I've had interactions with several animal rescues but none have been as professional and as caring as The Animal Pad. I applied to foster in 2018 after seeing TAP post an urgent call for fosters on social media, and it was such an awesome experience I've stuck around ever since. 20 fosters so far and no plans of stopping!
TAP's all volunteer team is top-notch and wants the absolute best for the dogs they rescue, many of whom come from the streets and shelters of Mexico underweight, mangy, and sick (and sometimes pregnant!). The vetting they provide for each dog goes above and beyond what other rescues do, sparing no expense to get each dog healthy. The organization has grown a lot since I got involved, especially in 2020, and every team from foster to adoptions to vetting is extremely organized. Each dog has an assigned coordinator from the foster team, vetting team, and adoptions team, who check in on the foster to make sure the dog is getting what they need to prepare them and ultimately place them in their forever home. And fosters receive a lot of support, both from their foster coordinator and other volunteers, and via the strong social media community TAP has built.
The organization is very events oriented and there are lots of fun socials for both dogs and people, all to support the noble goal of getting homeless dogs the happily ever after they deserve. I've made so many amazing friends by being involved. And the dogs they rescue are truly so special, it's a privilege to love each one on their way to their forever home. I would seriously recommend TAP to anyone looking to adopt, foster, or get involved helping dogs!
I have been volunteering with The Animal Pad since 2017 and I could not have found a better dog rescue. They are about saving every damn dog, and putting their heart and soul into it. I started as an adoption ad writer ad now handle all written content and a team of wonderful passionate writers. It helps that the directors are a team of fantastic, strong women who show that leadership can have a kind heart. They entire process from hand-on rescue to a warm home is incredibly transparent and with a lot of love. No expense is spared for the greater good, and every volunteer, foster and adopter is showered with appreciation. Tough calls are made with compassion. I started fostering earlier this year, and also grew our family by foster-failing. I absolutely love working for The Animal Pad and they have their heart in the right place!
The Animal Pad has changed my life in so many ways! I started off as a volunteer at the kennels, helping to wash, feed, and play with the dogs. From there, I began fostering, volunteering more time on the adoptions team, and eventually ended up adopting my second pup from TAP. It is amazing to work with such a passionate group of people who all have one goal in mind: saving all the dogs! It's clear that all of the volunteers are 100% invested in the well-being of the pups, and I can't recommend TAP enough!
The Animal Pad is an amazing group of people that go out of their way to help the abandoned, broken and forgotten dogs at our southern CA rescues and especially in Mexico. It is absolutely incredible the amount of work these people do to give these pups the life they deserve. I love this group and the TAP pups that they rescue! Always good feelings with TAP, their stories are heart wrenching and heart warming! :) Keep it up, you are changing the world!
I have never met a group of more passionate, hard-working, genuinely kind-hearted volunteers. After much experience with dog rescues in other cities, The Animal Pad is a breath of fresh air. Board members, volunteers, fosters, and adopters all work so well together and truly care about making a difference for as many dogs as possible (and are absolutely killing it by rescuing 800+ dogs in 2020 so far). The Animal Pad has so many opportunities for animal-lovers to get involved, whether it be as a foster, volunteer on the activist team (TAPACT), walking dogs at the kennels, or so much more. I am thankful every day that I got involved with The Animal Pad, and hope others will soon feel the same after volunteering with TAP!
I just adopted my fur baby Trooper the TriPAWd from The Animal Pad (TAP) on June 20th, 2020 and I am so in love with him! This dog rescue is very well organized and professional and you can tell they are all in it for the dogs since it is 100% volunteer run. I had clear constant communication with several different volunteers while I was fostering and throughout the adoption process. I love that TAP is an all breed dog rescue and they don't discriminate against dogs with disabilities or sever health issues. My boy Trooper had to have his leg amputated due to abuse from his previous owners, but that didn't stop TAP from rescuing him. Despite all of the abuse this poor boy went through he is the most friendly, loving, and loyal pup. And even with only 3 legs this boy is unstoppable. He loves going for walks, hikes, swimming, and playing with all his friends, both human and dogs!
