Skip to main content

Animal Shelter & Rescue Directory

Looking to adopt a pet near you, or wondering where rescue funding actually goes? This page covers both — the fastest routes to adopting locally, and the 17 country programmes WARN funds directly.

By the WARN Research & Conservation TeamChecked against each organisation's own published informationLast updated

In brief

WARN's directory lists 10 national rehoming databases you can use to adopt a pet locally, plus WARN's own funded rescue programmes in 17 countries. WARN does not rehome animals and does not fund or operate any organisation listed here unless it is badged a WARN Core Partner.

Browse by cause or region

Who works on a particular problem, and where. Each list names organisations, says how it was assembled, and states plainly where WARN has an interest of its own.

What this directory is — and what it is not

  • This directory is a free community resource. WARN publishes it to help people find a shelter or rescue near them, and receives nothing for any listing.
  • WARN does not fund, operate, endorse or inspect the organisations listed here — unless they are explicitly badged WARN Core Partner. Core Partners are WARN's own vetted country programmes and are the only listings WARN stands behind.
  • WARN cannot rehome an animal to you. No animal listed by any organisation here is in WARN's care. Adoption decisions, home checks, fees and aftercare are entirely a matter for the organisation you contact.
  • Always verify an organisation independently before donating or handing over personal details. How to check a rescue is legitimate.

Find a shelter near you

The quickest way to adopt is through a national rehoming database — they aggregate listings from thousands of local shelters and rescue groups, and let you filter by species, breed and postcode. WARN has no affiliation with any of them.

North America

Europe

Oceania

Not in one of these countries? Search for your national animal welfare organisation, or your local municipal shelter — most publish their current listings directly. Our guide to where to adopt a dog covers what to ask and the warning signs worth walking away from.

Not ready to bring an animal home?

Plenty of people want to help but genuinely should not adopt right now — rented housing that forbids pets, long working hours, or an existing pet who would not cope. Fostering is the closest alternative, and rescues are almost always short of foster homes.

If you cannot adopt a dog locally, you can symbolically adopt a street dog abroad through WARN from £5/month — your gift funds humane Catch-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return clinics, rabies vaccination and rescue shelter care, not ownership of a pet in your home.

A symbolic adoption is a donation, not a pet. No animal is rehomed to you, and you do not choose an individual animal. It is worth being clear which of the two you are looking for.

Adopt a Dog from £5/month All symbolic adoptions

WARN Core Partner programmes

These are the 17 country programmes WARN funds directly. Each is delivered by vetted in-country rescue teams and assessed for welfare standards, financial accountability and community trust before any grant is made. Individual partner organisations are not named publicly — how WARN selects partners.

Southeast Asia

South Asia

  • WARN Core Partner

    Pakistan — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    Pakistan

    Pakistan is a South Asian country where WARN's planned work focuses on humane street-dog management in Karachi and Lahore through catch-neuter-vaccinate-release clinics…

    • Community street dogs
    • Working donkeys
    • Working horses
  • WARN Core Partner

    India — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    India

    India is a South Asian country that holds roughly 70% of the world's wild tigers, the largest population of Asian elephants, and the great majority of greater one-horned…

    • Bengal tiger
    • Asian elephant
    • Greater one-horned rhino
  • WARN Core Partner

    Sri Lanka — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    Sri Lanka

    Sri Lanka is an Indian Ocean island with an endemic leopard subspecies, a large Asian elephant population, sloth bears and pangolins, and seas important for blue whales…

    • Sri Lankan leopard
    • Sri Lankan elephant
    • Sloth bear

South America

  • WARN Core Partner

    Colombia — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    Colombia

    Colombia is a South American country at the top of global biodiversity rankings; WARN's planned work focuses on parrot and macaw trafficking interdiction and…

    • Scarlet macaw
    • Spectacled (Andean) bear
    • Jaguar
  • WARN Core Partner

    Peru — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    Peru

    Peru is a South American Amazon basin country where WARN's planned work centres on primate and macaw rescue from the illegal pet trade, sanctuary support in Madre de…

    • Scarlet macaw
    • Spectacled (Andean) bear
    • Capuchin monkey (multiple species)
  • WARN Core Partner

    Brazil — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    Brazil

    Brazil is the most biodiverse country on earth, home to jaguars, giant otters, pink river dolphins, golden lion tamarins and scarlet macaws across the Amazon, Pantanal…

    • Jaguar
    • Giant otter
    • Amazon river dolphin

East Africa

  • WARN Core Partner

    Kenya — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    Kenya

    Kenya is an East African country where WARN's planned work focuses on snare-removal patrols and rapid-response veterinary darting in the Tsavo and Maasai Mara…

    • African savanna elephant
    • African lion
    • Black rhinoceros
  • WARN Core Partner

    Tanzania — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    Tanzania

    Tanzania is an East African country whose Selous-Niassa corridor forms one of the largest contiguous protected wildlife landscapes in Africa; WARN's planned work…

    • African savanna elephant
    • African lion
    • Black rhinoceros
  • WARN Core Partner

    Rwanda — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    Rwanda

    Rwanda is a small, densely populated East African country best known for mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, with reintroduced lions and rhinos in Akagera; its…

    • Mountain gorilla
    • Golden monkey
    • Eastern chimpanzee
  • WARN Core Partner

    Uganda — WARN Core Partner — funded and vetted by WARN.

    Uganda

    Uganda is an East African country in the Albertine Rift where WARN's planned work funds partner-led mountain-gorilla veterinary response, snare removal, humane…

    • Mountain gorilla
    • Eastern chimpanzee
    • African savanna elephant

Southern Africa

Independent shelter listings

WARN is building this section with individual shelters and rescue groups. It is empty because every listing is checked before it is published — a directory that guesses sends someone to a closed door, and that is worse than listing nothing at all.

If you run a shelter or rescue and would like to be listed, send the organisation name, country, website and a short description of your work. Listing is free, and it is not an endorsement or a statement that WARN funds you.

Nominate a shelter

Directory questions

Can I adopt a pet directly from WARN?
No. WARN funds partner-led animal rescue overseas and rehomes no animals to supporters. To adopt a pet, use one of the national rehoming databases listed on this page or contact a shelter near you directly.
Does WARN fund the shelters listed in this directory?
Only the ones badged WARN Core Partner. Those are WARN's own vetted country programmes, which receive grant funding. Every other listing is included as a free public resource — WARN has no financial relationship with them, receives nothing for listing them, and does not inspect their individual centres.
How does WARN choose which organisations to list?
Rehoming databases are listed when they are long-established, operate at national scale, and publish adoption listings openly. WARN Core Partners go through a separate assessment covering animal welfare standards, financial accountability and local community trust before any funding is granted.
How do I get a shelter listed in the directory?
Email WARN through the contact page with the organisation name, country, website and a short description of its work. Listings are checked before publication, and a listing is not an endorsement or a statement that WARN funds the organisation.
What is a WARN Core Partner?
A WARN Core Partner is a vetted in-country rescue programme that WARN funds directly, across 17 countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, Southern Africa and South America. Core Partner listings link to the country programme page explaining what the funding pays for.
I want to help but cannot adopt an animal right now. What else can I do?
Fostering is the closest alternative and most rescues are short of foster homes. A symbolic adoption is a different kind of help — it is a donation, not a pet, and funds street-dog vaccination, neutering and veterinary care through WARN partner clinics abroad.

Before you adopt