Take action to save the lives of homeless pets

Find an alert or a petition protecting homeless pets where you live, and fill out the contact fields with your information. For some campaigns, a personalized email will be sent to the decision-maker(s) on your behalf.

We’re focusing on helping the pets most in need by protecting cats who live outdoors in their communities, ending breed-restrictive legislation, shutting down puppy mills, and supporting pet-friendly housing. 

Community cats can be found just about everywhere that people live. Many of these outdoor, free-roaming cats are cared for by community members, hence the term “community cats.”

For decades, community cats have been trapped and killed in a failed attempt at population management. When community cats end up in shelters, they are at high risk of not making it out alive, since they aren’t socialized to people and prefer to live outdoors, sometimes with other cats.

It’s that simple, but local governments often interfere with this right. They do so through breed-specific legislation (BSL) and as a result, restrictive laws are in place in communities around the country. These laws create limitations for families with pets and stifle potential adoptions.

These outdated laws assume that certain dogs are dangerous based solely on their appearance rather than their actual behavior. BSL limits the right of responsible people to adopt and care for any breed of dog they choose.

As a result of BSL and limited pet-friendly housing options, big dogs have a harder time getting adopted compared to their smaller counterparts, leaving them more at risk in shelters.

Plus, these restrictions force many responsible people to surrender their dogs to animal shelters, separating families from their beloved pets.

When you buy a puppy from a pet store or the internet, you’re most likely supporting a puppy mill, an inhumane dog-breeding operation where dogs live in small cages, often in the minimum legal size allowed (only six inches larger than the dog on all sides). Female dogs in puppy mills are bred constantly, in order to produce as many puppies as possible for the pet trade and to make a profit.

Although the federal government regulates most breeders who sell puppies online and to pet stores, the animal care standards imposed on breeders don’t promote responsible breeding or ensure healthy puppies. For example, it’s legal for licensed breeders to own 1,000 or more dogs, to keep them in very small cages for their entire lives and to breed them as often as possible.

The standards set by the government aren’t meant to ensure that the dogs have the good lives they deserve; they only require the bare minimum of care. Plus, there are only a few inspectors in each state for all the state’s licensed breeding facilities.

Admissions data from animal shelters shows that housing-related issues are the second most common reason that families surrender their pets to shelters, even ahead of financial reasons.