Some people have a misconception that rescue dogs wont make loving pets because they are "damaged", but boy are they wrong. I have met so many loving and friendly rescue dogs in my life and because of TAP I found my new fur baby and I am forever grateful! Thank you TAP for saving Trooper's life and bringing him into mine!
I highly recommend this dog rescue if you are interested in adopting or fostering. And since TAP is 100% volunteer run they are always looking for new volunteers. I started volunteering with TAP at the beginning of this year and I love it. Making a difference in these dogs lives is so rewarding. I've volunteered at a city run shelter before this and the experience was nothing compared to volunteering at TAP. This dog rescue feels more like family and I've made some great friends along the way. Checkout their website TheAnimalPad.com to learn more about the different volunteer opportunities. Be sure to follow them on instagram and facebook too (@TheAnimalPad), they always post new adoptable dogs and even share updates on their alumni pups!
Whether you foster, adopt, or volunteer, join the TAP Tribe today and save a life along the way!
The Animal Pad is a 100% volunteer run dog rescue that is full of love, compassion and fun. Seriously - you can save animals and have an amazing time doing it. The group focuses on dogs in a shelter in Ensenada, Mexico, that no other nonprofit rescue would touch. They truly care about the well-being of the dogs and dedicate their entire personal lives to doing it. The group is always growing and never turns anyone away. The absolute best tribe of crazy dog lovers.
We got our dog Cooper from the Animal Pad Rescue almost a year ago. He came to us as a sick, severely malnourished rescue from Mexico. We agreed to foster him until he was well enough to be adopted. We quickly fell in love with him and decided to give him his forever home. The Animal Pad continued to pay for his medical care until he was neutered and had a clean bill of health! We will be forever grateful those amazing volunteers who give these loving dogs their heart and soul!
The work that TAP does is absolutely amazing. The trips down to Mexico are so eye opening and it's really awesome to see the dogs do a 180 once we get them up here. I highly recommend volunteering and adopting from this rescue.
The Animal Pad is an absolutely amazing organization! It is run solely by volunteers who love and want to help animals. They make regular trips to Mexico to take sick, homeless dogs off the streets, get the dogs medical treatment, and find them loving forever homes. Volunteers with The Animal Pad also make regular trips to an overcrowded shelter in Ensenada to vaccinate, feed, walk, bathe, and treat minor medical conditions of the dogs there. There are somewhere between 250 and 300 dogs at the shelter who get an entire day of love and attention from the volunteers at The Animal Pad. I can't say enough good about The Animal Pad!
You can really tell the animal pad is passionate about ALL dogs being healthy, safe, and loved. These dogs are pulled from horrific living situations where they have encountered abuse, and neglect their whole lives. The Animal Pad is really on the front lines taking these dogs and showing them love and compassion and making sure they get to live the life they deserve. The determination and passion this group has is infectious, all I want to do is help them help these dogs. So far my mom and my brother have each adopted from this group. I can’t wait until my husband and I are able to add to our little family!!
I cannot sing The Animal Pad's praises enough - they consistently go above in beyond in the world of rescue! They are 100% volunteer run, but they never slow down. What they do for the abandoned and often abused street dogs is absolutely awe-inspiring and always restores my faith in humanity! From full (and often costly) vetting, grooming, supply variety, and a loving foster home, TAP caters to both foster and pup alike. Truly such a phenomenal rescue!!
I have endless gratitude for The Animal Pad (TAP) and all they do. Over the years I volunteered and adopted from with several dog rescues and always enjoyed the experience, but TAP was truly different. They manage to make dog rescue a community event with lasting relationships. Monthly socials allow fosters, adopters, volunteers and friends an opportunity to stay connected and have fun. I initially adopted from TAP but I continued to work with them as a foster. Nothing makes me happier than catching up with my past fosters at social events and seeing them thrive in their new home. TAP rescues primarily from Mexico where there is a substantial lack of resources for unwanted dogs. I encourage everyone to adopt from TAP. They will work with you to find the best dog for your needs and I hope you will become part of the larger TAP community.
