The Best Los Angeles, CA Dog Rescues & Shelters in 2026

Tofu's Dream World

Tofu’s Dream World is a foster-based dog rescue located in Los AngeleS, CA. We rescue dogs from high-kill shelters throughout California and place them in loving, qualified foster homes until a perfect, forever home is found. All medical care is provided and every dog is vaccinated, rehabilitated, and spayed or neutered before leaving our rescue. Tofu’s Dream World was founded by JEN DODARO, a freelance ART DIRECTOR and animal advocate. After years of volunteering with local rescues and regularly visiting and networking dogs at high-kill shelters, it became evident that the shelter crisis in california is far from over. with tofu’s dream world we will do everything in our power to bring awareness to this crisis, while helping as many dogs as we can in the process.

Wags & Walks

Wags and Walks is focused on advocating for wrongfully stereotyped bully breeds, medical dogs, and mamas + puppies that are often overlooked and at-risk due to overcrowding. We do not select dogs based on their size, age, or breed. We select our dogs on a case-by-case basis, factoring in our ability to help and their likelihood of thriving when placed in the right home. We know that, like amazing dogs, loving families come in all shapes and sizes. Our goal is to find every pup an adopter whose home, family, and lifestyle are a perfect fit for a lifetime of love and happiness.

Paws For Life K9 Rescue

Paws For Life K9 Rescue saves and transforms the lives of animals and people through innovative canine-centered programs that provide purpose, support, and opportunity through the Prison/Re-Entry, People & Pet Innovation Center, First Responder and PTSD Support, Adoptions, Transports, and Vet Tech Program.

Angel City Pit Bulls

Angel City Pit Bulls is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to creating a better future for pit bulls by promoting their positive image as loving family companions through education, public advocacy, adoptions, and owner support.

LaBelle Foundation

A beacon of hope in the realm of animal welfare. Our foundation is dedicated to transforming lives through responsible pet ownership education, spaying, and neutering initiatives, vaccination advocacy, and comprehensive dog training. We confront the challenges within the rescue community head-on, driven by a resolute mission to put an end to dog homelessness. Aligned with our mission, we champion accessible veterinary care. Our support has extended to sponsoring spay and neuter clinics across California and Mexico, with ongoing plans to broaden our reach. Our unwavering commitment includes partnering with affordable specialty veterinary clinics and addressing the critical need for accessible and affordable care through advocacy and legislation. As we continue to evolve, our unwavering focus remains on the core tenets that define us. Our journey is built upon the principles of rescuing, rehabilitating, and advocating for dogs, particularly with neonatal orphans needing intensive care, medical/special needs animals, and nursing mother-and-babies. Our foundation stands upon pillars that encompass rescuing animals in need, educating the community on responsible pet care, facilitating forever homes, fostering a supportive community, and prioritizing the overall well-being of animals.

Pasadena Humane

Pasadena Humane is more than an animal shelter; we are a community-supported animal resource center providing compassion and care for all animals. Since 1903, Pasadena Humane has offered lifesaving programs and services for animals and the people who love them in the Greater Los Angeles Area. At our Pasadena campus, we provide shelter, dedicated care and new beginnings for thousands of our community's most vulnerable animals every year. In addition to pet adoptions and foster, we focus on programs and services aimed at helping people care for and keep their pets, such as free and low-cost spay/neuter and vaccines, a pet food pantry, and an animal support call center. In 2022, Pasadena Humane helped nearly 40,000 animals through adoptions, wildlife rehabilitation, lost & found, veterinary services, and surrender prevention assistance.

German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County

German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County (GSROC) is a non-profit 501(c)3 charity organization dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and re-homing purebred German Shepherd Dogs that have no where else to turn.

