Animal Friends Rescue Project (AFRP)
160 Fountain Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA 93950
(831) 333-0722 Email: info@animalfriendsrescue.org Web: www.animalfriendsrescue.org
MISSION: finds good permanent homes for abandoned, stray, and abused companion animals and works to end the pet overpopulation crisis through focused spay/neuter programs.
Local animal shelters partner with AFRP by calling upon them to rescue animals that do not stand a chance of survival in the shelter, providing medical care (including spay/neuter) and behavior training when necessary, and finally, placing the animals in permanent homes. These are typically shy, senior, underage or un-weaned animals, or animals in need of medical attention, pregnant or nursing, or those who have just been overlooked and been there too long.
Dogs and most of the cats they rescue from the shelters are housed in volunteer foster homes.
AFRP only takes animals from the public when space is available. It gives special consideration to its adopted animals but the return is based on space, foster availability, and a medical, and behavioral assessment.
AFRP also offers free/reduced cost spay/neuter vouchers for small dogs and cats to guardians who qualify and has a Community/Feral Cat Trap Neuter Release (TNR) Program.
Best Life TNR & Rescue, Inc.
1522 Constitution Blvd. PMB 150 Salinas, CA 93905
(831) 261-3797 Email: info@bestliferescue.org Web: www.bestliferescue.org
MISSION: Best Life TNR & Rescue, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit founded to help improve the lives of community cats with TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return). Based in Salinas, TNR is its primary focus. The organization traps primarily in Salinas and nearby cities when possible.
The BirchBark Foundation
101 Cooper Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 or PO Box 1903, Monterey, CA 93942
(831) 471-7255 Help line: (831) 471-7912
Email: info@birchbarkfoundation.org Web: www.birchbarkfoundation.org
MISSION: Provides financial assistance to animal owners in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties whose animals are facing a catastrophic or life-threatening event and whose guardians are unable to cover some or all of the cost of their pet’s medical care. Guardians must qualify to receive assistance. Birchbark also partners with Papillion Center for Loss & Transition to offer free pet loss and grief support to residents of the Central Coast who have lost a beloved animal companion. All sessions are facilitated by professionals with expertise in grief.
Carrie Nagel, DVM
At-Home Euthanasia
(831) 264-8727
Email: cnageldvm@hotmail.com Web: www.carrienageldvm.com
MISSION: Carrie Nagel, DVM is a licensed veterinarian who will perform the procedure of euthanasia. The goal is to help pets transition from life peacefully in the comfort and familiarity of home. Services are offered in Monterey Bay and the surrounding areas (Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel Highlands, Big Sur, Seaside, Marina, Prunedale, Aromas, Salinas, Soledad, Greenfield, Scotts Valley/Bonnie Doon/Felton, Santa Cruz, Watsonville and Moss Landing. There are no travel fees. Text, call or email any time for more information or to schedule an appointment.
Community Cat Allies
Mailing address only: P.O. Box 426, Marina, CA 93933
(831) 202-2877 Email: meg@communitycatallies.org Web: www.communitycatallies.org
MISSION: Community Cat Allies’ focus is a Trap-Neuter/Spay-Vaccinate-Return (TNR) program to improve the lives of community cats, reduce the number of cats and kittens taken to shelters, and ultimately over time reduce the number of unowned, free roaming cats. Community Cat Allies can provide direct TNR services for local, small community cat colonies or provide training, loan out traps at no charge, and provide information on low cost spay/neuter options for people who want to do TNR themselves. This is open to all Monterey County residents, although Community Cat Allies primarily focuses on North Monterey County and Salinas. Community Cat Allies also rescues adoptable cats and kittens on a limited basis.
Friends of Community Animal Service (FoCAS)
Mailing address only: P.O. Box 7487, Spreckels, CA 93962
(831) 642-4741 Email: None available Web: www.focas4animals.org
MISSION: Raises funds to support the protection, shelter and care of lost and abandoned animals throughout Monterey County. They work with area shelters and community organizations to reduce pet overpopulation, promote adoption of shelter pets and reduce the euthanasia of adoptable animals.
FoCAS has the Pit Snip, Chip & Chihuahua Program where animals are altered and microchipped; guardians pay for rabies vaccine, dog licensing and microchip registration. Participants must qualify.
Their Mobile Spay/Neuter Outreach program brings low-cost spay/neuter and general medical services directly to county residents. Appointments are required.
Their PAWS Program for seniors (Pets Are Wonderful Support) allows seniors 60 and older in the Monterey County area to enjoy the love of a pet despite living on a fixed or limited income. PAWS covers all costs of adoption of an adult-aged pet (including initial immunizations, spay/neuter and licensing fees) and provides a $400 annual subsidy to help cover the costs of responsible pet ownership. Participants must qualify.
FoCAS also funds FIV testing for every cat available for adoption at Hitchcock Road Animal Services.
