The Best Riverside, CA Dog Rescues & Shelters in 2025

Yucaipa Animal Placement Society (YAPS)

Yucaipa Animal Placement Society (YAPS) is a no-kill nonprofit dog and cat rescue based in Yucaipa, CA. Our mission is to strive to prevent the euthanasia of dogs and cats throughout the region by providing them a temporary safe haven until a permanent and loving home can be found.

All Paws K9 Rescue

We started rescuing on a small scale in 2003. We helped with trap and release of abandoned animals in our local desert area. In 2016 we became a 501(C)3 and rescuing those at risk of euthanasia in our California Shelter system. Since then we have been growing and growing. Now in 2023 we are recognized as a 501c3 in the State of Iowa. We are so excited to see what is in store for us this coming year. To date we have rescued over 200 dogs, some moms with pups and several medical dogs needing help. We would not have been able to do so without the support from many of our friends family fosters board member and the donors that have given anything from money to blankets towels and DOG FOOD. Our rescue is in constant need of fosters. We are always in need of fosters for our seniors that need a quiet place to stay comfy, also bottle feeders for the little ones that have had something happen to their momma, Large dogs are always in need of a place to stay especially those that get a bad wrap just because of their breed. All our fosters provide a safe and loving home for those awaiting their furever homes.

Foster Army Animal Rescue

I.C.A.R.E. Dog Rescue

Code Red K9 Crew

Animal Authority Rescue Team

Huey's Rescue

We are a Non-Profit Organization inspired by the loss of a beloved cat, Huey, that is here to help local shelter pets in need. Our rescue is located in Temecula, CA and we focus our efforts on helping our local animal shelters (Animal Friends of the Valleys and Ramona Humane Society). We take the unwanted, sick and injured kittens, cats, puppies and dogs as well as small animals from these shelters. We place these animals into loving and experienced temporary foster homes until they are physically and mentally healthy enough to find their forever homes.

Domino Effect Animal Rescue

Living Free Animal Sanctuary

We believe in creating a refuge for those in need of a second chance. Living Free is a home for all, a place where you can hear animals playing, people laughing and hearts healing. Emily Jo Beard had a vision – to create a sanctuary where abandoned, abused and neglected animals would be safely housed, cage free, until they could find a loving home. She believed in freedom and reverence for all life, and that justice was not meant for humankind alone, but also for animal-kind. To her, dominion over the animals meant guardianship, not power and tyranny. The courage to stand up for the rights of animals did not mean physical courage, but moral courage. Emily’s compassion still inspires us, and each life saved is a tribute to her legacy. For thousands of years, our site was home to the Cahuilla Indians who left behind archaeological evidence in the many morteros and petroglyphs that can be found on the property. We have taken steps to protect these sites and the Cahuilla legacy. In the early 1900s, John Keen bought the property developed it into a camp. His family built a resort known as Tahquitz Lodge that was used as a location for filmmaking featuring Mary Pickford, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Elvis Presley and Katharine Hepburn. Since then, it has been a cattle ranch, a logging camp, a stagecoach stop, a mountain retreat and film location for the 1920's Hollywood elite.

Joshua Tree No-Kill Shelter

The story of the Joshua Tree No-Kill Shelter began in 1972 amidst a growing crisis of homeless and abandoned pets in the Morongo Basin. It was Kay Baker, a dedicated animal lover and the operator of Hi-Dez Kennels, who donated a 3.5-acre property in Joshua Tree to the newly formed Morongo Basin Humane Society. This generous act led to the shelter’s official opening in 1981. Over the years, despite facing challenges, the shelter has thrived with the support of our community, evolving into a recognized no-kill shelter in 2005. Today, we stand proudly as the Joshua Tree No-Kill Shelter, a testament to our enduring commitment to saving lives and nurturing the bond between humans and animals.

ALMA Rescue Foundation

Erin Riley-Carrasco and Suzie Williamson, lifetime friends, have a shared passion for animal advocacy. Suzie founded a Spay and Neuter Campaign in her hometown of Vizcaino, Mexico and teaming with several veterinarians, has spayed and neutered over 5000 dogs in her hometown. She has also fostered, rescued and found homes for countless dogs in the area and Southern California. Erin has been an animal activist since the age of 19 and has been involved in dog rescue for 30 years. In 2015 she worked closely with a group of dedicated volunteers to get nine city ordinances passed in Southern California, banning puppy mill pet stores in the area. She also volunteered with “Social Compassion In Legislation,” flying to Sacramento and testifying in favor of AB485 which ended up passing, ending puppy mill pet stores in the state of California. Together, this dynamic duo hopes to make an impact on the lives of needy animals by providing networking, transport, veterinary care, fosters and homes for neglected and abused dogs and cats. They truly believe that animals are someONE not someTHING and that every animal deserves a chance and a forever home.

