The Best San Francisco, CA Dog Rescues & Shelters in 2025

Muttville

dogs in good health with wonderful personalities are euthanized. Why? Because they're older, and not considered adoptable. A dog is brought in because he can't jog with his guardian anymore. Or he needs a little time to get up the stairs. Or he's simply not a puppy. In some cases, dogs are moved from loving homes to concrete cages because their guardians have died or simply can't care for them anymore. We reach out to senior dogs at risk, give them the care they need, and find them loving forever homes. If we had our way, no dog would spend their last days in a shelter. There is so much love and joy in these dogs!

Rocket Dog Rescue

Rocket Dog Rescue saves dogs from abuse, neglect, and death at overcrowded shelters and places them in loving homes. We support pet owners in need in our community, and serve as first responders in emergency animal situations and natural disasters. Funded entirely by donations, we are a volunteer-run, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Learn about what we do or apply to adopt a dog in the San Francisco Bay Area

Asians for Humans, Animals & Nature

We are changing our organization's name from Asians for Humans, Animals & Nature to Angel's Love. The abbreviation and the website will remain the same as www.ahan.org. AHAN Accomplishments and The Future of AHAN First, I would like to express my gratitude to all of the people whom adopted dogs and cats from us and all of the people, including the staff, volunteers, donors and friends of AHAN, whom were involved with our organization to find so many good homes for these animals. AHAN will be a program under Angel's Love and will continue to help animals, but decreasing the number of hands-on adoptions. We will still post a few new dogs but the majority of the requests will be forwarded to other reliable organizations to help with dog adoptions. Angel's Love will be more involved with setting up a foundation to help other rescuers and organizations once we verify all the information and the background of those organizations. A quick look at AHAN's 30+ years of accomplishments • - We were the first organization that came up with a strategy with an international organization's help to get Taiwan pass the Animal Protection Law. • - We have helped more than 60 international and local rescuers find homes for their rescued dogs • - We have adopted out more than ten thousand dogs and cats and even some goats. • - We were heavily involved in stopping the unnecessary killing of feral cats in the Bay Area. • - We came up with a successful strategy of how to help animals locally and internationally without owning a shelter by working together with rescuers from all over the world. We will continue helping to save dogs and cats by supporting other organizations!

Companion Animal Community Center

The Center was founded in 2021 by a group of animal advocates on the San Mateo Peninsula, with the goal of rescuing animals in need of loving homes by engaging community members in our lifesaving efforts. Our Team has over 50 years experience that includes foster and adoption programs, behavior and training, fundraising, medical and veterinary care.

Love's Legacy Rescue

Copper's Dream Rescue

We're an all-breed dog rescue based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our dogs live in foster homes until adopted - we don't have a physical shelter.

Bull Terrier Rescue, Inc.

Bull Terrier Rescue, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization managed wholly by volunteer board members and officers. We are active in California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Our TIN/FEIN is 68-0272385.

Beyond Rescue

At Beyond Rescue, we’re committed to ensuring that you and your dog are family forever so we're here for you through the entire process. From adoption, to socialization and training, to providing the education and support, we want your household to be comfortable and happy. And if you find yourself facing challenges that might lead to having to give up your dog, we try and offer solutions that hopefully help you keep them. We promise any dog that comes into our care will never end up homeless during their lifetime. Beyond Rescue understands that adopting a dog is where the relationship starts, not where it ends. Our community of dog-loving people goes beyond rescuing dogs—we work to provide a safety net that helps to ensure that adoptive families have the ongoing support, education, and services they need to keep their dog happy and healthy and home. Forever.

Adopt a Doggie

Adopt a Doggie is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit dog rescue organization that has been committed to rescuing, fostering, and finding forever homes for dogs in need since its inception. Our EIN is 47-1384002. Our team, led by Mary Choi in Taiwan and Laura Shelley as Adoption Manager in the US, has dedicated countless hours to saving and improving the lives of thousands of dogs.

Rescues Rock

Rescues Rock is a community based animal welfare, education and rescue organization servicing Hollywood, West Hollywood, The Hollywood and Beverly Hills neighborhoods, as well as, Studio City and neighborhoods of East San Fernando Valley. We adopt to homes throughout Southern California. Rescues Rock operates a dedicated, foster house located in Laurel Canyon. 100% Volunteer fueled Rescues Rock and BarkPark focus on at risk orphan kittens and puppies and dogs and cats requiring medical intervention. Adoptions and meet and greets are by appointment only. Thank you for making the loving and responsible decision to adopt and not shop for your new family member. Rescues Rock is here to help you every step of the way in your adoption process. If you don't see your future family member among our current adoptables, reach out and let us know who you are hoping to find and we will contact our extensive network to help you find your perfect match. Rescues Rock adoptable dogs, cats, puppies and kittens are always up to date on all vaccinations, spayed/neutered and cleared by a veterinarian at the time of adoption. We offer foster to adopt scenarios to approved fosters. Vaccination and S/N clinics are offered at BarkPark for the convenience of our fosters and adopters. Rescues Rock is here for the life of your pet. We are available to consult on training, nutrition, health and wellness at no charge to our adopters. Rescues Rock is a 501c3 non profit organization.

