Category: Call to Action

Here are five ways elected officials and public leaders can help build communities that are more inclusive of pets and people—more fun, fair, and welcoming places for us all to call home. 

1. Reassess reclaim/redemption fees and policies

Nationally, 54% of dogs enter as “strays” and fewer than half will be reunited with their families. Historically, municipalities and animal shelters have leaned on steep reclaim fees to discourage community members from allowing their dogs to roam, but a punitive-first system creates barriers between pet owners in need and the animal care organizations that could help them. Fines and fees don’t change an animal’s behavior or fix a broken fence, but they can mean the difference between a pet going home and a pet staying in the shelter, ultimately increasing cost of in-shelter care and contributing to overcrowding, putting the overall shelter population at risk. As adoptions fail to keep pace with dogs entering shelters, length of stay increases and the fiscal impact on the shelter grows each day. Consider conducting a fee analysis to determine what your community members can realistically afford to pay. If your county or municipal code doesn’t allow shelters to lower or waive fees when necessary to get pets home, work with your local shelters and community to change it.

2. Allocate funding to community-wide spay/neuter efforts

It’s especially critical to encourage support for initiatives that build veterinary capacity and expand access to spay/neuter: Among the many benefits, sterilization encourages pets to stick close to home, increasing their safety and decreasing the number of dogs and cats roaming the streets. But when spay/neuter surgery had to be suspended during the pandemic, we fell nearly three million surgeries behind what would normally have been accomplished. A nationwide shortage of veterinarians and veterinary nurses is making it even harder to keep up with the need, let alone catch up from the deficit, which is compounded in communities that already lacked affordable veterinary care or veterinarians at all  
 
It’s more important than ever to ensure all community residents and TNR groups have access to spay/neuter for animals. Community leaders are working together to make it happen. For example, thanks to Rancho Cordova’s Community Enhancement Fund, the Rancho Cordova City Council partners with Rancho Cordova Animal Services, the County of Sacramento, and organizations like Whisker Warriors to provide residents with free or low-cost spay/neuter, free pet licensing, TNR for community cats, and pet food supplies.

3. Support or introduce co-housing initiatives

Too often Californians experiencing homelessness or domestic violence cannot access temporary or emergency housing because doing so would mean leaving their beloved animal companions behind. 34.9% of California women and 31.1% of men have experienced intimate partner physical violence, sexual violence and/or stalking in their lifetimes. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness 2023 report, Californians have the highest likelihood of being unhoused, 44 out of every 10,000 residents, with over 170,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in the state. Co-sheltering—as defined by My Dog Is My Home as the sheltering of people and animals together at the same emergency or temporary housing facility—allows people and pets to stay together as they seek safe shelter. Animal care organizations and human social services organizations are working together to bring co-sheltering to their communities. Learn more about co-sheltering and join the Co-Sheltering Collaborative at https://www.mydogismyhome.org/.

4. Advance affordable, pet-inclusive housing efforts

In California, 35 million pets reside in over half of households, and housing or landlord issues are among the most commonly cited reasons for pet surrenders. As towns and cities work together to confront the statewide housing crisis, we must ensure safe, affordable housing is accessible to all pet owners. Though protections now apply to Californians residing in housing financed by the California Department of Housing and Community Development, many more California renters, if they can find pet-inclusive housing, face breed or weight restrictions or non-refundable pet deposits or monthly pet rent.  
 
For more data and market-based solutions that could ensure access to safe, affordable housing for people and pets in your community, visit the Pet Inclusive Housing Initiative. To get an idea of how your region is doing on creating inclusive pet policies, visit the National Rental Research Dashboard.

5. Support animals and people who care for them through a holistic approach

Animal shelters, veterinarians, and human health and social services providers recognize that the health and well-being of humans and animals are intertwined: people who face systemic barriers and structural discrimination also experience a lack of access to resources, services, and opportunities for caring for their pets. A holistic One Health/One Welfare approach acknowledges the connection between the health of animals, people, plants, and the environment, and allocates funding and shapes policy and services accordingly.

Support animal shelters’ and animal services agencies’ move from a surrender-first model to a prevention-based, support-first model that focuses on keeping animals in their homes. To learn more about the impact of human-animal relationships on overall community well-being and read California for All Animals’ strategic recommendations for addressing urgent issues facing animal shelters, visit the following resources:

• California for All Animals Legislative Report 2023 
• Helping People and Animals Together Report (Vancouver Humane Society)
• Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (CARE)

What are shelter reclaim fees (also called return to owner or redemption fees)?