United Hope for Animals

United Hope for Animals is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization working to end homelessness among companion animals by supporting shelter adoptions and spay/neuter programs. United Hope for Animals works in cooperation with shelters all over Southern California to aid in the rescue and placement of as many animals in need as possible. Our goal is to develop a larger network of people helping to share the animals we photograph in the hopes of more quickly finding them forever homes. United Hope for Animals has teamed up with the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center to help some of the many pets left at the shelter get more visibility through our shelter “glamour” shoots. Our dedicated volunteers include professional photographers, videographers, dog handlers, writers, editors and more. Our goal is to help homeless pets put their best “paw” forward! UHA volunteers also help take the guesswork out of the adoption process. UHA volunteer Adoption Coordinators, who socialize, photograph, and walk the shelter’s homeless dogs, are available to work one-on-one with adopters to match them with a dog whose personality and temperament best fits with their environment and lifestyle. In recent years, UHA has been instrumental in helping other shelters in the LA County system train volunteers to do their own “glamour” shoots and network the animals through a variety of social media outlets. This process raises the animals’ changes of adoption from 50-60% to more than 95%. United Hope for Animals is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization working to end homelessness among companion animals by supporting shelter adoptions and spay/neuter programs. Through our Shelter Support Program, our volunteers photograph and video shelter pets to increase their chances of adoption significantly. Our volunteer Adoption Coordinators help facilitate adoptions of shelter pets by members of the public. We also help rescue companion animals from Los Angeles County shelters and help place them in loving foster homes until they are adopted. United Hope for Animals spends every other Saturday at a Los Angeles County Animal Care Center. Currently we are at the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center. We call these “Glamour Shot Days.” Each Glamour Shot Day, we have a list of animals that the shelter gives us, so we can “network” them. This can be anywhere from 40 to 80 animals each Saturday, including dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles and even guinea pigs, ducks and birds sometimes.

LA ADOPT

Pup Culture Rescue

Forte Animal Rescue

Bichons and Buddies

Bichons and Buddies has been dedicated to the rescue of homeless and unwanted Bichons, Bichon mixes and other small dog breeds since 2004, ensuring they are placed in a forever home that will provide them with the love and care they deserve. I started rescuing dogs 14 years ago after I found a sweet little bichon who I later found out had been tossed out of a car. Although we've come a long way with public awareness of our homeless dog crisis, not much has changed in terms of the staggering numbers of innocent lives that are killed every day due to lack of space in the multitudes of shelters across Southern California. Bichons and Buddies has placed over 3,000 dogs in the last 14 years. Our only financial support comes from donations and every penny goes to the staggering costs of vet care, temporary housing, grooming and supplies. In addition to doing local adoptions, we work with rescue partners in Canada where small dogs are hard to come by (Canadians are much more responsible when it comes to spay/neuter) and the demand is high, even for seniors and dogs with manageable medical issues. This allows us to save even more dogs, and specifically ones that are discarded by our society for being too old or having a medical problem.

Maison Sûre

We provide financial support for pet owners and vetted rescue groups facing critical veterinary expenses. Every donation goes directly towards giving pets a second chance at life, ensuring that no pet faces euthanasia due to financial hardship.

The Dexter Foundation

The Dexter Foundation is a non profit organization dedicated to helping shelter dogs have a second chance at life. We honor a little Boston Terrier named Dexter who was given a second chance. The Dexter Foundation is dedicated to helping shelter dogs and other rescue organizations who adopt misunderstood dogs. We assist owners needing to find homes for their dogs by posting their dogs, screening applicants, and finding them new loving forever homes. We work cooperatively with other rescues and help fund the rescue and care of shelter dogs. We provide a safe haven for abandoned dogs that are passed over. In these difficult economic times, many owners are forced to surrender or abandon their dogs who may need only temporary medical attention. The Dexter Foundation, with your assistance, is able to help save the lives of these otherwise happy, healthy dogs.

Outlaw Dogs Rescue

Outlaw dog is a small, family run, non-profit rescue in southern Califoria. We primarily do small dog adoptions. The rescue does not have a facility and can only accomodate as may dogs as we have fosters for. Outlaw dogs was founded in 2012 and have rescued 400 dogs mainly from shelters and owners who were unable to keep their dogs. Some of our dogs were abandoned on the streets and saved by us or good samaritans. The rescue runs off of donations and we are always looking for fosters.

