As a dog owner, I’m a proud supporter of nonprofits that provide value for animals. I think of dogs as human’s best friends and believe that nonprofits make a strong impact in this society. In this article, I want to cover some of the top nonprofits for dogs that’s making a difference.

Alaqua Animal Refuge

Website: www.alaquaanimalrefuge.org

Location: Freeport, Florida

Founded: 2007

Mission: To serve the Emerald Coast as: the premier no-kill refuge, providing protection, shelter and care to animals in need; a full-service animal adoption center; and a peaceful, proactive animal welfare advocate through educational outreach and community programs.

Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF)

Website: www.arf.net

Location: Contra Costa County, California

Founded: 1991

Mission: To create a world where every loving dog and cat has a home, where every lonely person has a companion animal, and where children learn to care.

Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation has a very interesting story. Tony, then Manager of the Oakland A’s came across a stray during a game between Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees. Tony captured the stray, and looked to place it in a local shelter, but found that there was not a single no-kill shelter in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. That event inspired Tony and his wife Elaine to create the ARF to find homes for abandoned animals and help control pet overpopulation through spaying & neutering programs.

Fences For Fido

Website: www.fencesforfido.org

Location: Oregon

Founded: 2009

Mission: We create safer and improved conditions for chained dogs by providing shelter, veterinary care, and spay and neutering services when necessary. We work to educate families on how to best care for their four-legged family members during the heat of the summer and the cold, wet winter months. With more than 800 dogs already unchained since May 2009, the mission of Fences For Fido continues. With generous help from our volunteers and donors, FFF hopes to share many more success stories.

Friends of Animals

Website: www.friendsofanimals.org

Location: United States

Founded: 1957

Mission: To cultivate a respectful view of nonhuman animals, free-living and domestic and free animals from cruelty and institutionalized exploitation around the world.

Friends of Animals is a nationwide organization that advocates for animal rights issues across the US. In addition to supporting spaying & neutering programs for pets, the organization also looks after the welfare of fur-bearing animals and has a Wildlife Law Program to help animal and environmental activists to defend the rights of animals across the country.

Golden Gate Basset Rescue (GGBR)

Website: www.ggbassetrescue.org

Location: Northen California

Founded: 2005

Mission: To rescue Basset Hounds from abusive, abandoned and unwanted situations

Golden Gate Basset Rescue is an organization dedicated to the protection and adoption of basset hounds all throughout Northern California. Originally founded under the Northern California Basset Hound Club, GGBR works to rescue and place dogs as far south as Monterey and as far north as the Oregon border of California.

Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs

Website: www.medicalservicedogs.com

Location: United States

Founded: 2010

Mission: To rescue, raise, train and then donating medical service/assistance dogs to mentally and/or physically impaired individuals to provide assistance, independence and improve the quality of life of both the recipient and the dog.

Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs is an amazing organization that helps both people and dogs. Guardian Angels works to train and pair dogs with people who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other disabilities. Through the dog pairing program, Guardian Angels help to reduce suicide attempts and alcohol dependence for people suffering from mental disabilities and creates a lifelong friendship between the dogs and their partners.

Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind

Website: www.guidedog.org

Location: United States

Founded: 1946

Mission: To improve the quality of life for people who are blind, visually impaired, or with other special needs.

The Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind is another great organization that helps both people and pets. The Guide Dog Foundation helps to improve the quality of life for people who are blind or visually impaired by providing guide dogs and training, free of charge, to people in need. The Guide Dog Foundation provides small classes and individualized instruction to help the visually impaired and their dogs work together as team and promote independence.

Helping Our Pets Everyday (HOPE)

Website: www.helpingoutpetseveryday.com

Location: Upland, California

Founded: 1999

Mission: Formed by the desire to save lives, and as advocates for all canine and feline animals, guided in the spirit of being the caretakers of God’s creatures, stewards to young people through example and leadership, entrusted with educating the public on spaying and neutering, empowered through volunteer dedication, and committed in our mission to make a difference.

Homeward Bound Dog Rescue

Website: www.homewardboundrescue.com

Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota

Founded: 1991

Mission: We are dedicated to the sheltering and fostering of homeless and unwanted animals. In addition, we take pride in the fact that we are a no-kill rescue and placement program that does not euthanize our animals if they are not adopted within a certain length of time. Homeward Bound has been in existence since 1991 and has rescued well over 12,800 dogs, cats, and other animals. Homeward Bound promotes responsible adoption and care of companion animals. We seek out well matched permanent homes for our loving and deserving animals.

Humane Society

Website: www.humanesociety.org

Location: United States

Founded: 1954

Mission: Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty.

The Humane Society of the United States is the country’s largest animal protection organization, working to improve the welfare of not just pets but of animals across the country. The organization engages in animal rescue & care, animal advocacy to help pass animal friendly legislation, and operates and partners with a network of pet and animal shelters across the country to provide care for abandoned pets and animals.

Italian Greyhound Club of America Rescue

Website: http://www.igrescue.com

Location: United States

Founded: 1954

Mission: To re-home Italian Greyhounds that have been abandoned at animal shelters, taken from abusive homes or surrendered to rescue due to the death or divorce of the former owner.

The Italian Greyhound Club of America is an organization dedicated to the preservation and protection of Italian Greyhounds across the country, and the IGCA Rescue is a re-homing service for Italian Greyhounds that have become abandoned or homeless due to various circumstances. Italian Greyhounds are placed in foster homes of volunteers of the IGCA, spayed & neutered, cared for, and re-homed with new, responsible owners.