When a pet found outside is presumed lost and brought to the shelter by animal services officers or community members, owners will likely have to pay redemption and/or boarding fees and potentially civil fines in order to reclaim their pet. These fees are often set at a municipal or county level with no discretion given to shelters to waive or lower them. Depending on circumstances, an owner may be faced with an expensive bill to reclaim a dog who escaped from a yard or was simply visiting a dog friend down the street. Along with  transportation, language, or other barriers, expensive reclaim fees can prevent pets from returning to their families and are one reason less than 20% of dogs and only 5% of cats are reclaimed in shelters nationwide.  

You can help make sure fees don’t stand between pets and people who love them by helping a pet get home instead of bringing them to the shelter, starting or donating to a shelter’s return-to-home fund, and joining with your shelter to advocate for their ability to lower or waive fees in order to reunite pets with their families. 

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Shelters, foster-based rescues, TNR groups, and other animal care and human services organizations make a difference every day for people and animals in California. Here are a few ideas to help coordinate and amplify collective impact.

1. Reach out and build relationships

Cooperation is crucial and coordination is key: in order to support pets and people across a community, organizations and groups must work together. It can start with an email or a phone call, as well as boosting one another’s posts on social media. If you’re a human services agency or first responder, check in with shelters and other animal care organizations in your community to see how your efforts can complement one another, and vice versa. When we map existing resources, we can better serve our community as a whole and identify gaps or duplicated efforts.

For more on building an ecosystem of collaboration, not competition, toward a stronger community, consider exploring Community Centric Fundraising principles and resources, as well as the HeARTs Speak Community Partnerships Communications Kit.

2. Proactively engage your community to assess impact

Often programs or services are developed around perceived community needs but may not accurately reflect actual community member priorities or needs nor acknowledge community strengths. Continually scan for barriers within your organization that prevent animals from staying in or returning to their homes or from being adopted to new homes, whether it’s high, inflexible fees above your community’s means; burdensome applications with irrelevant/invasive questions; or extensive processes required to reclaim, adopt, foster, volunteer, or access services.

Inviting input and partnership from community members before, during, and after program development will ensure resources are accessible to those most in need. Former shelter executive director Elijah Brice-Middleton notes that engagement starts with sharing and listening. “Start at the main centers in your community where there are gatherings of people. For us, it’s schools and churches. You can go anywhere and everywhere — it doesn’t have to be animal related at all.” The Pets for Life Community Outreach Toolkit guides animal care service providers and other social welfare advocates through the development and implementation of a pioneering community outreach program, using a comprehensive, grassroots approach to sharing pet wellness information, resources, and services.

3. Partner with your local shelter to apply for a Cal for All grant

If you have an idea for a collaboration that can bring or keep pets and people together in your community or you’re seeking funding to sustain or expand current programming, consider partnering with your local shelter to submit a proposal for the next California for All Animals grant period, opening on September 15. We welcome proposals geared toward partnering with community members and/or other community-centric organizations to understand needs and identify solutions, partnering with animal welfare non-profit/foster-based organizations, and partnering with human service/community-based organizations to remove barriers and increase positive outcomes. The Cal for All Animals program requires that a shelter or animal control agency be the recipient of any grants, but the funds can be used to support and build partnerships among other animal care or human services organizations. Learn more.

4. Team up to advocate for funding to create and sustain crucial services

Stand in solidarity with fellow community organizations whose missions are interdependent with your own. Talk to your city and county elected officials about the importance of allowing shelters to waive or reduce fees so that reclaiming a lost pet or adopting a new one is affordable for everyone, and emphasize the urgency of funding staff and community-centered programs that address gaps in our system of care so that we can provide people and pets support they need to stay together and sustain essential services like vaccine clinics and low-cost spay/neuter clinics or vouchers.

5. Spread kindness

People are doing the best they can to care for their pets while facing barriers to affordable, pet-inclusive housing and vet care. Through the national veterinarian shortage, current vets are serving anywhere from 1000–3000 households each. And because animal shelters and other community organizations are often chronically under-resourced, they are prevented from serving all the people and animals they wholeheartedly want to help, driving serious distress and burnout among staff. Veterinarians, shelter workers and volunteers, and animal services officers are at higher risk for suicide and PTSD. We could all use more compassion and less judgment; let’s show up for one another as we work together to build the well-being of people and pets in our community.

To ensure your external communications reinforce partnerships and reflect organizations’ and communities’ shared values, check out Compassionate Communication: Supporting People and Pets Through Human-Centered Language.

Explore related resources and find more information on our upcoming grant cycle.