Wallis Annenberg PetSpace

Annenberg PetSpace is a unique community space that facilitates pet adoptions, hosts community events, and offers learning opportunities. Annenberg PetSpace focuses on the mutually beneficial and dynamic bond between people and their pets. Annenberg PetSpace is another extension of Wallis Annenberg’s philanthropic work, which has long supported organizations and projects dedicated to improving the wellbeing of people and communities in Los Angeles, surrounding regions and throughout the world. “This initiative couldn't be closer to my heart,” said Wallis Annenberg. “The purpose of Annenberg PetSpace is to strengthen the bonds between us and all animals and pets, and to form innovative new policies and partnerships — to save animals' lives through adoption and education, and to help make our communities more animal-friendly.”

City of Victorville Animal Care & Control

The Animal Care and Control Division helps our residents provide the best possible care for their animals. Through pet licensing, pet owner and animal care resources, microchipping, and pet owner information; our Animal Care and Control staff help residents ensure their pets live a long prosperous life that can be enjoyed by all.

Downtown Dog Rescue

The Dog Rescuers

Samoyed Rescue Of Southern California

Samoyed Rescue of Southern California is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization founded in 1989 to assist Samoyed dogs. The organization concentrates on saving and rehoming Samoyeds from animal shelters and individual homes where the dogs are no longer wanted. SRSC operates solely from donations and volunteer help. SRSC serves the Southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego.

Trained Dogs for Adoption, Inc

TDFA was formed to fill a void in the greater Southern California rescue community for hard to place German Shepherds. To our knowledge, no local rescue had ever specialized in the rehabilitation of high-drive and sometimes mischievous working shepherds residing in public animal shelters. TDFA advocates on behalf of these dogs because they epitomize the unique beauty of the breed. We have special expertise in the evaluation, taming and rehabilitation of German Shepherd Dogs with temperament histories that preclude them from placement at most animal shelters. Rather than stand by and allow them to languish and die in animal shelters, TDFA provides them with an opportunity to flourish and find the love and security of a qualified and permanent home. When an animal shelter contacts TDFA and requests the assessment of a dog, the dog has generally already been marked “rescue only”. This typically means that the shelter has determined that the dog’s temperament is too challenging for the average shelter adopter searching for a new family pet. Therefore, the shelter does not make those dogs available for adoption to the general public. TDFA frequently becomes their last resort. When assessing dogs for our program, TDFA does not rely on information provided by other parties. TDFA performs an independent assessment of each dog prior to acceptance into our program. Experience has taught us that owner surrender stories are frequently inaccurate and unfairly blame the dog for the owner’s own carelessness. TDFA specializes in the placement of adult dogs that have no other options. TDFA understands that the placement of some of these dogs may be difficult and may not occur for extended periods of time. Our philosophy is to wait for the right home, rather than approve an adoption to an unqualified or fickle adopter. Once a dog is accepted into the TDFA family, we remain committed to the welfare of that dog to the very end. We would rather decline multiple applications than knowingly approve a single adoption to the wrong home.

Live Love Animal Rescue

Live Love Animal Rescue’s mission is to save homeless animals by providing them a lifelong commitment to their well-being. We take in dogs from all situations and often find ourselves rescuing the most extreme behavior and medical cases. Live Love Animal Rescue is dedicated to ensuring these dogs are healed and brought to the greatest possible quality of life and placed in loving, responsible, committed foster and then permanent homes. While in the care of foster homes, all dogs are healed, spayed or neutered, fully vaccinated, and receive behavioral training as needed prior to adoption. The ultimate goal is to find our rescued dogs a forever home of their own and for those that are too ill, they will remain in our rescue family as Forever Fosters and be cherished for all of their days. We partner with local rescues, the shelter and city government to develop a network of volunteers and supporters that can transform Long Beach into a no-kill city for all animals. Live Love acts with fiscal responsibility to ensure that we meet our commitments to our rescue dogs. We act with gratitude and respect to our network of volunteers, fosters and supporters that provide countless hours of work, support, and donations. Our rescue board, officers, volunteers and fosters act with courtesy, kindness, and respect as a member of the Long Beach community and greater rescue network.