Tailchaser Rescue

Tailchaser Rescue is a 501(c)3 non-profit, no-kill, animal rescue organization based out of the Bay Area, CA, dedicated to rescuing cats and dogs (and sometimes more) from shelters where they are in danger. We believe in removing barriers to adoption and educating pet owners and potential adopters about responsible pet ownership and the importance of spay / neuter. We are a foster-home-based organization and we do not have a shelter or physical location that adopters can visit. All of our rescued animals are cared for by volunteer foster families in their homes. This allows us to get to know the animals better, and helps us assess what type of home environment they will do best in. Tailchaser Rescue was founded in 2008.

Contra Costa Animal Services

The Animal Services Department has a long history in Contra Costa County. In 1959 Animal Control (as it was called then), consisting of five employees, was re-assigned from the Sheriff's Office authority to the County Agriculture Department. Animal Services became its own County department in 1985. The original shelter was located one block from where we are now on the eastern edge of Martinez. In May 2005, a beautiful two-acre state-of-the-art shelter complex and six-stall barn with open corral area, totaling more than 38,000 square feet, was dedicated by the Board of Supervisors and local dignitaries. Our 75 employees and over 150 volunteers take great pride in serving our community, work very hard to care for the animals, and are eager to show you what we have to offer. We invite you to visit us soon. Who knows, you may find your new best friend at the Animal Services Shelter!

A Girl's Best Friend Rescue

A Girl’s Best Friend Rescue is a registered 501(C)3 non-profit organization that pulls dogs from kill shelters, rescues them from the streets, provides them with their necessary medical care, and works tirelessly to help each dog find forever loving homes. Are you ready to meet your best friend?

St. Francis Animal Protection Society

In 1971, our founder Helen Galantiere walked away from a successful corporate career to help animals. Inspired by her days screening potential foster families for kids, she hatched St. Francis Animal Protection Society. We received charitable nonprofit status in March of 1972. Helen built a rescue organization without a physical facility, instead placing at-risk cats and dogs in foster homes to receive treatment, training, and TLC. She made sure unfixed animals were spayed or neutered, and educated her community about proper care of companion animals through "Animal World," a weekly column in the Marin Independent Journal. While times have changed, our commitment to at-risk animals remains the same. We bring help, hope, and healing to animals and the people love them. A volunteer-run, foster-based animal rescue and advocacy group, we serve the Greater Bay Area. We approach rescue with an open heart, an open mind, and an innovative spirit. Together, we engage, educate, and empower our community in the fight for our most vulnerable cats and dogs.

FurEver Animal Rescue

Hara adoptions

Happiness Animal Rescue Alliance - Tails up! Happiness is here to stay Bay Area adoptions, local and international rescues. We are a non-profit organization run entirely by a dedicated team of volunteers (no paid staff, no wasted donations - we do everything with heart!) with a love for not only animals, but humans too! At HARA we do everything we can to make the adoption process enjoyable for you - What a rarity these days right? We go beyond just "adoption" and provide the knowledge necessary to ensure the happiness of both owners and pets, from first contact, to post adoption. We are there for you every step of the way.

Welcome Home Sanctuary

We are a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit rescue based in San Francisco that take dogs most in need and immediately put them in foster care so they don't ever have to be in a shelter environment again.

Golden Gate Labrador Retriever Rescue, Inc.

GGLRR is an all-volunteer, nonprofit tax-exempt organization in the greater San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. We've been placing unwanted Labs in loving homes since 1986! Our Lab Rescue team saves purebred Labrador Retrievers and Lab mixes from shelters, as well as assists people giving up their dogs for adoption. We provide foster homes, veterinary care, and rehabilitation when needed, and place them with loving, forever families. While GGLRR focuses on rescuing and rehoming Labrador Retrievers, some of our dogs are Lab mixes. Sometimes we know what they are mixed with; most times we do not. We may even have a dog up for adoption that has some physical resemblance of a Lab but turns out not to be a Lab at all (per a DNA analysis performed by the adopter). We endeavor to rescue/rehome Lab mixes that look mostly like a Lab and have the personality/temperament of a Lab. The younger a dog is, the more difficult it is to tell how Labby a dog will be when it is fully grown. We realize that people come to us to adopt a Lab. GGLRR cherishes the opportunity to provide new forever homes for all of the dogs that come into our program.