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Customers are loyal to brands who share their values and give back to their communities. Here are five ways you can #BeAHelper to bring and keep pets and people together while rallying around your shared values. 

1. Be a community hub for getting found pets home

Your business is already a core part of your community—all you need is a microchip scanner to be a one-stop-shop for keeping pets and people together and opening your doors to new clients or customers. You could also offer to print lost and found flyers.

Why is this important? Loose pets aren’t always lost: research has shown that most loose dogs are within a mile of their homes and many are within a block. A cat who looks healthy with good body condition is most likely an indoor/outdoor pet or a community cat cared for by a network of neighbors. When found pets are brought to shelters, less than 20% of loose dogs and only 5% of cats nationally are reclaimed by an owner; when a pet can stay safely in the neighborhood where they were found, their chances of being reunited with their family increase significantly. The best way to ensure a healthy, friendly pet gets home is to start by looking for an ID tag, posting on social media, checking with neighbors nearby, and scanning for a microchip. Learn more about how to help a found dog, cat, or kitten. 

It’s easy to become a microchip scanning station, just like the people and businesses who are part of Chico Animal Shelter’s Pet Pals program. Talk to your shelter about teaming up!

2. Host adoption pop-ups

If your business has a meeting space or you’re a landlord who has unused space, consider partnering with shelters and foster-based organizations to showcase pets who need new homes and bring more pets and people together. You can also help promote adoptable pets by sharing posts via your social media accounts or employee newsletter, posting flyers, or hosting a community bulletin board for pets who need to be rehomed. 

3. Organize donations

Check in with local shelter, human services, and animal care organizations to find out what families and pets and the organizations working with them most need. Some businesses have organized a pet food and supply drive; gathered crates, blankets, or bedding; collected donations for helping with spay/neuter costs, veterinary care or the fees people have to pay to get their lost pets back; or created and publicized online shopping lists for organizations. You can also search for a donation site distributing pet care supplies to people experiencing homelessness and their pets near you or consider becoming a pet food provider site if none exist in your community.

4. Host shelter events or wellness clinics in your parking lot or other space

Build relationships with other organizations and people in your community by partnering with your local shelter to host a drive-through vaccine clinic, fundraiser, or other community event. 

5. Advocate for funding to create and sustain crucial services

When pets and people have access to the resources they need to thrive, our communities thrive, and that’s good for business. Just as building a strong house requires a variety of people and materials, building and sustaining the well-being of people and pets building well-being in your community depends on many people working together. Talk to your city and county elected officials about the importance of allowing shelters to waive or reduce fees so that reclaiming a lost pet or adopting a new one is affordable for everyone. Emphasize the urgency of funding staff and programs that address gaps in our system of care so that we can provide people and pets support they need to be well together.  
 
It’s especially critical to encourage support for initiatives that build veterinary capacity and expand access to spay/neuter. When spay/neuter surgery had to be suspended during the pandemic, we fell nearly three million surgeries behind what would normally have been accomplished. A nationwide shortage of veterinarians and veterinary nurses is making it even harder to keep up with the need, let alone catch up from the deficit, which is compounded in communities that already lacked affordable veterinary care or veterinarians at all. 
 
You can also fundraise for mobile clinics, community cat/TNR groups to cover spay/neuter surgeries, or to help local animal shelters and partner organizations ensure we can waive or reduce fees that come between pets and people and provide essential resources and services—like vaccine clinics and low-cost spay/neuter services or vouchers—that bring and keep people and pets in our community together.

For more information on these and other ways your business can make a difference, visit petsandpeopletogether.org. 

What are shelter reclaim fees (also called return to owner or redemption fees)?

When a pet found outside is presumed lost and brought to the shelter by animal services officers or community members, owners will likely have to pay redemption and/or boarding fees and potentially civil fines in order to reclaim their pet. These fees are often set at a municipal or county level with no discretion given to shelters to waive or lower them. Depending on circumstances, an owner may be faced with an expensive bill to reclaim a dog who escaped from a yard or was simply visiting a dog friend down the street. Along with  transportation, language, or other barriers, expensive reclaim fees can prevent pets from returning to their families and are one reason less than 20% of dogs and only 5% of cats are reclaimed in shelters nationwide.  

You can help make sure fees don’t stand between pets and people who love them by helping a pet get home instead of bringing them to the shelter, starting or donating to a shelter’s return-to-home fund, and joining with your shelter to advocate for their ability to lower or waive fees in order to reunite pets with their families. 

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Faith, youth, civic and other community groups can #BeAHelper by drawing on their people power to make sure pets can spend more nights at home, not in shelters. 

