Ruff Day Rescue is a California-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to saving large-breed dogs in high-kill shelters in Northern California and beyond through rescue, foster, and adoption. We are 100% funded through adoption fees and donations. We believe every dog deserves a chance at a forever home, and we aim to make a difference in the lives of these deserving animals, one dog at a time!

Today, animal shelters in California are facing an unprecedented crisis. About 100,000 animals are euthanized every year at many of these overcrowded, underfunded, and understaffed shelters, according to the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at the University of California-Davis. Under the current system, some shelters give notice, some give very little, and some give no notice at all before euthanizing an animal. Shelters can’t adopt animals on their own. They have to work with rescues and the public to get dogs adopted or fostered, and if they’re not communicating with the public, that’s a huge problem.

That’s where we come in. Ruff Day Rescue has spent the last several years cultivating strong relationships with many of the shelters throughout California and is now one of the first rescue organizations to be called upon when there’s a large-breed dog at risk of being euthanized. Most of the dogs in our program come from East Bay Area animal shelters where they have run out of time. We take them into foster homes to buy time and assess their needs, and then find perfect fit adopters throughout Northern California.

With every success story, we’re reminded that saving one dog might not save the world… but unquestionably for that one canine, their world will change until the end of time. When we look into the eyes of each dog that we save, we fall in love and are instantly recommitted to continuing the important work of Ruff Day Rescue. And we’re growing… we have aspirations to expand to Southern California and even beyond, to the other 49 states.

So please consider joining us as an adopter, foster, donor, or social media promoter. Your help will be greatly appreciated by us, but – more importantly – by the thousands of other dogs out there who are desperately in need of our support. It truly takes a village, but together, we can make a real difference!