Stitch in Time Animal Rescue

Love Dogs Rescue and Foundation Inc.

Love Dogs Rescue and Foundation is a federal income tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Founded in 2019, we seek to end the killing of homeless dogs through two avenues: adoption and free or low cost spay/neuter.

Namaste Akita Rescue Alliance

Namaste Akita Rescue Alliance is a 501(c) (3) Non-profit charitable organization located in Northern California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are a small grassroots volunteer based organization. We take in only the number of Akitas we can responsibly care for and re-home. Caring for a manageable number of dogs allows us to provide necessary medical treatment, quality nutrition, training and socialization. It also gives us ample time to get to fully know our fosters and their unique personalities, all of which enables us to find the best possible match for them in an adoptive family. Our members and volunteers are a group of dedicated individuals who have full time jobs, family commitments, children and their own companion animals, yet make time to provide structure, training, behavior modification, medical care when necessary, socialization and plenty of TLC for the dogs in our program. Our goal is to place our Akitas in appropriate homes that provide for and compliment the needs of each individual dog, as well as meets the requirements of our adopters. Collectively, we have more than 30 years of rescue experience with the breed. We partner with local shelters in Contra Costa County, Alameda County, San Francisco, Sacramento, Solano County, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Barbara, the Tri-Valley and Central Valley and Marin County. We will consider other locations depending on available resources and space available. Before we accept a dog into our program, they are carefully evaluated for temperament and health. We then begin the process of getting to know each dog and asses their needs, before we make them available. Some dogs may require more time for rehabilitation, physical or physiological healing or just basic training. They receive whatever time is needed to ensure they are ready and well adjusted so they can thrive in a loving qualified home. We are not a "sanctuary". We don't have acres of land with our own kennels, nor do we have a long list of foster homes to take in large numbers of dogs. We have a small network of volunteers and while our priority is to place our orphans in foster homes first, unfortunately there simply are not enough. Unlike government funded agencies, we rely purely on donations from you, our community and supporters to help fund the work we do. Adoption fees help defray some of our operating costs to spay/neuter, immunize, feed, board/kennel, microchip and provide any medical treatment needed. Often times extensive medical tests are required, and/or major surgical procedures are necessary to get these dogs back to optimum health. Your donations enable us to provide these dogs with the care they never had. Because we are recognized in the state of California as a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization, your donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Our outreach efforts include supporting our local communities by being a resource for educating the public about responsible pet ownership, the importance of spaying/neutering, breed selection, how to prepare for your newly adopted dog, and the many other challenges of pet ownership. We also provide resources for veterinary specialists (i.e: oncologists, dermatologists, ophthalmologists), rehabilitation and therapy centers, animal behaviorists and trainers. Our extended family of Akitas who were adopted from the Akita chapter of Niko Rescue appear on our "Adopted" page, because we want those adopters to know they have our commitment of continued support for the life of their Akita. We hope you're here because you'd like to learn more about the breed, or perhaps because you'd like to join us in our efforts, either by adopting, volunteering or donating. Your support could make the difference in the life of an Akita for the rest of their life.

SEN Foundation Animal Rescue

SEN Foundation Animal Rescue is a volunteer-run foster-based rescue dedicated to saving the lives of injured, sick, abandoned, ownerless animals, as well as preventing animal cruelty and neglect. We passionately believe that people help animals and animals help people through trust, unconditional love, and respect. We believe that animals from shelters and animals with special needs also deserve a chance. Sharing this philosophy with others, we inspire and teach locally and internationally, the importance of the animal-human bond, responsible and humane treatment of animals, adoption of animals from shelters, and animals with special needs.

