We Save Animals
About:
Sanctuary Rescue was founded in 2010 with the mission of saving shelter dogs, one puppy at a time. Over the past decade, we have built a rescue community that we are immensely proud of and saved thousands of dogs' lives. Initially, our focus was on rescuing pregnant dogs from municipal animal shelters, but we have since expanded our expertise to include orphaned neonates, puppies born with a cleft lip, senior dogs, and healthy adult dogs. We are committed to providing high-quality care, saving sick, injured, and orphaned dogs, and helping our shelter partners alleviate overcrowding. Our fosters and volunteers are an amazing team of passionate and compassionate heroes who always try to have fun and laugh, surrounded by adorable puppies!
We are a non-profit organization under section 501(c)(3) based in Midlothian, Virginia. To learn more about our adoption process, volunteering opportunities, or to make a donation, please visit our website and explore the tabs above.
Foster with us!
By fostering with Sanctuary Rescue, you have the opportunity to help save puppies and dogs with all expenses paid!
We always have a dire need for foster homes. When you foster a rescue dog, you save two lives: the life of your foster that is now able to leave the shelter and the life of the dog who will take its place. There is no feeling quite like knowing that you directly saved a life (or two!). We always have a need for puppy fosters. In general, puppies are only in their foster home for approximately two to four weeks. So, this is a fun easy way to get some great puppy snuggles and kisses while we pay all the expenses. Sanctuary Rescue feels that fostering is a team effort, so we are here to support you throughout your entire fostering journey. If puppies aren't your thing, there are plenty of adult dogs of all sizes and shapes that would love to have a safe, warm foster home. If fostering a homeless dog is something you would love to do, please submit a foster application.
What Our Fosters Say
“I love the community of Sanctuary Rescue's fosters! Whenever I have a question, there's someone there to answer it; whenever I have a vacation planned, there's someone to fill in fostering for me; whenever I'm excited that my foster dog found a forever home, there's someone there to celebrate with me!"
"Foster pups make great temporary house guests! It's a fun project the whole family can participate in and there aren't many things better than puppy snuggles. SR is the most supportive rescue I've ever fostered with!"
"The people at SR just felt like family the very first time I met them. The way they treat each other and the way they treat all the dogs in their care is second to none. I’m so proud to be a part of Sanctuary Rescue."
“I feel like Sanctuary Rescue really supports their fosters well with everything from supplies, veterinary appointments, and clear guidelines about how the process should work.”
"I always thought it would be too hard to give up my foster when they were adopted. A friend challenged me to look at it in a different way: "When a foster finds a forever home, a spot in MY home opens up to help save another shelter dog." It worked! I am usually sad to see them go, but that pales in comparison to the happiness that comes with knowing the dog gets a wonderful forever home!"
Volunteer with us!
As a grassroots, local non-profit, we always welcome help! Read below to learn more about the volunteer opportunities we offer, and click the link to express your interest! Thank you so much for helping us save dogs in need!
How can I help?
Adoption Events
Whenever we take adoptable dogs to adoption events, we can always use an extra set of hands (or five!). Volunteering at adoption events is a great way to enjoy some fresh air, get some big sloppy kisses and help rescue dogs find their forever homes. Adoption events are always on the weekend.
Transport Volunteers
We're always in need of volunteers to give puppies and dogs
rides from the shelter
to our foster homes, from foster homes to our adoption events, etc.
Puppy Photographers
Do you have a special
talent in photography?
If so, we'd love to hear
about it - we are always in need of puppy photographers!
Office Helper
We are always swimming in administrative tasks, so if
you're great behind a desk, we need you! Come help us process applications, file contracts, organize vet records, make graphics for events, write thank you notes, and lots more.
