The Best North Dakota Dog Rescues & Shelters in 2025

Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue

Sheyenne Valley Friends of Animals

We are an all volunteer, nonprofit organization that: Promotes responsible pet ownership Responds to calls for help for animals in need Assists owners with spay/neuter costs Advertises found pets Facilitates pet adoptions Raises money for veterinary care for needy animals – Vet care provided through Valley City Veterinary Hospital Just a few ways we’ve assisted our community: • SVFA provides the HomeAgain Microchipping program at the Valley City Veterinary Hospital. The program is open to everyone and for only $40, you get a permanent microchip ID for your pet. • We helped raise funds to build Valley City’s dog park located in Chautauqua Park and maintained by the Parks & Recreation Department. We are currently working on Dog Park #2! • SVFA has purchased NINE dog waste bag dispensers which are located in and around Valley City. 1. Mercy Hospital (east end of bridge), 5th Ave walking path (North & South ends), Dog Park, Pioneer Park, City Park (South), Main St E (near Casey’s), Fish Hatchery, City Park (North side), Chautauqua Park (North side). Valley City Parks & Recreation and the City of Valley City refill the dog waste bags and collect and dispose of the dog waste. • We provided the Barnes County Ambulance and the Valley City Fire Department with pet oxygen masks. • SVFA works with the Valley City Veterinary Hospital each fall to provide discounts during the Spay/Neuter Week. SVFA provides coupons and the Vet gives a 15% discount on spays and neuters during the promotion. • The Humane Education committee visits with local 3rd Graders at Jefferson Elementary every year. They teach the students how to interact and care for pets as well as provide information about responsible pet ownership. • These are just a few ways our volunteers have helped make our community better. We hope to make this list so much longer!

4 Luv Of Dog Rescue

Founded in 2005 and based in Fargo North Dakota, 4 Luv of Dog Rescue has remained a fully volunteer-run and community-supported organization. 4 Luv of Dog Rescue is rimarily a foster-based rescue that maintains a facility in Moorhead Minnesota which provides emergency-only housing for dogs until a foster home can be secured. 4 Luv of Dog Rescue receives no government funding and relies upon grants, fundraising, and your generous donations to stay operational. As of 2020, 4 Luv of Dog Rescue has saved about 5,000 dogs – this work is only possible thanks to 4 Luv of Dog Rescue’s amazing volunteers and supporters. Thank You. Minnesota Kennel License: MN262036

Diamond In The Ruff Pet Rescue

Welcome! We are Diamond in the Ruff, a pet rescue operating out of Fargo, North Dakota. We are a 100% volunteer-run organization that depends on foster homes, volunteers, and generous community donations to continue saving the lives of animals. We work to rescue and rehabilitate abandoned animals before permanently placing them in loving homes. We also aim to educate the public about proper animal care, prevention of breed discrimination, and the importance of spaying/neutering animals in order to combat the escalating overpopulation problem in our community and across the country. It is important to us that we have a lasting impact on the lives of animals as well as the people who interact with us. We are a new organization working to create a foundation that can be used to save animals’ lives. Our rescue operates entirely with the help of volunteers and foster families. Donations of any size contribute to our cause by helping us provide our foster homes with supplies and our animals with the comforts and assistance they need after they’ve been admitted to our rescue. Our org2021 Guidestar Gold Sealanization earned a 2021 Gold Seal of Transparency! Now, everyone can view our financial details and learn about the people at our organization. Check out our updated #NonprofitProfile on Candid.

Journey Home Animal Rescue

Journey Home Animal Rescue, based in Grand Forks, North Dakota was founded in 2018. A group of dedicated animal advocates recognized the need for a foster based rescue in the area. We accept strays and owner surrenders from ND, MN, SD, and occasionally outside areas. We place all our animals in foster homes while they are receiving medical care and learning to be a beloved family member until they are ready to start their new journey in their forever home. Since there are so many animals in need, we also work with other rescues to get animals to safety. North Dakota is overflowing with animals that desperately need our help. We transport 100s of animals a year to partnering rescues in MN, ND, & WI. Our foundation is built on a passion for helping animals and working together to make a better future for all. Rescue. Nurture. Adopt. Educate. Some of the priorities of Journey Home Animal Rescue include (but not limited to): • operating as a foster based rescue • assisting pounds, shelters, local communities and rescues • being a part of the solution to animal overpopulation with spay/neuter education, operations, and opportunities • helping animals in need in ways beyond Journey Home acceptance • once a part of the Journey Home family, always a part; animals and people

Prairie Paws Rescue

Prairie Paws Rescue is a non-profit organization started by seven Jamestown, North Dakota volunteers who are dedicated to rescuing pets in bad situations. Kaye John, who also belongs to Dakota Rescuers, is one of the organizers. She, as well as the other members of the group, wanted to do have a more local organization that they could be involved with. Becky Johnson, who worked with Kaye John to organize Prairie Paws Rescue, feels that her personal crusade is to save pets from puppy mills - kennels where dogs are raised in substandard conditions - and pounds. She despises the fact that puppy mills frequently kill unsold puppies or older dogs that have stopped producing. Also, animal pounds, as opposed to humane shelters, kill abandoned pets if they aren't adopted within a certain time period. In cases like these, Prairie Paws Rescue likes to take animals they believe they can place and e-mail other rescue groups across the country about them. Rescue volunteers arrange transportation to a group that can place the animal in a foster or permanent home. All this is done by volunteers who do not get paid for their efforts! This team effort, along with thoughtful donations from the community, has allowed Prairie Paws Rescue to save many animals that have become loved and loving pets to local residents.

