Meet Our Team
Nikki Ferraro
Jude Epstein
Karen Gaspin
Skylar Fleck
Our Mission
Much Love Animal Rescue exists to rescue abused, neglected and homeless animals from the streets and shelters of Los Angeles and place them in loving homes. Much Love is a 100% non-profit organization run by dedicated volunteers who offer their time and resources to house, train, transport and care for these animals. Since its inception in 1999, Much Love has placed over 3,500 animals into loving homes.
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Our Tax ID# is 95-4765624.
Volunteer With Us
Much Love Animal Rescue is entirely volunteer run. We need all sorts of helping hands to achieve our mission. Our volunteer opportunities range from transporting dogs to administrative duties. If you are interested in getting involved, please fill out our Volunteer Application.
Our focus is dogs, and they’re our specialty, but we also rescue cats and kittens.
Mostly LA County shelters, but also shelters further afield. We try to help when shelters become overcrowded. Shelters can be particularly stressful environments, so we prioritize dogs who are having a tough time coping and are unlikely to be adopted straight from the shelter. We also take in strays that come our way.
First, the dog will see one of our vets to get a wellness exam and vaccinations. We spay and neuter as soon as is medically appropriate. Then the dog is placed in a foster home to decompress and await their forever home.
The heart of Much Love is our foster program, which places rescued animals into loving homes until they find their forever family. Much Love is a completely decentralized rescue, relying on our foster network to save the animals that we do. We take particular care in placing our animals in homes where they will thrive, matching the animal’s energy to the family’s energy. We also work with professional trainers as needed to address any behavioral concerns. You'll show your foster love, safety, and basic manners, while we work on finding them their perfect family. We have a team dedicated to making this experience a positive one for both you and the animal. See our foster page to learn more and apply!
We use social media, newsletters, in-person adoption events, and word of mouth to find applicants. We also post our available animals on various adoption website. We conduct thorough interviews and a virtual home check. Potential adopters will visit with the animal prior to adoption to ensure it's a good match. Fosters are also asked for their input on potential applicants as we understand you may know the animal's needs best. We ask adoptive owners to sign a detailed contract obliging them to give the animal a loving home.
Sadly, many dogs are abandoned or surrendered to shelters because medical care is so expensive. The majority of Much Love’s rescue donations goes toward medical care for the animals we rescue. We have relationships with vets all over LA county and make sure every animal gets the medical care it needs.
We are a small rescue, and we get dozens of pleas about animals in need every day. When we can’t help, we refer people to this list of other rescues (see below). If you know any rescues we should add to the list, please email us.
Amanda Foundation (dogs and cats)
https://www.amandafoundation.org
Apollo’s Ark (dogs and cats)
https://apollosarc.org/contact-us
apollosarc@gmail.com
Best Friends (dogs and cats)
https://bestfriends.org/los-angeles
bestfriendsla@bestfriends.org
Bullies and Buddies (dogs)
https://www.bulliesandbuddies.com
bulliesandbuddies@gmail.com
Cat Lounge Rescue & Adoption Center
(858) 886-7083dogs
Deity Animal Rescue (dogs)
https://www.deityanimalrescue.org
deityanimalrescue@gmail.com
K9 Kismet
info@k9kismet.org
Kitt Crusaders
info@kittcrusaders.org
Kitten Critical
(844) 636-9636
Kitty of Angels
https://www.kittyofangels.org/
info@kittyofangels.org
Labelle Foundation (dogs and cats)
laura@labellefoundation.org
Lange Foundation (dogs and cats)
info@langefoundation.org
NKLA (dogs and cats)
(424) 208-8840
Purposeful Rescue (dogs)
https://www.apurposefulrescue.org
Room 8 Memorial Cat Foundation
room8cats@gmail.com
Underdog Heroes (dogs)
(310) 980-0168
This is a long one - but we hope the level of detail supports you in this process.
STEP ONE: First, check the animal for tags and, if it has them, contact the owner immediately. If there are no tags, legally you must take the animal to the shelter nearest the location where the animal was found. Call 888-452-7381 to find the shelter nearest you or go to http://www.laanimalservices.com/. Animal shelters are the first place an owner will look for a missing dog or cat and legally you must take the animal to a shelter for the minimum holding period of five days, or you must try to find the owner on your own with ads, flyers, etc. Many people don’t want to take the animal to the shelter in fear the dog will be automatically euthanized. While it is a fact that Los Angeles has a high euthanization rate, this is the place where many pets and their owners are reunited. Even if the animal does not have tags, it may have escaped from a yard and if it is microchipped, it’s owner could be determined when the shelter scans the animal for the chip. If you want to keep tabs on the animal, get the impound number from the shelter and track it through the shelter system to determine when the animal will be available for adoption, which should be five working days from the day you turn it in if the owner doesn’t show up. You can also place “First Rights” on the animal so that you can adopt it when it does come up for adoption, if you show up between 8:00 am to 9:00 am on the first day it is available for adoption. Remember to check out the shelters where logs are kept of owners looking lost dog or cats and see if any of the descriptions matches your animal’s. If you decide against taking the animal to the shelter, many veterinarian’s offices can also scan the animal for a microchip. If no microchip is found, post information on social media and post “Found” flyers in the are where the animal was roaming. When placing an ad, be vague in your description, note the area the animal was found in and your telephone number. This is to ensure that the people calling are truly the animal’s owner. Make sure they can give a description of the animal and ask for the animal’s name to see how it reacts when called. If so far so good, ask to see proof of ownership in veterinary records, dog licenses or a photo of the animal. Most newspapers will place “Found” ads free of charge. STEP TWO: If you have gone through the steps above, and no owner has been found, you can adopt it yourself, try finding it a home yourself or you can take the animal to a local shelter. If you contact us, Much Love will place a photo and description of your animal as a courtesy on AdoptAPet.com and Petfinder.com. We also recommend contacting many other animal rescue groups. They might post you to their sites as well and allow your animal to be courtesy showings at their adoption sites.
We are pleased to help others who are doing their best to help these loving creatures. We are happy to place an animal in need of a home on www.Petfinder.com and www.AdoptAPet.com – the nation’s largest resources for pet adoptions. Animals can only be placed on these sites by animal rescue organizations, but we can have the interested party contact you directly. STEP THREE: Now you’ve found someone who wants your pet, how do you decide if they are right for the animal? Check out our dog and cat applications to get ideas on what are good questions to ask.