We’re There

We’re there raiding dogfights with law enforcement; digging out tortoises to save them from being buried alive in construction projects, and then relocating them to protected lands; medicating and sterilizing dogs and cats on remote Indian reservations; capturing, sterilizing, and vaccinating street dogs in the Philippines; nursing injured birds and rehabilitating them to return to the wild in Central America; coming to the aid of dogs in puppy mills and working with emergency placement partners to adopt them into loving homes; rushing into disaster zones while residents are rushing out; training dogs for good behavior and operating free wellness clinics in inner city Atlanta; feeding starving horses and taking them out of crisis; caring for thousands of animals at the largest network of animal-care facilities in the nation. These are just some of the ways we conduct the world’s most robust, diverse, and far-reaching direct care programs for animals. No matter where animals are in crisis, we’re there.

Kathy Milani/The HSUS
The Fund for Animals Wildlife Center is an oasis
in Ramona, Calif., where we treat injured and
orphaned wildlife with the goal of releasing
them back into the wild.

Animal care is, of course, just part of what we do. We are working to prevent cruelty and drive transformational change through our policy, awareness building, and corporate campaigns. But we are also the biggest provider of animal care in the animal welfare field. In 2012, The HSUS and its affiliates provided direct care or help to more than 100,000 animals – our biggest total ever. In all the ways we help – through our veterinary programs, international street dog efforts, animal care centers, Animal Rescue Team, Wildlife Innovations and Response, Humane Wildlife Services, and others – it’s an extraordinary amount of life-saving activity for animals. 

In 2012, our Animal Rescue Team deployed more than 30 times, rescuing more than 3,500 animals from life-threatening cruelty. We rescued 1,499 animals in danger because of natural disasters, including Super Storm Sandy, Hurricane Isaac and wildfires. We also rescued 1,529 animals from severe neglect situations, 1,126 dogs and birds from animal fighting, and 1,096 dogs from puppy mills. Among the many cases we responded to, we rescued 11 exotic animals (three tigers, three cougars, two leopards, two wolf-hybrids and a monkey) from a roadside zoo in Collins, Miss., as well as 137 pet birds from horrible cruelty in Ohio.

Below is a list of animals directly cared for by The HSUS, organized by category. In addition to the 100,000 animals we helped through those programs, our sponsorship of World Spay-Day efforts around the globe touched an additional 55,000 dogs and cats.

Animal Cruelty, Rescue, and Response (Cruelty cases, Dog fighting & Cockfighting raids)
–    Animals cared for: 5,719

Animal Care Centers
–    Animals cared for: 16,238

Companion Animals (Spay/Neuter clinics, Pets for Life, Pet Help Partners NYC)
–    Animals cared for: 17,776

Humane Society International
–    Animals cared for: 48,062

Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association-Rural Areas Veterinary Services (both domestic and international)
–    Animals cared for: 6,952

Wildlife (Includes Humane Wildlife Services, Prairie Dog Coalition & Wildlife Response)
–    Animals cared for: 5,261

Total animals cared for: 100,008

I am proud of all of our people and volunteers on the front lines of helping animals. And I am grateful every day that so many people in the U.S. and throughout the world support this work to help animals in crisis and in need.