I found The Animal Pad at an adoption event they were hosting when I was looking to adopt a second dog a year ago. The adoption coordinator was awesome in helping me find my fur baby. We emailed back and forth and she sent me the picture and details on this pup, which ended up being the perfect pup. She gave me the option to foster to adopt, to make sure it was a fit but I knew once I saw him I would be in love and I was although my other pup took a little longer to feel the same understandably.
I chose TAP after looking at other dog rescues, because TAP’s entire purpose is to save dogs and place healthy dogs in good homes that will be the best fit for both the dog and adopter. There is no ego, no agenda, no judgment, its purpose is save dogs. They operate on a team of volunteers that are so passionate and give 100 % of themselves to saving each life they can.
They make sure each dog receives medical care covering each dog’s vaccines, microchip, spay/neuter under the adoption fees. Even with all they provide to each dog, in medical and foster homes, their adoption fees are very reasonable and enough to cover those costs.
I can’t applaud this group enough for all their hard work and dedication and glad I found them that day as I LOVE my fur baby and forever grateful for The Animal Pad saving him and allowing me to be his mom.
We adopted our two rescues through TAP, they made easy on me thankfully since I'd never done this before. I have recently become a volunteer with TAP and have a new appreciation for what it takes to rescue, foster and get these beautiful pups adopted. Every person I've met has been amazing. They make sure every need is met, whether it's a dog or a foster and what I think really makes this work is that at the end of the day they/we are saving lives. I'm so honored to be a part of of this organization!
I cannot say enough great things about this group. The work they do for abused, neglected, and forgotten dogs is INCREDIBLE, all while being completely volunteer and donation based. The volunteers who run this rescue treat their rescue work as if it is their full-time job, despite having 40 hr work weeks outside of rescue. They are so passionate about saving canine lives, and it shows in everything they do! Most recently, The Animal Pad conducted a 20 dog rescue mission- most of which were very sick and would have faced certain death/euthanasia at the Ensenada pound. The Animal Pad provided treatment, quality food, and proper care, even though this set the rescue back thousands of dollars and put them in a very concerning financial position. There was no question that these dogs would get the best possible care, regardless of the price tag. Being completely foster-based (no shelter location), they had to work tirelessly to find fosters for all 20 dogs...I was so impressed with their teamwork and dedication! If you follow The Animal Pad on social media, you know that this is just one of the many situations and sad cases that they have dealt with, and in an incredible way. Being impressed again and again, I, myself, have started volunteering and fostering with this group, and I have never felt so welcomed, or had more fun! I am so proud of the work The Animal Pad accomplishes on the regular, and the dog lives that are saved because of this group. The dogs I have met through this rescue work have completely stolen my heart and changed my life in a big way. I can't wait to see The Animal Pad reach their goal of 500 dogs rescued this year! Thank you to everyone involved!
The TAP team is great! They are so responsive and truely want what is best for each dog. I adopted two amazing pups from TAP and was so impressed by their dedication that I ended up volunteering. Now being on the other end of things I can honestly say that this group of ppl works even harder than I thought!
The Animal Pad (TAP) volunteers were extremely helpful in our adoption of our rescue dog. Wendy (the pup) was being fostered by a TAP volunteer, who brought Wendy to our home so we got to meet (and fall in love with) the pup. For any dog lover, TAP is just the kind of organization that really provides a very important and humane service for our four legged friends that need a loving home. I would strongly recommend TAP for anyone seeking a new pet.
I adopted the love of my life through The Animal Pad. I've adopted through other agencies in the past and have never run across such a professional group of VOLUNTEERS in my life! Let me just break it down for you all of the pros that I discovered throughout my process that I did not experience with other rescues:
*They guarantee all medical with the animals, so all animals with any pre-existing conditions will have those conditions paid for until the animal is mended.
*They offer a foster to adopt program and let me tell you, they don't just allow you to take the animal into your home to see if it's a good fit, they also provide a kennel, bed, food, and any other supplies that you would need!
*They give first dibs to a dog currently in foster, which I totally understand. In reading some of the other reviews on here, it looks like some people were discouraged by that, but I think that's AMAZING that they allow for a bonded pair (foster and animal) to become one if it's meant to be!
