The Best Mississippi Dog Rescues & Shelters in 2025

Tunica Humane Society

This is the Tunica County Dog Pound, 6 cages where dogs were held for 5 days before they were disposed of. No pet of the week No vet No love No care Only a death sentence. Picture All of this changed August 2008 when the Tunica Humane Society was formed by a group of women determined to change the Tunica County Dog Pound from an ALL-KILL facility to a NO-KILL facility. Today the Tunica Humane Society has grown and moved to a new facility with room for many more dogs with the help of donors such as Caesars Entertainment and Sidewalk Angels. But the Tunica Humane Society still needs the help of generous donors, fosters, and volunteers.

Southern Pines Animal Shelter

Southern Pines purpose is to nurture the bond between people and pets through community, compassion, and collaboration to forge a path toward sustainable, responsible, and community-driven lifesaving.

DeSoto County Animal Shelter

The DeSoto County Animal Shelter promotes and protects public and animal safety by: o Enforcing the Animal Control Ordinance (PDF) established by the DeSoto County Board of Supervisors. o Adopting eligible animals o Collecting stray animals o Promoting responsible pet ownership through education and community outreach

City of Hernando Animal Shelter

Olive Branch Animal Shelter

Clarksdale Animal Rescue Effort & Shelter

Suckers for happy endings, CARES is a non-profit, no-kill animal shelter that aims to improve animal welfare in the Mississippi Delta. We work to provide a safe and secure environment for animals, increase awareness of shelter pet availability, and inspire a sense of responsibility and pride in the community's shelter pet population. Our goal is to love pets, love people, and help people who love their pets keep them. In October 2017, we moved to a new building that is ten times larger than our previous facility. This new space has allowed us to keep all our animals indoors. We also have two adoption rooms, a kids' education room, a volunteer center, a dedicated medical room, and space for community programs. We make a difference one happy tail at a time. Here's our beginnings: It's hard to believe it's been three years since CARES officially became Clarksdale's city shelter. The conditions were at an all-time low, and we saw an opportunity for serious change. We started with ambitious plans for a new building, but we also prioritized the daily needs of the shelter animals, engaging with city officials, and laying the groundwork for a sustainable future. Our original accomplishments list from 2015 is a testament to our unwavering dedication. We're just as proud of this list today as we are of our current achievements. We've always been committed to improving and saving lives, and that commitment remains as strong as ever. • Our biggest accomplishment last year was dramatically reducing the number of unnecessary euthanizations. • From there we worked with transports to get over 100 dogs out of Clarksdale to forever homes in other parts the country. • We reached out to local veterinarians, and they joined in our effort by providing vaccinations and overdue spay and neutering. • Foster families were put into place so that the dogs waiting for a transport wouldn't remain at the shelter. • We also introduced two new events to increase awareness of our great shelter pets: Paws and Pumpkins and Santa Paws. • We introduced a new website and an updated Facebook page to further engage with our supporters and volunteers. • A new logo was designed with the motto "A Tail of Togetherness," which fits perfectly for Clarksdale by bringing all citizens together for a common good. The gold of the sun in the logo reminds us that a new day and change is on the way. • CARES set up 2nd Saturday adoption sites with Oxford Hollywood Feed so that our animals could be exposed to the public more frequently. • We upgraded the shelter by upgrading basic necessities that had been lacking in city support, like large rubber mats, tarps, and dog houses. The mats were used to keep animals from the ever-present mud and cold concrete that they were forced to lay on from being outside. • We received generous funding from supporters, which allowed us to pay for vaccinations, sick animals ,and spay/neuter. • Our volunteers put in thousands of hours helping out at the shelter. • We received our first grant from the Guardian Angel fund for spay and neuter. This is the first time in the history of the Clarksdale shelter that animals adopted have already been spayed and neutered in an effort to decrease the stray animal population. • This year we have already begun training with the present staff to freshen up the shelter experience for both the animals and their human visitors. • Several of the CARES board members attended the national shelter expo at their own expense. • New brochures and handouts have been professionally prepared so that the community can easily grasp the CARES mission and other important resources. • We have new computer software programs to help track adoptions, organize animals, and link our available animals to web searches. Also, a new accounting system is in place so that your donations go to the specified need of your choosing. • We have partnered with the Mississippi State Veterinary School in efforts to update the current building and to help us in our goal of keeping pets healthy for adoptions. • Shelter plans for a new building were developed and on the horizon for the future. • And last but not least.. we have officially contracted with the city to run the shelter ourselves. As of April 15, 2015, CARES is officially responsible for the Clarksdale shelter.