Basset Hound Rescue of Southern California

Basset Hound Rescue of Southern California goes the extra mile to ensure that each hound gets the personalized care essential for starting their new life! Hounds come to BHRSC for many different reasons. The lucky ones lived with loving families but were surrendered due to family hardship such as a financial crisis or serious illness. Some are found abandoned and wandering the streets tired and hungry, while others are rescued from shelters where they are slated to be euthanized. Upon arrival, each hound is provided a wellness exam to assess overall health and any necessary medical care is performed so they are in tip top shape when they head to their forever homes. For most hounds this minimally includes vaccinations, spay or neuter surgery, dental cleaning, and microchipping. Sadly, many hounds arrive in pain, suffering from multiple, and sometimes life threatening, medical issues. These hounds need extensive medical attention which can mean visits to specialists, surgeries and long recovery periods. Without BHRSC, these hounds would be labeled “unadoptable” and be at high risk for euthanasia. Each hound is also given a behavioral evaluation which allows us to identify and address any potential behavior issues before they find their forever homes. Once the rehabilitation process is complete, we take care to match the hounds with loving forever families that will lavish them with the love and affection that every hound deserves.

Women United For Animal Welfare

WUFAW is a global foundation focused on improving animal welfare locally and abroad. We are a USA-based 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

SoCal Animal Rescue Squad (SCARS)

We are the SoCal Animal Rescue Squad (S.C.A.R.S.). We are a united group of dedicated volunteers committed to saving dogs and other pets from unfortunate circumstances. We are a Nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization functioning solely on donations, fundraising campaigns, and sponsors. Our desire is to be a beacon of hope and light for Animals in need. Their inability to call out for a hero is the fuel that drives us to bind together as a squad of individuals that will rise to their call for help. Though we don’t have superhuman powers, we possess the ability to love, nurture, educate and serve. Animals gift us unconditional love, companionship, healing, and happiness. Our hope is to advocate for their welfare through rescue efforts, education, art, support groups, community outreach programs, and fostering placements. Most of our squad calls focus on dogs; however, we have been able to help other pets including turtles, rabbits, birds, and even reptiles. We help rescue many dogs from hi-kill shelters and owner surrenders; helping them with needed medical services, ensure they are vaccinated, spayed, or neutered, and secure them in a safe loving foster home where they will transition and sometimes heal until they are adopted into their new fur-ever family. Each of us at SCARS has been touched and transformed by rescue animals. The irony is that in most cases we thought we were the heroes saving them from death and harm, and yet they rescued or alleviated us from sadness, loneliness, depression and other challenges that only their pure love and magic can heal. They ARE heroes too! Like superheroes, they each possess a special Superpaw-er. Some mend broken hearts with their affection and cuddles, others will challenge the athlete in you and help train you to become a better hiker or runner, and then there’s those that with their eyes can turn any frown into a smile. The definition of a Hero is someone who does good and courageous things for other people without being asked to do them; someone who has a strong sense of justice and goodness and acts upon that sense. We the SCARS are committed to speaking for them, helping them, and will passionately take a stand to ensure their welfare. Be their hero! Adopt a Hero! What’s your Superpaw-er? Join the SCARS!