The Animal Rescue Center of California

The housing crisis of 2008 created a wave of stray street dogs as owners lost their homes and moved to apartment buildings. With county shelters over-capacitated and animal control inundated, we saw an urgent need for help and stepped in immediately. With the help of private rescue organizations and low-cost spay and neuter programs, we have been able to rescue hundreds of animals off the street and find them loving permanent homes. There is a great deal more to do! Our vision moving forward is to continue helping animals in urgent need with a stronger support network and a greater capacity to rescue. Our ultimate intention is to create an animal campus in the eastern Coachella Valley to house rescued animals while finding suitable adopting families. Until then, we will continue our mission to help animals as we build The Animal Rescue Center of California.

Desert Paws Sanctuary

Desert Paws Sanctuary is committed to the rescue, rehabilitation, and rehoming of abandoned animals. Our mission is to establish a sanctuary for these animals while also offering educational resources and support to low-income communities in the area of animal welfare.

Retrievers and Friends of Southern California, Inc

Retrievers & Friends of Southern California, Inc., was formed to rescue and re-home Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers, providing an alternative to the animal shelter for owners who can no longer keep their dogs. We are a full-service rescue, with dogs coming to us from all over the Southern California area for foster care services. RFSC not only provides care for dogs while they are waiting for adoption, but we provide follow-up assistance for the life of the dog. If for any reason a family can not keep a dog, the dog is brought back to the organization for placement. We have volunteers that perform home visits before each adoption. Our geographic adoption area is Riverside, San Diego, Orange and certain areas of San Bernardino counties. We cover areas of San Bernardino county that are 1 1/2 hours or less driving distance from Temecula. In addition to Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers, RFSC also accepts mixed breeds and other small purebred dogs as space allows. We accept Goldens and Labs of all ages, including seniors and those with special needs. All dogs are spayed and neutered and updated on vaccinations if not already done by the owner. Dogs with special medical needs are further evaluated by our veterinarian for treatment. Your donations are always appreciated and help us to continue to care for these special dogs. Because we are an all-volunteer group, 100% of all adoption fees and donations are used for the care of the dogs in our program. Your tax-deductible donations are appreciated!

Laguna Beach Animal Shelter

PUP Laguna Beach, a non-profit corporation, is the fundraising arm of Laguna Beach Animal Shelter, dedicated to bridging the gap between City funding and the special needs of our animals. PUP Laguna Beach directs fundraising efforts to ensure that the animals receive the best care possible including medical attention, neutering/spaying and behavioral reinforcement before they are adopted. In addition to fundraising, we are involved in animal issues that are brought to the attention of the City Council, along with working with the Police Department and Animal Control concerning any animal problems within our communities of Laguna Beach and Laguna Woods. PUP Laguna Beach is made up of a small board of directors who are active volunteers and staff members at the Laguna Beach Animal Shelter. Each member can attest to the heartwarming experience of pairing a once-abandoned dog with new loving “parents” and witnessing tears of joy that often follow. There are also many heartbreaking stories about neglected and abused animals who find their way to the shelter. The Board is privileged to experience firsthand how fortunate we are in the City of Laguna Beach to have a quality, clean and humane shelter providing extraordinary services every day.

Pet Place International, Inc.

Pet Place International, Inc. (PPI), is a 501c(3) non-profit animal rescue, sanctuary, and therapeutic riding program (Great Strides) located near Joshua Tree, California. We live at the rescue ranch along with all of our animals. In addition to scheduled adoption events, we utilize all genres of media, including appearances on K-Cal 9 and KTAL News, local radio programs, newspaper, magazine write-ups, and social media to find homes for our rescued animals. Our founder and president of PPI, Joan Grandizio started actively contributing to animal welfare needs while operating a dog grooming business. She created a wall calendar featuring her groomed dogs, the sales of which garnered funds to donate to various animal rescue organizations. How did we get our name? Joan Grandizio created an Animal Product Directory designed to help raise funds for rescue. It was called Pet Place International Pet Directory. In 2008, PPI became a non-profit, boots on the ground, hands-on animal rescue! Since its inception, PPI has rescued and placed thousands of animals. We currently provide a healthy, loving environment to dogs, cats, pigs, horses, and a donkey — and the new kids on the block (See below). Until they get their forever home, they are safe, healthy, loved, and happy with us at the PPI Rescue Ranch. As animal stewards, it is our goal to educate, help prevent cruelty and neglect to animals, and bring awareness to children and all members of the community regarding animal welfare issues; and to provide for the health and well-being of animals with an emphasis on saving lives, and spay/neutering to help eradicate pet overpopulation and euthanasia. In a struggling economy, many horse owners cannot afford to properly care for their horses; and horses that are not winning on the track are eventually auction and slaughter-house bound. These regal animals deserve to live out their lives with dignity and respect. PPI rescues these at-risk horses, restoring their health, training them, and making them ready for placement into qualified forever-homes. Love 1 Love All - photos of puppy, baby pig, baby lamb, and calf. As vegans, our concern reaches beyond companion animals. We lobby and advocate with fervent activism to educate the public and bring about change regarding the cruelty of factory farming. Consuming factory-farmed animals is not only unnecessary to sustain one’s health (to the contrary), it is harmful to our planet. We encourage everyone to sign every petition that advocates for ethical, compassionate, and dignified treatment of all animals world-wide; and to adopt a plant-based vegan diet. It’s our job to make the world a better place; moreover, it’s our job to be an attentive, caring, voice for the voiceless.