1. Organize donations

Check in with your local animal shelter, community cat/TNR groups, and human services and other animal care organizations to find out what families and pets and the organizations working with them most need. Some groups have organized a pet food and supply drive; gathered crates, blankets, or bedding; collected donations for helping with spay/neuter costs, veterinary care or covering fees to allow lost pets to go home; or created and publicized online shopping lists for organizations. Scout and other youth groups have made toys, beds, and even built outdoor play yards and improved housing for dogs, cats and other critters. You can also search for a donation site distributing pet care supplies to people experiencing homelessness and their pets near you or consider becoming a pet food provider site if none exist in your community. 

2. Host a fundraiser and mobilize public support

From a car wash or bake sale to a movie or open mic night, raise awareness and funds for animal shelters and other organizations supporting pets and people. Some organizations join together to plan a neighborhood or community-wide event. You can fundraise for mobile clinics, community cat/TNR groups to cover spay/neuter surgeries, or to help local animal shelters and partner organizations ensure we can waive or reduce fees that come between pets and people and provide essential resources and services—like vaccine clinics and low-cost spay/neuter services or vouchers—that bring and keep people and pets in our community together. Consider inviting city officials and other decision-makers and voice how important it is for your community to devote resources to essential services that support pets and people. 

3. Help reunite, rehome or temporarily foster pets

Organize a network of people who can volunteer or spread the word when a friend, family member, or neighbor needs to rehome their pet or needs someone to temporarily care for their pet because of a military deployment, medical issue, or other urgent situation. Your group can also act as pet detectives and increase found pets’ chances of returning home by checking with neighbors in the area where a pet was found, posting on social media lost-and-found and community pages such as Nextdoor, and posting found pet flyers.

4. Host adoption pop-ups

If your organization has a meeting space, or you’re a landlord who has unused space, consider partnering with shelters and foster-based organizations to showcase pets who need new homes and bring more pets and people together. You can also help promote adoptable pets by sharing posts via your social media accounts or group newsletter.

5. Donate and/or advocate for funding to create and sustain crucial services

Just as building a strong house requires a variety of people and materials, building and sustaining the well-being of people and pets requires community resources, social relationships, and opportunities to thrive. Building well-being in your community depends on many people working together. Talk to your city and county elected officials about the importance of allowing shelters to waive or reduce fees so that reclaiming a lost pet or adopting a new one is affordable for everyone. Emphasize the urgency of funding staff and programs that address gaps in our system of care so that we can provide people and pets support they need to be well together.  
 
It’s especially critical to encourage support for initiatives that build veterinary capacity and expand access to spay/neuter. When spay/neuter surgery had to be suspended during the pandemic, we fell nearly three million surgeries behind what would normally have been accomplished. A nationwide shortage of veterinarians and veterinary nurses is making it even harder to keep up with the need, let alone catch up from the deficit, which is compounded in communities that already lacked affordable veterinary care or veterinarians at all.

For more information on these and other ways your group can make a difference, visit petsandpeopletogether.org. 

What are shelter reclaim fees (also called return to owner or redemption fees)?

When a pet found outside is presumed lost and brought to the shelter by animal services officers or community members, owners will likely have to pay redemption and/or boarding fees and potentially civil fines in order to reclaim their pet. These fees are often set at a municipal or county level with no discretion given to shelters to waive or lower them. Depending on circumstances, an owner may be faced with an expensive bill to reclaim a dog who escaped from a yard or was simply visiting a dog friend down the street. Along with  transportation, language, or other barriers, expensive reclaim fees can prevent pets from returning to their families and are one reason less than 20% of dogs and only 5% of cats are reclaimed in shelters nationwide.  

You can help make sure fees don’t stand between pets and people who love them by helping a pet get home instead of bringing them to the shelter, starting or donating to a shelter’s return-to-home fund, and joining with your shelter to advocate for their ability to lower or waive fees in order to reunite pets with their families. 

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En español

Each of us can #BeAHelper to keep and bring more pets and people together in our communities so that pets spend more nights at home, not in a shelter. 

1. Help found pets get home

If you can hold a healthy, found pet for just 48 hours while searching for their owner, you can significantly increase the chances they will be reunited with their family. In the average shelter, less than half of dogs and fewer than 1 in 20 cats ever make it back home.

You might be surprised to learn that dogs are over ten times more likely to be reunited with their owners by staying in their neighborhood than by a visit to the shelter! That’s even more true for cats. A cat who looks healthy with good body condition and coat is very rarely lost and should remain where they are; even cats who are actually lost are as much as 50 times more likely to be reunited with their family if they stay in the neighborhood where they are found. Take 48 and help your neighbors—human and animal. Learn more about what to do if you find a dog, cat, or kitten. 