The Cleveland-Bolivar County Animal Shelter

Southeast Missouri Pets

We are an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of pets and people in Southeast Missouri. We envision a community where every animal has a safe and loving home. Our care and support helps more than 2,000 animals stay off the street each year. We receive no operating funds from the government or the Humane Society of the United States. We rely on the love and support of our community for volunteers and donations to continue our mission.

Leflore County Humane Society

Since 1970, LCHS has been an institution serving Greenwood and the Leflore County area. It is our humanitarian duty and mission to help cats and dogs that come to us in crisis. We provide protection, shelter, food, medical care, and most of all love. We change their future to a world of hope and a forever loving home. We are a non profit Shelter serving Leflore County, and we accept all donations small and large to help our babies find fur-ever homes. Come Visit Us! Our Hours of Operation are Monday - Friday from 1PM to 5PM. We are closed on the weekends.

Humane Society of South Mississippi

The Humane Society of South Mississippi (HSSM) is the largest animal welfare organization in the state of Mississippi. In 2023, HSSM cared for nearly 5,000 homeless pets. Since our incorporation in 1952, HSSM has been committed to ending pet overpopulation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. HSSM is an open-admissions shelter and turns no pet away based on health, age, or behavioral status. Oftentimes our open-admissions status in a community with a disproportionately high number of homeless pets leads to needless euthanasia of adoptable pets in our shelter HSSM has now vowed to change this. In January of 2012, HSSM's Board of Directors adopted the most progressive initiative ever undertaken by our organization. This initiative, entitled Countdown to Zero, aims to eliminate the euthanasia of all healthy and treatable pets in our community. Our dream is to make South Mississippi a truly humane community where every pet lives out his/her life in a loving home. When HSSM achieves this goal, we will be the first community in the Deep South to achieve this milestone.

DeSoto Animal Rescue Society

Desoto Animal Rescue Society (DARS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue, care, rehabilitation, and placement of unwanted, abandoned, and abused pets, giving them a second chance at a loving forever home. All animals taken in receive necessary medical care, heartworm testing and treatment if needed and routine vaccinations. All animals are spayed or neutered prior to adoption. We are not a shelter with a facility where you can visit our pets. All rescued pets live in our own homes, where they are evaluated and cared for until they find their ideal adoptive family. We do our best to to make the very best match for pet and new family - not just A home, but the Right home! We carefully screen prospective homes and require all applicants to go through an adoption application process. We are all volunteers with families, jobs and other responsibilities. We do this work because of our love and respect for animals. Our mission is to rescue, but our hope is that one day we won't need to. Unfortunately, we are limited in the number of animals we can rescue due to an ongoing shortage of foster homes. We take as many as we can care for adequately and that varies for every volunteer and home. We would love to be able to rescue more needy animals and will gladly speak to anyone about this very rewarding role. We are not affiliated with the Desoto County Animal Shelter or any governmental agency. We do not receive any taxpayer funds. We operate solely on donations and the revenue we generate from fundraising events. 100% of our incoming funds go directly towards the care of our animals and to pay our vet bills. All other expenses are paid for by our own dedicated volunteers. We cannot do this work without the generosity of people who believe in our mission and want to support our efforts.