*Their customer service was impeccable. There was always someone to answer all of my questions, calls, emails and I had a lot! lol
*Their vet partners are amazing and did I mention they cover all vetting to ensure that the animals has all of their shots, are fixed, and fully healthy
*They foster all of their animals in someone's home, no boarding, no kennels, just a loving home and a warm bed
*They do home checks for each and every one of their adopters AND fosters to ensure that the animal is going to a safe home
Honestly, I could go on and on...but that's just to name a few things up front! They care sooo soooo soooooo much for these animals and it shows not only in their eyes and hearts but in the animals who they save!
I've told everyone I know about TAP and would never rescue from anyone else moving forward!
TAP is comprised of the hardest group of people I have ever seen. As a 100% donation and volunteer based rescue, every person thats involved, volunteers countless hours to saving lives. Not only are the women who run TAP incredibly passionate and dedicated but they provide the best care for every dog they save. Truly remarkable organization!
The women (and men!) dedicated to this organization are amazing. Rescuing dogs is an always time consuming and energy consuming job that every member of this organization DONATES a ton of their time. A true non-profit without paid staff who open their homes, spend their time, and donate their money to helping as many dogs in need as possible. I started volunteering with The Animal Pad years ago, became a foster and served as the adoptions director for about two years before my job took over too much of my time and was forced to step back a little to just fostering and volunteering. After experiencing from all angles the investment by each and every person involved, I can tell you without a doubt that what they do is nothing short of incredible. Every year they grow their team and rescue more and more dogs. They’re truly making an impact and helping countless animals! You can’t make all the humans happy, but putting every dog into the loving home they deserve is something they excel at!
My daughter was a foster mom for one dog from The Animal Pad. She loves the dog and got really attached to the dog, but because she got a new job that was really demand of her time, she was asking if I want to adopt the dog knowing that I am a animal lover, specially dogs. I was seeing the dog all the time, and I took care of the dog one weekend when my daughter had to travel for business. So when I call this institution about the adoption procedures, and explaining the whole situation, this person from The Animal Pad was so rude, impolite, and not feelings at all for the dog. Not giving to me a chance to adopt the dog, even through that I was offering to follow all the procedures and saying that I didn't have nothing with My daughter's decision, It was my own decision about the dog. I am different person, 49 years old, with a good job, that loves animals and I'll do anything for the animal for free if someone asked me. So how these people can be so rude, when what matters most is if you're going to treat the dog with love, respect, and part of your family. And pay the $300.00 fee and do all the paper work that was requested. And someone just tell you: It doesn't work that way! What way she is talking about? For me I feel sorry for those dogs been managed with people like that woman. I don't know her name. But she is part of the The Animal Pad. Rude and disrespectful person she is.
TAP is an AWESOME NON-PROFIT animal rescue. I have been volunteering with TAP since May 2017. I have been rescuing dogs my entire adult life, well that's not true, I started in high school, rescuing a dog that was left on the side of the road. Broken Hip & Leg. Took her to a vet, I don't remember how I got the funding to get her fixed up, Named her Lucky and nursed her back to health. The Animal Pad has a great team of VOLUNTEERS who truly are in it for the best interest of the Dogs and Humans who want them. Adopt don't shop. I help out where I can, mostly Fostering & Transportation. It's VERY REWARDING, warms my HEART. If you are interested in helping out, contact TAP, I am sure they would appreciate any help you can provide. Have a good one!
Unethical - go somewhere else to adopt!
My partner and I picked-out a dog on Animal Pad’s web site and filled-out an application for it. We were-told the application looked good and were given the contact info for the foster home. After we made arrangements to visit (which involved a day pass from a stroke rehab facility) we were told that an “insider” had come along and the dog was given to them in spite of our earlier application. No way to conduct this sort of business!
The women who dedicate their time and love to TAP are nothing short of amazing. I've seen the happy families and happy dogs that their dedication made possible. No matter how difficult the issues are with a particular puppy, these volunteers do not give up on him. All around a great organization. And fun events too!