2. Help an animal find a home

By adopting, fostering—caring for an animal temporarily in your home—or helping a friend or family member rehome their pet, you’ll also impact the lives of animals you don’t see by freeing up space and resources so that the shelter can help more animals who need homes, as well as sick or injured animals, without a place to go. According to Petco Love, if 2% more of the 85-million pet-owning households could foster just one pet a year, we could eliminate preventable euthanasia and save the lives of the 800,000 shelter animals at risk of euthanasia. Whether you adopt or foster a pet for your local shelter, help a friend rehome a pet, or help a neighbor who needs to rehome their pet temporarily because of a military deployment, medical challenges, or other urgent situation, you’ll save lives and gain a friend! 

3. Become an ambassador for your animal shelter

There are countless ways to act as an ambassador for your shelter or other animal care organization and help pets and people in your community. Start by spreading the word about the best way to help a found pet get home, promoting adoptable pets in your circles, or simply sharing this list with others. You can also volunteer your time and talents to make a difference. Whether it’s walking dogs, photographing adoptable pets, translating websites and other materials to languages spoken in your community, or assisting with events, social media or administrative tasks, you can find the perfect in-person or remote opportunity.

4. Donate and/or advocate for funding to create and sustain crucial services

Just as building a strong house requires a variety of people and materials, building and sustaining the well-being of people and pets requires community resources, social relationships, and opportunities to thrive. Building well-being in your community depends on many people working together. Talk to your city and county elected officials about the importance of allowing shelters to waive or reduce fees so that reclaiming a lost pet or adopting a new one is affordable for everyone. Emphasize the urgency of funding staff and programs that address gaps in our system of care so that we can provide people and pets support they need to be well together.  
 
It’s especially critical to encourage support for initiatives that build veterinary capacity and expand access to spay/neuter. When spay/neuter surgery had to be suspended during the pandemic, we fell nearly three million surgeries behind what would normally have been accomplished. A nationwide shortage of veterinarians and veterinary nurses is making it even harder to keep up with the need, let alone catch up from the deficit, which is compounded in communities that already lacked affordable veterinary care or veterinarians at all. 
 
You can also help fundraise for individuals, mobile clinics, or community cat/TNR groups to cover spay/neuter surgeries, or donate to local animal shelters and partner organizations to help make sure we can waive or reduce fees that come between pets and people and provide essential resources and services—like vaccine clinics and low-cost spay/neuter services or vouchers—that bring and keep people and pets in our community together.

5. Spread kindness and #BeAHelper

People are doing the best they can to care for their pets while facing barriers to affordable, pet-inclusive housing and vet care. Through the national veterinarian shortage, current vets are serving anywhere from 1000–3000 households each. And because animal shelters and other community organizations are often chronically under-resourced, they are prevented from serving all the people and animals they wholeheartedly want to help, driving serious distress and burnout among staff. Veterinarians, shelter workers and volunteers, and animal services officers are at higher risk for suicide and PTSD. We could all use more compassion and less judgment; let’s show up for one another as we work together to build the well-being of people and pets in our community.  
 
Whether you volunteer at a shelter or other community organization or reach out to a neighbor or friend to lend a hand (and a dog walk, training help, or pet grooming support), what you do matters. Try posting something positive about your community’s animal care organizations on social media, leaving a kind review, or writing a note of gratitude to recognize the efforts of your shelter or a team member. 

For more information on these and other ways you can make a difference, visit petsandpeopletogether.org. 

What are shelter reclaim fees (also called return to owner or redemption fees)?

When a pet found outside is presumed lost and brought to the shelter by animal services officers or community members, owners will likely have to pay redemption and/or boarding fees and potentially civil fines in order to reclaim their pet. These fees are often set at a municipal or county level with no discretion given to shelters to waive or lower them. Depending on circumstances, an owner may be faced with an expensive bill to reclaim a dog who escaped from a yard or was simply visiting a dog friend down the street. Along with transportation, language, or other barriers, expensive reclaim fees can prevent pets from returning to their families and are one reason less than less than half of dogs and fewer than 1 in 20 cats are reclaimed in shelters nationwide.  

You can help make sure fees don’t stand between pets and people who love them by helping a pet get home instead of bringing them to the shelter, starting or donating to a shelter’s return-to-home fund, and joining with your shelter to advocate for their ability to lower or waive fees in order to reunite pets with their families.

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