The Uffda Fund for Animals

The Uffda Fund is a non-profit, tax exempt 501(c) 3 corporation which was formed to help homeless cats and dogs in the Towner County area. We assist with veterinary costs including spay/neuter and vaccinations and health restoration. Our goal is to improve the quality of life for these pets by finding forever homes where they may live out their lives in safe, loving surroundings. The origin of our name comes from Uffda, a red tabby cat who lived a long and happy life. When he passed away in 2008 Uffda’s owners donated money to help animals less fortunate than Uffda. Thus the seed for the Uffda Fund was planted in the hearts and minds of a group of dedicated volunteers who worked together to establish an animal rescue. We are not a humane society or animal shelter. We have no physical location in which to board dogs and cats, but instead depend on a small number of foster homes to provide temporary housing, socialization and a welcoming environment for abandoned, neglected and occasionally abused pets.

Oreo's Animal Rescue

Oreo’s Animal Rescue is a nonprofit adoption guarantee organization committed to improving the lives of all animals. As an adoption guarantee organization, we embrace all animals and do not believe in the process of destroying them to control pet overpopulation. No animal in our control is ever euthanized unless they are suffering or considered dangerous. We believe that a strict spay and neuter policy is the only way to truly impact the number of unwanted animals in our community.

Central Dakota Humane Society

The Central Dakota Humane Society has had a shelter located three miles north of Mandan since 1994, but many people are surprised to find out that the organization has actually been doing good deeds in the community for more than 59 years. CDHS was originally formed by 12 members as the League for Animal Welfare in 1960. There seem to be a few misconceptions about CDHS. We are not the pound. We do not euthanize healthy and adoptable animals. The members who drafted the shelter's mission in 1994 decided that we should be a no-kill shelter, which means if an animal is healthy and temperamentally sound, we will not euthanize it. We will keep the animal until it can find a loving home. The members today continue to live by this philosophy because we believe there is always the perfect guardian out there looking for the loving cats and dogs we house at the shelter. Our main goals fall in line with our mission statement. Our first mission is to provide for, house, rehabilitate and relocate lost, strayed or homeless animals. Another important mission is to promote spaying and neutering of pets in order to cut down the number of the area's unwanted litters of puppies and kittens. We ARE a vital partner and a needed asset in our community. Please help us continue our mission. We challenge every pet lover in the Central Dakota area to show your love for your own animals by giving back to those less fortunate - the stray, abandoned and abused creatures who find their way to our doorstep and who are eventually adopted into wonderful, forever homes.

Miles of Love

We are a 501c3 dog rescue located in Mandan, ND. Our mission is to fight the overpopulation of dog shelters around the United States. We plan to save them one by one, until there are none. We can't do it without you! It all started when... We were two young girls taking in strays and keeping them until we could find their homes. In early 2015, our lives changed... Kalli saved a dog from a high kill shelter. In the months that followed, we realized how many dogs needed a voice. We decided to be their voice. Our first step was to rescue 30 dogs from Texas, all within one month. We then went on to Shawnee, OK where we saved another six dogs. We also took in a few owner surrenders from our own state of North Dakota. In 2016, we rescued an additional 25 dogs from Texas. Our goal is to rescue from more states, including our own. Miles of Love is going to continue doing what we can to prevent overpopulation of dogs in the United States. We plan to save them one by one, until there are none.

Homeward Animal Shelter

Homeward Animal Shelter – Bringing Pets and People Together Since 1966 Homeward Animal Shelter is a local and community-funded, non-profit animal shelter. Its mission is: “Rescue. Shelter. Protect. Rehome.”. It provides a second chance at happiness to lost, abandoned and owner-surrendered animals and educates the community in the proper, loving and kind treatment of animals. Homeward Animal Shelter is committed to preventing animal overpopulation and spays/neuters all animals 6 months or older before adoption. Since its inception in 1966, Homeward Animal Shelter has placed nearly 41,000 animals in lifelong homes.

Furry Friends Rockin' Rescue

Furry Friends Rockin’ Rescue is a non-profit animal rescue started in 2014 and officially incorporated in 2015 by a group of Bismarck, North Dakota Animal Impound volunteers. We are a volunteer run organization. The rescue was founded to alleviate overcrowding and unnecessary euthanization within the impound. We have branched out to take in owner surrenders and other animals found in dangerous situations. We rely on the support of the community to help us provide services to animals. We strive to match the animal with the right home. We also seek to educate the community regarding the importance of providing proper veterinary care to animals and having all their pets spayed or neutered.

Humane Society of Richland-Wilkin Counties

James River Humane Society

Established in 1985, we are a non-profit, NO-KILL shelter set up to care for homeless cats and dogs. It is the policy of our shelter to provide humane care and treatment for animals needing protection in the area served by the shelter to seek suitable homes for animals without owners and to alleviate animal suffering.