Senatobia-Tate County Animal Shelter

Blue Sky Dog Rescue

Mutt Madness in the Ms Delta

Mutt Madness in the Ms Delta was founded in 2016 by a small group of friends who could not shake the heartbreak felt by seeing SO MANY unwanted dogs scattered across the Mississippi Delta. Our tiny group knew we could not tackle this problem alone and we certainly couldn’t turn a blind eye to the conditions so many of these dogs were living in daily. We chose to enlist as many friends as possible and ask our community for support. Today, Mutt Madness is a small foster-based rescue, who proudly takes in, rehabilitates and finds homes for roughly 200+ dogs each year. Our group of volunteers consists of about a half dozen devoted dog lovers and rely solely on support from our followers.

Charlie's Crusaders Pet Rescue

Charlie's Crusaders is a 100% volunteer, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing dogs that are abandoned, homeless, neglected, or awaiting their fate at a high kill shelter. We strive to help dogs be adopted up North in the PA/NJ/MD/DE/CT/NY area.

Southern Jewel Dog Rescue

Southern Jewel Dog Rescue (SJDR) is the culmination of over sixteen years of dog rescue by Shelly and Curtis Bookwalter and there group of volunteers and foster families for which we are ever greatfull. SJDR is a 501c3 non profit organization that has chapters in Mississippi and chapters in Connecticut. We were featured in the eight episode Animal Planet series “Last Chance Highway” that ran the summer of 2010 in the United States. SJDR South works to rescue dogs in the Greater Memphis, TN and North Western, MS area and put them in forever homes locally and in the North Eastern States. SJDR North helps to support the goals of the Southern Chapter as well as rescuing dogs locally out of shelters in Connecticut and finding them great homes in the New England States. SJDR rescue dogs are completely vetted and have been spayed or neutered. We do our very best to match our dogs to the appropriate forever homes based on information that we get from our perspective adopters application and phone conversations with them. Every dog adopted allows us to save the life of another dog in need. We rescue our dogs from kill Shelters, off the streets and from people that can no longer care for them. We thank you for your interest in Southern Jewel Dog Rescue and for visiting our Web site. If you are interested in adopting a rescue dog we thank you in advance regardless if you find your new best friend from SJDR or another rescue group

Mississippi Animal Project

We are a small group of friends who want to make a difference in Mississippi, our home state. We have collectively worked in rescue for over 18 years. We want to take our experience and compassion and focus on Mississippi animals. We have so many plans and ideas that we look forward to implementing in the upcoming year. Please bear with us as we get things organized and finalized. We are working hard getting all of our paperwork filed and setting up all of our accounts and we are all moms with families and full time jobs. We look forward to helping the animals and you, our community. We will need your help to make this a successful project. We also want to work together with our fellow rescues and organizations in the state for the good of the animals. It is all about them. Together we can accomplish great things. Please let us know if you would like to join us. We would love to have you on our team

Paws N Hooves Rescue

We are a non profit rescue We love our fur babies and will do anything we can to help one in need. We aren't in this for money or to be recognized.. we simply wish to give a voice to those that don't have one. We operate out of Desoto County, Mississippi. Our goal is to turn the abused and neglected, into a loving, happy, FURever grateful, member of your family.

Pals of Paws Society

Pals of Paws Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the pet overpopulation problem in Northwest Mississippi. We accomplish this mission by increasing adoption visibility for animal rescue and shelter organizations, by arranging transportation for animals into areas of higher adoption demand, through community outreach and education, by providing [financial assistance for veterinary care](/about/spayneuter), and through coordination with local, national, and international animal rescue groups. In Northwest Mississippi, pet overpopulation is a serious community epidemic that transpires with a growing stray population and the overcrowding of local animal shelters. Pals of Paws Society also aims to tackle the problem at its source – by providing community outreach and education regarding the importance of spaying and neutering pets, and by providing individuals and organizations with the financial means to do so. Through our fundraising and networking efforts, we hope to eliminate the pet overpopulation problem in our community