Donations
We often encounter extreme medical cases among dogs, such as puppies with pneumonia, mama dogs that are heartworm positive, and injured dogs that require immediate surgery. These cases require more resources than what we collect in adoption fees, and we wouldn't be able to provide them with the care they need and deserve without the generosity of the community. No gift is too small, and we are not only dependent on them but also very grateful for their support
We gladly accept in-kind donations. However, considering the vulnerable nature of young, unvaccinated puppies with undeveloped immune systems, we kindly request that all donated beds, toys, leashes, and collars be new and come with tags or packaging. You can take a look at our wishlist to get an idea of the items we need the most. Any item purchased from our wishlist will be shipped directly to Sanctuary Rescue. Otherwise, you can drop off your donations at Pet Supplies Plus
Items We Are Able to Accept:
✔️Unopened bags of dog, cat, kitten, and puppy food
✔️Unopened boxes/bags of cat litter
✔️Wire crates in good condition
✔️New dog, cat, puppy, kitten toys
✔️New pet beds
✔️New leashes and collars
✔️Clean and laundered towels
✔️Puppy peepee pads
Items We Are Not Able to Accept:
❌Opened bags of dog, cat, kitten, and puppy food
❌Prescription medication of any kind
❌Plastic "airline" crates
❌Blankets, pillows, comforters, rugs
❌Doggie diapers
❌Dog clothes
All About Adoption
The first step in our adoption process is to fill out an Adoption Questionnaire. Once the Adoption Questionnaire has been submitted to us, it will be forwarded to one of our adoption counselors for processing. If we are able to match you to an available dog, we will forward your questionnaire to the dog's foster family. The foster family will contact you directly to set up a mutually-convenient time for you to meet the dog you are interested in. Please note that we do not have a shelter facility and therefore no public hours. All of our dogs are housed in private foster homes, so to lessen the impact on our foster volunteers, we require a screened and approved Adoption Questionnaire on file before we are able to arrange for a visit. Additionally, please review the adoption contract below.
Sanctuary Rescue On-Site Adoption Center!!!
Our vision is to host occasional on-site meet-and-greets for pre-approved applicants where several of our dogs available for adoption at that time are present.
What Our Adoptive Families Say
What Our Adoptive Families Say
"We are so grateful for SR and everyone who saved and helped this guy thrive before he became ours! He was the perfect addition to our little family. I still get choked up thinking about what his fate may have been if it weren't for Sanctuary Rescue!"
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"Princess Fern is literally THE BEST dog ever. She's wicked smart and the kindest, sweetest pup. We're so grateful that she's part of our family. Thank you Sanctuary Rescue for saving her and giving her love and healing."
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"Roxanne celebrated her first birthday yesterday! We are so lucky to have this wild girl in our lives and are thankful to everyone at Sanctuary Rescue who took care of her until we found her."
Frequently Asked Questions
We have had a ton of the same questions lately, and we’re so busy puppy raising, we just cannot keep up (and probably won’t ever be able to), but we appreciate your interest for sure! So, here are all of our frequently-asked questions answered in one place:
What dogs are available?
The best way to keep up with what dogs we have available for adoption is to check our adoptable animals section frequently - all dogs will be listed there when ready for adoption. We are a little bit superstitious and don’t like to list dogs for adoption until they are at least six to seven weeks old (to leave after eight weeks). So if you have your eye on a young puppy, our Facebook page is the best place to find regular updates and pictures, and once we think they’re finally ready for adoption, we will list them with every possible detail we know about them on Petfinder.com,
What are the steps to adopting?
First, please submit the adoption questionnaire linked above. If your application is approved, we will arrange a visit with your potential new companion at the foster parents' house. If you are still interested in adopting after your meet-and-greet, adoptions usually take place within 48 hours thereafter. We are planning an opportunity for monthly meet-and-greets at our future adoption center, but if you have a specific dog in mind, don't hesitate to fill out an adoption questionnaire now. We don't want anyone to miss out!
Additional Information
A copy of our adoption questionnaire, volunteer/foster applications, adoption contract and further information about our adoption process can be found on our website.
We realize this is long and chock full of information. Thanks for hanging in there through all of it. We have found ourselves in the unique position of not only having many puppies and popular dogs for adoption but also having a healthy and active social media presence. Both great things! But it means we get so many messages and so many questions, and we just can’t keep up with all of them. At the end of the day, we are still a small, grassroots, foster-based rescue. All of our volunteers are in the trenches with their sleeves rolled up doing lots of hands-on helping, so instead of leaving you hanging, we hope that we have answered your questions here. We have given lots of thought to our processes and procedures, and they are what keeps us on track. We love our dogs, our volunteers, our fosters, our adopters, and our supporters, and after many years in rescue, this is what helps us continue rescuing to the very best of our abilities.