circle of compassion which includes animals, thereby envisions a nation that respects animals, practices responsible pet ownership and protects wildlife. The volunteer-based organization rehabilitates these animals in the hope of finding them new homes and a second chance at a good life. PAWS does not take in pets of other people, but only victims of cruelty or neglect where the animal offenders are charged with violation of the Animal Welfare Act in court.
Compassion and Responsibility for Animals (CARA) is a registered non-profit, non-government animal welfare organization in the Philippines. It was founded in 2000 by a group of animal lovers determined to help the plight of animals in the Philippines. The current president of CARA is Nancy Cu-Unjieng.
World Spay Day advocates spaying, or neutering, advocating it "as a proven means of saving the lives of companion animals, community cats, and street dogs who might otherwise be put down in a shelter or killed on the street." It is an event held on the last Tuesday in February each year.
The Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) is a nonprofit organization founded by Elaine and Tony La Russa, based in Walnut Creek, California. ARF rescues dogs and cats from public animal shelters where they would otherwise be euthanized and adopts them into new homes. Their programs include a spay and neuter clinic, training classes, psychiatric service dog training for military veterans, a volunteer therapy dog program, and humane education programs for children.
Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh (HARP), formerly known as the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania, known commonly as Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center (ARL), is an animal welfare organization founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1909. The ARL is a non-profit organization that offers various services to support both animals and pet owners alike. It is the only animal shelter in the Pittsburgh area that accepts both domestic animals and wildlife. The agency's shelter and clinic are located in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood, while its wildlife rehabilitation center and boarding kennels are a few miles away in Verona, Pennsylvania. The organization maintains a contract with the city of Pittsburgh and accepts all stray pets that are apprehended by the Animal Control unit.
Adopt a Pet is an adoption web service that advocates pet adoption, gathering information from over 15,000 pet shelters in the U.S. and Canada, with a searchable data base. The web site promotes spaying and neutering of pets and pet adoption through conventional and social media presence, public service announcements, and interactions with local governments. Since 2015, Adopt a Pet has been offering its visitors manuals for pets.
The North Carolina Animal Protection Act aims to protect pets and their owners in North Carolina. This legislation models the Animal Welfare Act of 1966 and can be found in the North Carolina General Statutes under Chapter 19A: Protection Of Animals, Article 3, consisting of six articles.
PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada, are non-profit organizations dedicated to saving the lives of homeless pets. In the United States, PetSmart Charities is the largest financial supporter of animal welfare and among the 400 largest philanthropic organizations working on any issue. PetSmart Charities was formed in 1994 by PetSmart founders Jim and Janice Dougherty, who chose never to sell dogs and cats within their stores. Their primary goal is to save the lives of homeless pets through programs such as their In-Store Adoption Centers in many PetSmart locations, Rescue Waggin' disaster relief program, grant program for animal welfare agencies across North America, and community adoption events. Another focus of the organization is increasing spay/neuter services to help communities solve the problem of pet overpopulation.
Dead Dog Beach is a beach within the municipality of Yabucoa in southeastern Puerto Rico. Its nickname derives from it being a dumping ground for stray animals, mainly dogs that the inhabitants of Yabucoa could no longer afford. Most dumped animals were not spayed or neutered.
PAWS Chicago is a non-profit animal shelter organization based in Chicago, Illinois. The organization was co-founded in 1997 by Paula Fasseas and her daughter Alexis Fasseas. The duo aspired to create an organization that focused on discovering solutions to end the euthanasia of homeless pets.
The Sato Project is an animal rescue and protection organization founded in 2011 by British-born Christina Beckles. It works to rescue abused and abandoned dogs in Puerto Rico, educating the public and advocating for abused and abandoned dogs. "Sato" is the Spanish word used in Puerto Rico and Cuba for referring to stray dogs or cats. Many of the project's missions have involved airlifting dogs before and after natural disasters, including Hurricane Maria in 2017 and the earthquakes that struck Puerto Rico in 2019 and 2020. "Spayathon" is a spaying and neutering program, attended by Sato Project and other animal rights organizations in Puerto Rico, which has had an impact on the stray dog population.
