Who We Are
We're an independent guide to the animal rescues and shelters doing the hard work around the Twin Cities. Have a look around — we'll help you find the right one.
What this site is
A directory, not a rescue
We're here to answer one question really well: where do I go? Maybe you're ready to adopt. Maybe you're curious about fostering, or you just want to know which groups near you are worth your time. Either way, start here. We've gathered up the shelters, rescues, and adoption services around the Twin Cities and written about them plainly enough that you can actually compare them.
One thing we're not, though, is a rescue. No animals live here! We can't take a surrender and we don't process applications — every adoption happens straight with the organization you pick. That's rather the point. Not being one of them is what lets us talk about all of them fairly.
And the listings are only half of it. We also write about adopting, fostering, and everything that happens after the paperwork's done — the 3am pacing, the chewed shoes, the slow lovely business of an animal deciding you're home.
Where this came from
Why this site exists
Twin Cities Rescues started in 2024 for one reason: these rescues deserved to be a whole lot easier to find. It's supported by Skybrant Web Solutions, which covers what it costs to keep running. This isn't client work — it's the passion project we keep tinkering with because we love it.
That's the whole origin story. A region full of people quietly doing right by animals, and the nagging feeling that somebody should point at them properly.
What you'll find here
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The directory
195 organizations so far, each with a profile telling you where they are, what they take in, and how to get hold of them.
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Browse by what you want
Dogs, cats, small animals, breed-specific groups, foster networks. Filter by focus, state, or city until you've found your people.
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30 articles
Adopting, fostering, and everything that happens after you get them home — including the bits nobody warns you about.
Why independence matters
Nobody on this list is our boss
We're not affiliated with a single organization on this site. Not a chapter, not a partner, not anyone's fundraising arm. Whatever you read here is ours, and it doesn't speak for them.
That's not fine print — it's the good bit. No one here can lean on us about what we say, which is exactly what makes a directory like this worth reading. It cuts both ways, mind you: a listing isn't an endorsement, so please check anything that really matters with the organization itself.
Listings are free, too. Nobody pays to appear here and nobody can pay to move up the page. Ads keep the lights on, and that's where their involvement ends — advertisers get no say in who we list or what we write about them.
Keeping it honest
Caught a mistake? Tell us
Rescues move, merge, change what they take in, and sometimes close. Keeping up with all that from the outside means we'll always be a little behind — and the quickest fix is someone who knows better giving us a nudge.
Wrong phone number? Listing out of date? Favorite rescue missing entirely? We'd much rather hear about it.
Want to help?
Every one of these points at the organizations doing the work — not at us.
- Adopt. The big one, and the reason most people end up here in the first place.
- Foster. Some groups here run entirely on foster homes — no building, no kennels, just people with a spare room. How many animals they can say yes to this week depends on how many rooms are free.
- Volunteer. Transport, events, dog walking, laundry, data entry. Deeply unglamorous. Always needed.
- Donate. Pick an actual organization rather than a cause in the abstract. Their own sites will tell you what they're short of.