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

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.

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.

K9 Paw Print Rescue

K9 Paw Print Rescue (K9PPR) is an animal rescue group. Our founding volunteers are known in the rescue world and have been rescuing as well as working in animal-related fields for quite some time. K9PPR became fully operational at the beginning of 2012. We have volunteers in fields such as Veterinary, Animal Training and behavior fields, Nurses, Shelter workers, and hard core animal lovers. We all work together to save lives of dogs in need! Our family is growing every day, and we are very excited for the things to come in the coming years! As an animal rescue group, we have access to animals that are not available to the public which may need some extra help medically, or just need a little extra TLC before becoming adoptable. We are contacted about animals who have run out of time at shelters, evaluate them for temperament and work with them until they are ready for adoption! We rescue animals primarily from local shelters and place the animals into our volunteer foster homes until we can find them their fur-ever home!

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.

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

4 Dogs Farm Rescue

At 4 Dogs Farm Rescue, we are dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating dogs in need. Our team of volunteers work tirelessly to ensure the physical and mental well-being of our rescue dogs. We believe that every dog deserves a loving and forever home, and we strive to make that a reality for each and every one of our dogs.

Friends of Contra Costa Animal Shelters

Friends of Contra Costa Animal Shelters is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization formed in 2018 by a dedicated team of volunteers committed to raising much-needed funds to support the animals at Contra Costa Animal Services. FOCCAS has no paid officers or staff.

NorCal Poodle Rescue

We are a group of volunteers who rescue, rehabilitate and find loving homes for more than 140 poodles and poodle mixes each year. Serving Northern California, we rescue and adopt standard, miniature and toy poodles, as well as poodle mixes. We respond to county shelters, humane societies, and individuals via our website and phone hotline. Each poodle is spayed or neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped and groomed before adoption. In addition, we provide extensive medical care, fostering, boarding and training if needed before placement. We have a return policy in the event that a poodle adoption doesn't work out. We are always grateful for your donations; 97% of all donations are dedicated to our poodles. As we are an all-volunteer organization we incur only 3% administrative cost. The generous gift of time by our volunteers, support and services by pet care businesses, and your tax-deductible donations make this work possible. NorCal Poodle Rescue is an Adoption Guarantee Organization: We rehabilitate and re-home all healthy and treatable animals in our care and reserve euthanasia only for unhealthy and untreatable animals in extreme cases, such as those who bite or with unmanageable medical conditions. NCPR honors the definitions of healthy and treatable as described by the Asilomar Accords.

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.

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.

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.

FurEver Animal Rescue

Stitch in Time Animal Rescue

Partners in Animal Care & Compassion

We are a group of former Peninsula Humane Society (PHS) volunteers and animal rescue advocates who have over 40 years combined experience in animal welfare. Having worked extensively with the animals coming into San Mateo County's Coyote Point shelter, we have witnessed first hand the shortcomings of an outdated animal warehousing model. ​ PACC Board Members successfully forced the county to open the $6.6M, FY21-22 San Mateo County Animal Care, Control and Sheltering Services contract for bid - something that had not been done for 69 years, which is illegal. ​ Predictably the county re-awarded the contract to PHS despite a strong and viable alternative application PACC submitted in partnership with Pets in Need. ​ The county is crystal clear in its complacency around PHS's outdated animal sheltering model sending a clear message that mediocrity is worth $6.6M of your taxpayer dollars. If the regular, premature death of healthy, adoptable animals concerns you, join us in being the voice they don't have.

Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA

The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA (PHS/SPCA) is a local, private, non-profit charitable organization dedicated to animal welfare. Among our major programs, PHS/SPCA adopts fully 100% of the healthy, adoptable dogs and cats in our care and also, through our charitably funded Hope Program, make well and find homes for thousands of animals who come to us sick, injured, or too young to survive without supportive care. PHS/SPCA is truly an open admission shelter, not only accepting many pet animals who might be refused at other shelters, but also taking care of injured and orphaned native wildlife. Our work means almost 5,000 lives saved each year. PHS/SPCA has received a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, and we’re a Platinum-level GuideStar Exchange participant

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.

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.

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.

Ozzies Pound Puppies

Ozzies Pound Puppies was established in 2012. It is named after our founders beloved dog, Ozzie, who died in 2011 due to spleen cancer. When Ozzie died, she adopted two puppies from Stanislaus shelter and they promptly got parvo. They both survived and a rescue was born. We focus on saving parvo puppies from the shelters and the public. We also focus on orphaned puppies whose mothers have passed away, these puppies would not survive without round the clock care. We do not have a shelter, all our dogs are in foster homes mostly in Alameda and Conta Costa County (close to our vets). We are 100% volunteer based, we all have regular jobs and save dogs because we love them. Please be patient with us as we communicate by email only.

Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter

Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter (FAAS) shelters and cares for the lost and abandoned companion animals of Alameda, Calif., reuniting lost pets with their owners and finding new families for the homeless. FAAS is a 501(c)(3) organization. Our tax ID number is 27-0864431. Eight-time winner "Best Nonprofit Group" (Alameda Magazine, 2014-2021) Six-time winner Best Charitable Event (Alameda Magazine 2016-2021).

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.

CalPaws K9 Rescue

CalPaws K9 Rescue was established in October 2019. We are an all-volunteer non-profit dog rescue focused on saving dogs of all ages and breeds. Our volunteers consist of experienced animal rescuers located across the San Francisco Bay area and beyond.

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.

All Beings Cooperative Animal Rescue

We believe that in order to achieve peace of earth, we need all being to cooperate! Animals instinctively cooperate in nature! Our pets live to give us love, protection, healing and companionship. Therefore it is our duty to provide equivalent support to our animal brothers and sisters. We believe that when all being cooperate, we can achieve happiness for everyone, and are excited to do our part! After many years of collaborating with rescues all over the bay area, fostering, rescuing animals from individuals and off the streets, we have established ourselves as an official 501(c)3 nonprofit charity organization in Bay Area, CA - with the continued support of other rescues, veterinary hospitals and animal shelters in the area. Saving lives is everyone's duty! Our organization has been rescuing animals internationally for over 20 years! All types of animals in need are welcome at our sanctuary. From birds to livestock, reptiles or puppies & kittens - we welcome the opportunity to alleviate suffering and loneliness for our voiceless wards.

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.

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?

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.

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.