Luna Siberian Rescue

Luna Siberian Rescue is a small but mighty 501c3 non-profit Husky Rescue located in Southern California near Joshua Tree National Park. Our first husky Luna inspired us to try and help other huskies in need. We especially love to help the underdogs that many overlook.

Redlands Humane Society

The Redlands Humane Society generally has a varied selection of pets available for adoption. Cats and dogs, pure breeds and mixed breeds, large and small, young and old. All waiting for that special person or family to love and be loved by. We operate an “all breeds” pet rescue and adoption program. We do not operate a shelter and never euthanize a healthy animal. All of our animals are in volunteer foster homes until they find good adoptive homes. We have no paid staff, this is an all volunteer organization. While this gives our pets a more caring environment, it also limits the number of pets we can take into our system at a time. If you are interested in more information on becoming a volunteer foster, please see our page for volunteer opportunities. We are the oldest Humane Society operating in California, with over 100 years of history. This history pre-dates the annexation of Redlands as a city. Our historical documents are on display at the Smiley Library in Redlands. Our current program, “Operation Second Chance” has been our focus since the 1990s.

Unconditional Rescue

Compassionate Animal Rescue for Medical Aid

Compassionate Animal Rescue for Medical Aid is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) founded by veterinary professionals dedicated to enhancing the lives of people in our community through our love for animals. Our purpose is to rescue sick or injured animals, provide them with necessary medical care and place them into caring homes if needed. CARMA continues to be an all-volunteer organization so that 100% of the money raised through adoptions, merchandise sales, and from our valuable individual and corporate donors and sponsors goes towards the animals we rescue.

Promise 4 Paws

Greendog Foundation

We are passionate about caring for those who need an extra hand (or 5!). We believe that everyone (and every animal) deserves a chance to be their best, and we try our best every day to make sure that all of our animals can find a forever home. The opportunity for an animal to have a second chance at life would not exist without the extraordinary generosity of our donors. Every dollar raised provides care, medical services and the opportunity for an animal to have a loving and permanent home.

Muttly Crew

Our goal at Muttly Crew, Inc is to rescue animals from harm many of which have been abandoned, hurt, or abused. We are a non-profit 501c3 organization committed to the care and re-homing of all the dogs that we save. Our goal is to help them heal, get needed veterinary care, neutered/spayed to make them ready for a forever home.​ We count on volunteers to help support our rescue efforts, involving immediate rescue from harmful situations, and trapping of abandoned animals to get them off the street. We are strictly a volunteer-based organization that relies on fundraisers, collecting donations, silent auctions, raffles; etc. to support our rescue efforts.

Apple Valley Animal Services

The Animal Services Department consists of Field Services and Shelter Services, working together to protect public safety and provide humane animal care through sheltering, pet placement programs, education and law enforcement. Our philosophy is to promote responsible pet ownership, compassion toward animals and safe human-animal interactions. We celebrate partnerships with various individuals and rescue organizations that allow us to increase placement of adoptable animals into permanent loving homes. Working together, we all can provide a "Better Way of Life" for the animals in our care - four paws at a time.

Dogs In Need Organization

Dogs In Need Organization is a nonprofit organization committed to improving the lives of stray or abandoned animals in CA. We rescue all breeds (primarily small breeds) and are 100% volunteer run, utilizing foster homes to rescue dogs in need. Dogs In Need Organization is a 501(c)3 nonprofit who is recognized, and is in good standing, with the Internal Revenue Service. All donations are tax deductible. It is our belief that the killing of adoptable shelter pets is wrong, and we fight every day to save as many as we can. Shelters have differing views of what ‘adoptable’ is, and we believe the sick and scared deserve a chance at life as well. We hope to see an end to all killing of healthy and treatable animals.