TikiHut Akita Rescue Association (TARA)

TikiHut Akita Rescue Association (TARA) is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, animal welfare and education organization located in the Northern California/San Francisco Bay Area, dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of orphaned Akitas. Our group is comprised of a handful of volunteers and foster homes. The members in our organization have come together because of the passion we share for the Akita breed. Our breed is respected and treated as royalty in their native Japan, but here in this country, so many of them sit alone in the local shelters, waiting to die. Each of our members (and their spouses and families), work tirelessly to save the many Akitas that end up in these shelters. In addition to rehoming and rehabilitating these wonderful dogs, we also dedicate our efforts to educating the public about the breed, including but not limited to, the importance of spaying and neutering, proper nutrition, genetic issues plaguing our breed and behavior and training information. Our volunteers all have full-time jobs and still find time to support the needs of our organization. But please be patient as we do what we can after hours and on weekends, to return phone calls and emails. Each Akita we bring into our program undergoes a thorough health exam, is spayed or neutered, brought up to date medically, and is worked with for basic obedience and socialization. We crate train all our pups and put them through basic puppy classes. All our dogs are microchipped before they are adopted. The Akitas we take in come from all walks of life. Some have been abused and neglected and some have come from well known breeders. It is a huge misconception that all dogs that come from rescue are all problem dogs. We have seen some of the most wonderfully tempered Akitas come out of these shelters, and we hope we can give many more a second chance at the life they never had. In order to help us fund the work we do, we participate in various fundraisers throughout the year, and/or have merchandise on our website for sale to the public. We also are grateful for monetary contributions from the public. If you would like to help support our cause and are interested in making a donation, we would appreciate any amount you would like to send. We pay for all our foster dogs' expenses out of our own pockets, and until we raise enough funds to reimburse ourselves, we operate on a shoestring budget. The average cost to foster a dog for 4-5 months can be $500.00 or more. To spay or neuter an adult Akita can cost upwards of $150.00. The harsh reality is, that sometimes those costs are a determining factor in how many Akitas we can save. Luckily those we can save, will find loving homes with families that will treat them like royalty! You can see some of the happy faces that are now in their new homes by clicking on the "New Beginnings" button. If you are interested in volunteering or fostering, please email us at: info@tikihutakitarescue.com

Reunion Rescue

Reunion Rescue has been saving pit bulls for over 20 glorious years. We love these dogs and want to show the rest of the world how wonderful they are.

DogZone Rescue

DogZone Rescue is a registered 501(c)3 Non- Profit who saves unwanted, abused and abandoned dogs and places them in loving and responsible forever homes to live out their lives as cherished family members. We would love for you to join us by adopting a dog, volunteering as a foster parent or donating your time for other needed volunteer positions with the rescue.

Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services

Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services (FoBACS) is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting Berkeley Animal Care Services (BACS), the municipal open-admission animal shelter that serves the communities of Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Piedmont, CA.

Pound Puppy Rescue

Pound Puppy Rescue is a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2001. We rescue approximately 400 puppies every year. We are a completely volunteer run organization whose purpose is to keep puppies out of overcrowded shelters where they are at risk for disease and euthanasia. Puppies are fostered in volunteer foster homes where we can keep the puppies healthy, socialized, and in their litter until they are old enough to be placed in permanent, loving homes. All of the puppies we rescue come to us looking for love and a "forever" home. Our hope is that all puppies placed through our organization will never experience being homeless or unloved again.

Contra Costa Humane Society

Contra Costa Humane Society was established in 1991 as the result of the merging of two former longstanding Contra Costa County animal welfare groups — Stop Pets’ Annual Yield (SPAY) and Animal Protection Bureau (APB). Since its formation, CCHS has been in a few locations around the East Bay and in Fall 2023, we expanded our office space to accommodate our growing programs. Kitty Corner, our free-roam space for cats and kittens in our program, doubled in size in 2023, enabling us to rescue more animals! Our space can house up to 25 adult cats in our “big room”, plus a dozen kittens between two smaller rooms. We have a quiet room to provide isolation if needed or use for acclimating a cat or kitten not quite ready to join the others in Kitty Corner. A special space is also available for hospice cats and kittens where we can provide the comfort of home and give special medical attention while in our care.

Transform A Street Dog

Transform a Street Dog has been on the ground in Ukraine supporting independent animal rescuers and rescuing homeless animals since 2018. After the war began, we switched gears, and started to organize mass evacuations of animals to enable them to escape the war and be adopted. Please help us to support pet owners, abandoned pets, neglected shelter dogs and suffering street dogs in Ukraine that have all been affected by the senseless Russian invasion of Ukraine and its people.

Fairy Tails

One of the ways in which we educate and spread awareness, is through our podcast Fairy Tails Dog Rescue. Our podcast is your window into the rescue world. Tiffany Montesano and Louise Wernvik are sharing their everyday challenges and victories in running a nonprofit dog rescue. The podcast puts a face to rescue workers and a gives a voice for homeless dogs. We want to share what we do - but also how we do it. This way our cause can inspire dreamers, rescuers, volunteers and dog lovers in San Francisco and other kingdoms far far away. We provide foster homes for dogs in need. Many rescue dogs leave the shelter with experiences that will haunt them forever.