Golden Oldies Cat Rescue
Mailing address only: P.O. Box 683, Monterey, CA 93942
(831) 200-9232 Email: info@gocatrescue.org Web: www.gocatrescue.oeg
MISSION: Re-homes cats 6 and older from Monterey County who are at risk in shelters or whose guardians can no longer care for them. Places these cats, who have no other options of a safe place to go, into temporary foster care while working to find them permanent loving homes, enriching the lives of both the cats and their new families. Golden Oldies makes a lifetime commitment to those cats. They will either be adopted or live out their lives in their foster homes. Golden Oldies also has a Temporary-Emergency Foster Care Program for guardians of its adopted cats who are facing short-term medical issues, pending available foster homes. In addition, it has a Matchmaker Fund that pays expenses for life for a Matchmaker Cat should someone be the perfect fit to be a pet parent but cannot afford to adopt.
Heading Home Animal Rescue
Mailing address only: P.O. Box 2852 Aptos, CA 95001
Phone: None Email: info@headinghomerescue.org Web: www.headinghomerescue.org
MISSION: Finds good homes for local shelter animals in need. They occasionally accept an animal from outside the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay areas but the bulk of their adoptable animals come from the Santa Cruz/Watsonville, Salinas City and Monterey County shelters.
Their Working Whiskers Program is designed to help cats that are not readily adoptable. This includes at-risk cats at local shelters that are not “social” (feral or semi feral cats), but that would be wonderful working cats. A working cat is a cat or group of cats placed in a safe location with shelter (barns, garages, commercial buildings, sheds, etc.) and typically do the job of rodent control very effectively. A bonus is that often these cats become more social once placed and some become highly social with their caregivers.
Hitchcock Road Animal Services
160 Hitchcock Road Salinas, CA
(831) 769-8850 Email: www.HitchcockRoadAnimals.com
Web: https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/departments-a-h/health/monterey-county-animal-services
MISSION: Provides temporary shelter and limited veterinary care for stray cats and dogs from the City of Salinas and unincorporated areas of Monterey County as well as Carmel, Castroville, Chualar, Del Rey Oaks, Greenfield, Pebble Beach, Prunedale and Spreckels. Works to find new adoptive homes for pets not claimed by their owners.
Lap of Love Monterey-Morgan Hill
In-home euthanasia and hospice service serving pets and their families in Monterey, Morgan Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods.
(831) 217-3014 Email: None Web: Monterey@LapofLove.com
MISSION: Assists families and their pets in Monterey, Morgan Hill, and the surrounding neighborhoods with end-of-life care in a comfortable setting. Services include veterinary in-home euthanasia and hospice, a type of care focused on providing comfort and pain management. Available every day from 4am – 8pm. Appointments are scheduled throughout the week. Sometimes pets take a turn for the worse overnight or in a short amount of time and Lap of Love does its best to accommodate same-day appointments with a few hours notice, but cannot guarantee this.
Luke’s Legacy Foundation
Mobile, low-cost vet clinic serving Monterey and San Benito counties
(925) 895-8531 Email: Lukeslegacyfoundationinfo@gmail.com Web: lukeslegacyfoundation.org
MISSION: Provides affordable and accessible vet care to animals in need in Monterey and San Benito counties including teeth cleanings, tumor removals, x-rays and a variety of other surgeries and wellness services aboard its mobile clinic, the Wellness Waggin’ Dogs and cats are assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine the suggested donation for services based on an owner’s financial situation. Pets must be spayed/neutered to be eligible for any treatment, otherwise the spay/neuter surgery will be done in conjunction with the treatment.
National Pet Loss Grief Support Hotline
National Pet Loss Grief Support Hotline
(866) 266-8635 (toll free)
Monday-Thursday 7-9pm Pacific Time. Saturday 1-3pm Pacific Time.
Messages can be left at other times and will be returned.
Our Neighborhood Pet Project
Mailing Address only: PO Box 1430, Greenfield, CA 93927
Phone: None Email: mvillagomezdogs@gmail.com Web: www.ourneighborhoodpetproject.org
MISSION: To reduce the number of unwanted litters in South Monterey County by providing access to free or low-cost spay/neuter services for dogs and domestic and feral cats. We also work with our rescue neighborhood partners to help animals in need of new homes.
Peace of Mind Dog Rescue (POMDR)
615 Forest Avenue, Pacific Grove, CA 93950
(831) 718-9122 Email: info@peaceofminddogrescue.org Web: www.peaceofminddogrescue.org
MISSION: To be a resource and advocate for senior dogs and senior people on California’s Central Coast. They focus on taking senior dogs from shelters and taking dogs of any age directly from seniors who can no longer care for them due to illness, death, etc. They focus on helping dogs and people from Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties. They also provide financial assistance to low income pet guardians to help provide veterinary care for both dogs and cats. And they provide temporary assistance to seniors who need help caring for their dog in order not to have to surrender the animal. Assistance includes short term temporary foster care, dog walking, and transportation for the dog to the groomers or vet.
