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Animal Rescue Foundation

A favorite of Red Room author Ron Cabral.

Mission: ARF, the Animal Rescue Foundation,saves dogs and cats who have run out of time at public shelters and brings people and animals together to enrich each other’s lives.ARF

Founder: Tony La Russa

Year founded: 1991

Accomplishments

  • In June 2003, ARF opened a 37,700-square-foot headquarters in Walnut Creek, California, that rescues, treats, and rehabilitates animals that would otherwise be euthanized.
  • Currently, ARF receives over one hundred phone calls a day from people trying to place dogs or cats.
  • Last year, ARF took in nearly two thousand animals and successfully oversaw more than seventeen hundred adoptions.

Profile: The catalyst for ARF came in May of 1990 during a baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees when a stray cat wandered onto the playing field. La Russa, then the Manager of the Oakland A’s, coaxed the cat into the dugout, secured its safety for the remainder of the game, then took responsibility for placing it with a local shelter. To his dismay, La Russa discovered there was not a single No-Kill facility in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. When Tony learned the cat would be euthanized, he and his wife named her “Evie” and found a home for her. His experience with this cat was the genesis for the founding of ARF, a No-Kill organization dedicated to bringing people and animals together to enrich each other's lives.

To become more involved, volunteer, or donate, visit the organization’s website.

—Red Room Editors

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