Pedro Pet Pals

Pedro Pet Pals was founded in 2009 by Theresa Sardisco to support homeless animals through the programs of the City of Los Angeles Harbor Animal Shelter and the SPCA. Donations were received to add a misting system at the Harbor Shelter to keep the dogs cool. When the City announced it would be funding the misting system, donors wanted their money to be used for other efforts to help animals. And so, Pedro Pet Pals was born. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, run by a team of volunteers. Pedro Pet Pals actively raises funds to supports our local animal shelters with supplies, medical equipment, and other items that the city cannot afford. Pedro Pet Pals is also committed to the community by providing spay/neuter programs, and community educational outreach to pet owners. Pedro Pet Pals is not a rescue organization, but we are committed to providing comfort and support to wayward animals in the Los Angeles area. Money raised by Pedro Pet Pals has been used to fund the following: • blood machine • anesthesia machine • kennel beds • leashes and harnesses • dog pools and canopies • dog and cat toys • grooming table and supplies • cat room improvements • cat/kitten health supplies • adoption fee vouchers • spayed and neutered over 900 pit bulls from Watts to San Pedro In addition, Pedro Pet Pals has: • organized a volunteer dog walking program • provided community outreach and education

Good Dog-Dog Talk Rescue

We are a non-profit organization made up of animal-loving volunteers based in Southern California.

Eloise Rescue

Eloise Rescue is a 501(c)(3), TAX ID# 47-3699493 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION located in West Los Angeles. We are dedicated to saving as many animals as humanly possible. We welcome all fosters, volunteers and donations with open arms. All of our animals are fully vetted, trained if need be and fully loved. We are here for you from the day you adopt your pet until the day your pet goes over the rainbow bridge. We offer our adopters, trainers, day care, groomers and pet sitters anything you need for your pet. We want you to know you have a villiage on your side. Eloise Rescue was started by Vickie Wagner. She just could not sit back and watch innocent dogs being put down for no reason other than there is just no room for them. She had no idea how she would do this. It started with a German Shepherd named Willow after Vickie looked into those big brown eyes and said it is time to do something. Vickie went to the shelter the next day and met with Willow, whom they said was what they call "rescue only" (meaning the dog could be aggressive). Vickie sat on the floor with Willow who took one look at her and laid down in her lap and sighed a breath of relief. From that moment on she knew what she was supposed to do... SAVE THESE DOGS. Eloise Rescue was born on that day and in the time, Vickie began rescuing dogs. She has saved over 1,000 dogs to date. Eloise Rescue feels what we do is a privilege and we are so lucky to be able to do what we do. All of our dogs are rescued from high kill shelters and taken directly to our vet. We board our dogs for 10 days before we put them in a foster’s home unless a foster does not have other dogs. We do this for safety for our dog and for the safety of our foster’s dogs. Our dogs are given their first set of shots, dewormed, heart worm tested, spayed or neutered, microchiped and given antibiotics when they come from the shelter. They are then given a bath, flea medicine, and a collar with a tag. They are walked 3 to 4 times a day. We go to our vet to play with each one of our dogs to give them love and get to know there likes and dislikes.

Animals in Need Rescue Network

Christine Brown has been a sales and marketing professional for the last 20 years. She is successfully applying her marketing experience to help animals in need. Christine currently has two rescue cats of her own and a horse named Emerson. She has been a hunter/jumper rider since she was a child. ​ "My passion and love for animals has manifested into this organization where my motivation is to rescue as many animals as I can, and to empower the people who want to help them." Christine created Animals In Need Rescue Network with the help of volunteers, other rescue organizations, friends and donors in 2011. AINRN currently holds spay and neuter clinics 2 to 3 times per month, providing free services to hundreds of cats and dogs in need, and the people who love them. "My goal is to help as many animals as possible by providing free spay/neuter, vet care, TNR, (Trap/Neuter /Return), public education, fostering, adoptions, rehoming friendly cats and dogs and saving them from the streets, saving horses from kill buyers and or dangerous situations, and transferring animals to other rescues."

The Lovejoy Foundation, Inc

At The Lovejoy Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves a chance at a loving and fulfilling life. We are an organization dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming dogs in need, with a focus on finding them their forever homes. Our mission is to make a positive impact on the lives of animals and the communities we serve.