Land of the Dog Rescue

I’m Charline. I have been rescuing dogs in the Gavilan Hills area for the last 22 years, which in the past always meant that when the owners could not be found, we kept them! This left my husband with little faith that when I said I was going to find them a new home, that I actually would. Then came Momma. Momma was a local feral dog who was born and lived her life in our hills and had just had her fifth litter of puppies. The puppies were safe thanks to new neighbor Lisa, and others. I found out about Momma Dog’s story after she had been trapped by animal control and was red tagged at the shelter. Neighbors put out a call for someone to foster Momma and, well, Happy Birthday to me. My husband was out of town…she came here, and she is still here living her best life. And that is where Lisa and my story began. We have been rescuing together for the last 4 years. Lisa’s husband had also lost all faith that she would be able to adopt out a dog! For many years, Lisa had been doing the same thing, pulling in strays, feeding (and cooking for) them, looking for the owners, and then keeping them. We both kept at it working with our local strays. Our husbands were still skeptical while we were learning, but once we had several adoption success stories and had proven we could actually let a much-loved foster go, they were on board. It is still a struggle, Lisa’s love and compassion for the dogs in her care knows no boundaries, and her husband is no help because he keeps falling in love with all of them too. Then we were blessed with a new neighbor and a long-time rescuer, Sharlet, with Forever Young K9 Rescue. Sharlet’s rescue mission had always been focused on the shelter’s seniors. However, they could not turn a blind eye to all our local stray and dumped dogs…so after taking in several of the dogs, she told us to stop talking about it and make our rescue official. She wasn’t taking a chance though and sat down with me and made sure everything got filed! So, on February 1st, 2023, Lisa and I became an official 501(c)(3) rescue and in the first 2 months took 9 dogs into the rescue and have not stopped since. Unfortunately, we get requests every day about dogs that need help. It breaks our hearts not being able to help all of them, but we will continue to help as many as we can.

Heer To Rescue

Heer to Rescue, Inc. is a non-profit 501c3 Dog Rescue based out of Lake Elsinore, California. We operate solely on donations made by the public We are very passionate about helping animals in need. Abandoned, unwanted and unloved animals should not be euthanized in our shelters! We work very hard to ensure that every animal that we help receives proper medical attention, vaccinations, microchips and that they are spayed or neutered. We also introduce the dogs to the structure, boundaries and consistency they need in order to set them up for success. Please help support our mission by donating, liking and sharing our website and facebook posts. We do not discriminate against the age, breed, or medical status of a dog that needs help. Every pet deserves a home where they can receive the proper medical care, training, structure, love and care that they deserve. Our goal is to place each pet with a family that is perfect for them. We are a small team of volunteers and we like the idea of quality over quantity. We dedicate loads of time, energy and soul, into every animal that we help, and we feel that in order to provide the best care to each pet we help, its important not to over stretch our limits or funding. Our intakes are chosen based on a multitude of circumstances so that we can ensure we can provide the care each pet deserves. Because we are a small rescue, your support is even more appreciated. It is also our goal to help educate the public as well as our adopters on dog behavior, proper methods of training and leadership, as well as the importance of spay, neuter and microchipping your pets. We want to help reduce euthanasia and keep dogs with their families when possible.

ARE Animal Rescue

ARE Animal Rescue is a private rescue operating a no-kill animal shelter and rescue with two main locations and 5+ satellite catteries in retail stores. We assist with over 3000 adoptions every year, and have between 500-1000 animals in our care at all times. We operate the animal shelter in the city of Banning and assist with reuniting lost pets with their owners and finding homes for unclaimed strays. We provide all of our animals with food, water, shelter, vaccinations, microchips, essential medical care via our partner veterinarian clinics, and eventually a spay/neuter which will help curb the enormous problem of animal overpopulation. We run an expansive foster program to help get as many at-risk animals out of a shelter environment as soon as possible. And we run adoption events and have cattery locations across Southern California to provide as many animals as possible exposure to potential adopters.

Southern Star Animal Rescue

We are a small, 501c3 non-profit rescue organization, dedicated to placing homeless animals into loving, caring, “forever” homes. We take in all breeds, regardless of age, health conditions or personality. We treat them with respect and kindness, our reward is the constant love and affection (and slobber) that we get back from them. Every single one of them deserves a “furever” home and the chance to live a HAPPY, carefree, life. All of these wonderful animals are provided with a home-type environment, where we can evaluate, socialize and rehabilitate them as needed until they are ready to be adopted out. We also strive to bring more awareness to the public about the importance of spaying and neutering their pets to help stop pet overpopulation.

San Clemente Dana Point Animal Shelter