Project Purr
Mailing address only: P.O. Box 891 Santa Cruz, CA 95061
(831) 423-6369 Email: None available Web: www.projectpurr.org
MISSION: Helps feral cats and kittens in Santa Cruz County by offering a free feral Spay-Neuter and Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program and offers resources for feral cat colony caretakers and those who want to learn more about TNR.
Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter
Two Locations: 2200 7th Avenue Santa Cruz, CA 95062 (at the corner of Rodriguez St.) / 580 Airport Blvd., Watsonville, CA 95076
(831) 454-7200 Web: http://www.scanimalshelter.org
MISSION: Provides temporary shelter, humane care and limited veterinary services for stray, unwanted, abandoned, mistreated, neglect and injured animals. This is an open-admission shelter providing animal rescue for Santa Cruz City and County, and the cities of Capitola, Scotts Valley and Watsonville; however, “open-admission” means the shelter will not turn away ANY animal.
Santa Cruz SPCA
2685 Chanticleer Ave., Santa Cruz, CA 95065
(831) 465-5000 Web: http://www.spcasc.org
MISSION: Focuses on rescue, adoption, humane education and community assistance. Provides shelter for unwanted, abused, neglected and orphaned animals, including those in need of socialization, training, medical care or simply more time. Provides humane education programs for adults and youth, veterinary care assistance to low-income seniors, and a free food bank available to anyone who needs help feeding their animal companions.
BLACKIE’S FUND is offered through the Santa Cruz SPCA and connects senior people with senior pets by providing a waived adoption fee when a great match is found. The fund also provides veterinary care assistance to seniors living on a low fixed income in two ways: 1) free twice-yearly preventative care Wellness Days and 2) a veterinary care assistance grant of up to $500 for private diagnostic and treatment appointments available all year at a Santa Cruz SPCA contracted veterinarian (dental procedures and preventative care are not included in this option).
To benefit from Blackie’s Fund, you must be: 62 years of age or older, on a fixed or low income, able to provide proof of income, and willing sign a contractual agreement.
South County Animal Rescue
Mailing address only: P.O Box 491 Soledad, CA 93960
(831) 525-5160 Email: info@scar.pet Web: www.scar.pet
MISSION: To provide rescue and assistance for domestic animals. Its goal is to significantly reduce the homeless population of domestic animals in South County through safe rescue and adoption services, awareness and education. Founded in January 2016, the foster-based rescue strives to establish relationships with other rescue agencies and collaborate to save more lives. The rescue both adopts out and transfers out animals.
Spay Neuter Imperative Project (SNIP Bus)
Mobile, Low-Cost Spay/Neuter across Monterey and San Benito counties
(925) 895-8531 Email: melanie@snipbus.org Web: snipbus.org
MISSION: SNIP Bus provides mobile, low-cost spay/neuter, vaccinations and microchipping to end the suffering and death of animals due to overpopulation and illness throughout Monterey and San Benito counties. Through December 2020, SNIP Bus has provided more than 20,000 surgeries to lessen the burden on local shelters, help at-risk residents in these communities do the right thing for their pets and control community feral animal colonies. Appointments are booked by visiting the calendar page at snipbus.org. Each month’s calendar is posted on the first day of the month.
The SPCA For Monterey County
1002 Monterey-Salinas Highway Salinas, CA 93908 (across from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca)
(831) 373-2631 Website: www.spcamc.org
Mission: Shelters homeless, neglected and abused pets and livestock, provides humane education, investigates animal cruelty, provides disaster relief for animals and animal owners, and rescues and rehabilitates injured wildlife. This is an open-admission shelter that accepts owner-surrendered animals from anywhere in Monterey County. The SPCA also contracts with the cities of Gonzalez, King City, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Sand City, Seaside, and Soledad to shelter strays from those jurisdictions. The SPCA also accepts and shelters strays found at large in Monterey County or Salinas on days Hitchcock Road Animal Services is closed, then contacts HRAS to take possession of animals from their jurisdictions to provide their owner (if any) the opportunity to find them.
The SPCA also operates a public low-cost spay/neuter clinic (M-F), offers “no appointment” low-cost vaccination (M-F) to the public, provides behavior training classes and consultations to help keep animals in homes and out of shelters, and provides low-cost humane euthanasia services for owners faced with that difficult decision. The SPCA also has a Barn Cat Program to adopt out cats who otherwise are not adoptable.
10 Lives TNVR
8305 Prunedale North Rd. #6 Salinas, CA 93907
(831) 200-3210 email: 10livestnvr@gmail.com web: TBA
MISSION: 10 Lives TNVR is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to providing help for feral/community cats through TN(V)R. It provides trapping and/or assistance to the community for trapping, spaying/neutering, and vaccinating feral colonies. The organization is based in North Monterey County and focuses primarily on that area.