I love this organization! The animals and the humans are the best! It is all volunteer based and any help that can be given is appreciated! I have met so many beautiful souls, both peeps and pups, through their fun events!
I adopted my little Pickie from The Animal Pad! He's the absolute love of my life and couldn't not imagine life without him! He's the best little brother to his big brother Friday! They look like twins!
I'm amazed at the hard work and dedication of this volunteer led organization! They give their heart and soul to rescuing loving animals from horrible situations. They selflessly save dog lives and human lives alike! So grateful to have you in our community!
The animal pad is such a wonderful organization! We adopted our pup from them this pst December and let me just say that these girls pour so much time and love into saving dogs! They take in dogs who most people wouldn't even take a chance on and it is amazing to see how they're able to turn these animals lives around with some TLC. This is a volunteer run organization and all of the donations go straight to saving the dogs. I would definitely recommend adopting from, fostering for or volunteering with this organization!
This wonderful rescue here in San Diego saves dogs weekly from death row. I volunteered to foster for them in 2015. We saved a mama Chihuahua and her two pups from death row. They were to be killed that day but TAP saved them. We fostered the mother "Gigi" and her two pups "Cali and Zoey" for three months and we were hoping we could find someone to adopt all 3 of them. That's not easy to find and my little girl and the family fell in love with them. So not only did we foster them we adopted all three. Best decision we made. Now they have a fantastic home and are loved. Thanks to TAP for saving them and saving so many dogs weekly.
It needs to be said that this wonderful rescue tries to save the dogs that are on the kill list for that particular day in the high kill shelters. They also save dogs from Mexico that are injured and sick as well.
I highly recommend this rescue to everyone. I wish we had more people so passionate about rescue and the love for dogs as these women. Please volunteer with this rescue if you have any time available. They are looking for fosters daily.
Where do I start? TAP is comprised of an incredible group of volunteers who selflessly dedicate their time (and lots of it!) to rescuing dogs who otherwise would have no chance. Ive watched TAP grow tremendously since its inception and its been an amazing journey. Rescue truly takes a village: from identifying the dogs that need rescue, vetting, coordinating their rescue (off the streets of Mexico in most cases), finding fosters (most difficult part), managing their foster and care, raising funds, coordinating/attending multiple events, then getting them into their forever homes. Theres so much that goes into every rescue of every dog and its a thing of beauty to see how well the TAP team does it! What an honor to be a part of such an amazing organization!
I adopted my dog from the animal pad and when I picked him up from his Foster's house and having the foster sob while she handed him to me, I knew then that TAP was a great organization. Each and every volunteer is so dedicated to saving these dogs and being professional in the process. I started volunteering with them shortly after and I love my volunteer job with them. I am one of the foster coordinators and what I do is so rewarding. I have also grown so close to all of the TAP members and we have a great time rescuing together. This is truly the right spot to find your forever fur friend. TAP is in you and the dog's best interest in matching you with the right dog for you. Since TAP is a nonprofit organization and allvolunteer based, we all dedicate our own time and money to accomplish our goal of rescuing all of them. Adopt one until there are none!!!
I have been volunteering with The Animal Pad (TAP) since we founded in 2010, and couldn't be prouder of the work we've accomplished with this group of dedicated humans! This is an all volunteer nonprofit, so 100% of donations go straight to saving lives. Everyone who works with TAP does so out of the goodness of their hearts, because they care about saving the lives of those who are helpless and in need.
Not only do our volunteers save lives, but we have a great time doing so! We throw parties, happy hours, brunches, exercise events, dinners, and just love getting together socially. It's great to work with such wonderful people!
Adopting from TAP means adopting from an organization that cares about the dogs and about finding you the right fit for your family.
Volunteering with TAP means working with a wonderful group of new friends.
I adopted my fur-baby Kai from The Animal Pad a little over two years ago and couldn't be more impressed with a rescue organization than I was with TAP! I really liked that the Fosters honestly took the time to get to know potential adopters and their intentions for caring for/raising the dog. This really showed that they truly care about placing their animals in forever loving homes. I still regularly go to The Animal Pad events and may possibly be looking for Kai's sibling with TAP soon. Thanks TAP!