Leave No Paws Behind

Website: www.leavenopawsbehind.org

Location: United States

Founded: 2011

Mission: Leave No Paws Behind is an all breed rescue, specializing in seniors and pets with special needs. When possible we step up, most times in the “11th” hour when all hope is gone, to help save the lives of those that are in most danger of being left behind to die on a cold shelter floor. LNPB provides hospice care, comfort, love and a safe haven for the terminally ill and the hard core cases and we try to assure that no senior animal is left to die alone wondering.

Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation (LDCRF)

Website: www.lostdogandcatrescue.org

Location: United States

Founded: 2001

Mission: To rescue abandoned or displaced dogs and cats from the threat of euthanasia in over-crowded shelters or other at-risk situations and places them for adoption into loving homes.

The Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation has the noble goal of preventing animals from being euthanized in shelters around the country. To this end, they rescue abandoned and displaced dogs & cats over-crowded shelters where they risk being euthanized, and look for proper and caring homes for the animals. The LDCRF ensures that all of the pets they save are spayed & neutered and fully vaccinated before finding caring homes for the rescued animals.

New Beginnings Animal Shelter (NBAS)

Website: www.newbeginningsas.org

Location: Ohio

Founded: 2003

Mission: To rescue, rehabilitate and place domestic animals into stable homes, educate the public about the responsibilities of pet ownership in an attempt to alleviate the problem of unwanted pets, and build public awareness about the human-animal bond and its benefits to society

New Beginnings Animal Shelter is a pet shelter based in Ohio, with the purpose of rehabilitating lost and abandoned animals and finding a place for them in responsible and caring homes. NBAS is a no-kill animal shelter that does not participate in euthanasia except in cases of animals who have no chance of leading a quality life. The organization works through a foster home system, and is completely self-funded through donors and receives no assistance from the government.

North Shore Animal League America

Website: www.animalleague.org

Location: United States

Founded: 1944

Mission: To build our hands-on rescue, rehabilitation and adoption efforts to save the lives of as many companion animals as possible – one at a time – and promote education to increase shelter adoptions, reduce animal cruelty and advance the highest standards in animal welfare.

The North Shore Animal League America is the largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization in the US. Since 1944 the charity has worked to rescue and rehabilitate animals across the country, and works tirelessly to increase adoptions and reduce animal cruelty and euthanasia.

Old Dog Haven (ODH)

Website: www.olddoghaven.org

Location: Western Washington

Founded: 2004

Mission: To use a network of foster homes to provide a loving safe home for abandoned senior dogs.

Old Dog Haven is a charitable organization with the goal of finding homes for senior dogs in the Western Washington region of the US. ODH does this not through a shelter, but by taking in homeless dogs into foster homes and helping with the placement of the senior dogs. ODH also helps pet owners find new homes for their senior dogs through their website and through referrals.

Patriot PAWS

Website: www.patriotpaws.org

Location: United States

Founded: 2006

Mission: To train and provide service dogs of their highest quality at no cost to disabled American veterans and others with mobile disabilities in order to help restore their physical and emotional independence.

Patriot PAWS is an organization dedicated to helping American veterans by providing them with service dogs at no cost. The organization does this by helping to train service dogs and pairing them with veterans in need of assistance.

Pets for the Elderly

Website: www.petsfortheelderly.org

Location: United States

Founded: 1992

Mission: To help pay the fees to participating animal shelters throughout the United States for senior citizens (age 60 and over) who adopt a companion dog or cat from a participating shelter.

One of the most serious conditions that older people suffer from is loneliness. Pets for the Elderly is a non-profit charity that helps to combat this illness by providing elderly people with pet companions at a discounted cost. Pets for the Elderly works with 52 participating shelters in 29 states to provide elderly people around the country with new companions.

PetSmart Charities

Website: www.petsmartcharities.org

Location: North America

Founded: 1988

Mission: To find a lifelong, loving home for every pet.

PetSmart Charities is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the welfare of homeless pets across North America. The organization works with other welfare groups across the US and Canada to help homeless pets find new homes, and also provides spaying and neutering services to reduce the number of homeless strays. The organization also helps to rescue pets with over 1,300 adoption centers across North America.

PugSavers

Website: www.pugsavers.com

Location: Northern California

Founded: 2002

Mission: To rescue any pug or pug mix, regardless of age, temperament or health, and provide health care and treatment for all dogs who come into our rescue.

Everybody loves pugs, and PugSavers makes it its mission to rescue any pug or pug mix in the Northern California area. The organization rescues pugs from local shelters, provides care for them, and helps in finding “forever homes” for their charges. Additionally, PugSavers participates in advocacy for pugs as well as educating the general public about the breed, and working with other organizations who share their values.

Save-A-Pet

Website: www.saveapetil.org

Location: Lake County, Illinois

Founded: 1994

Mission: Save-A-Pet is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and one of the largest no-kill cat and dog rescues in Lake County that operates a full-time adoption center. We provide a safe haven for abused, neglected, injured, lost, or animals that have escaped euthanasia. We will never put a limit on the amount of care we will provide for an animal and we never give up on them. Thus, Save-A-Pet offers rescued dogs and cats the greatest opportunity for a second chance. We take great pride in practicing our no-kill mission and in stewarding our donors’ contributions; both of which have led to the successful adoption of over 40,000 dogs and cats.

Search Dogs Foundation (SDF)

Website: www.searchdogfoundation.org

Location: United States

Founded: 1996

Mission: Strengthening Disaster Response in America.

Search Dogs Foundation is an amazing organization that works to help both animals and people. The group takes shelter dogs and provides them with a home within the organization, training them to serve as emergency response dogs. The dogs then help people as first-responders in man made and natural disasters, helping to find and rescue people trapped under debris and rubble.