Leading Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Animal Cruelty
The ASPCA deploys trained responders to rescue animals in crisis and engages supporters to take a stand against animal cruelty and eradicate systems that perpetuate it.
We collaborate with hundreds of partners across the country, including animal welfare organizations and animal control, social service and law enforcement agencies. We are all united in our mission to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals in the United States.
ASPCA Cruelty and Disaster Response
Managing Cases of Suspected Cruelty and Helping Animals Recover
Addressing Animal Behavioral Challenges and Sharing Resources Nationwide
Elevating Animal Cruelty Prosecutions and Law Enforcement Response
Advancing Policies to Protect Animals
Advancing Farm Animal Welfare and Promoting Humane Food Systems
Cruelty and Disaster Response
In 2023, ASPCA rescue teams deployed to California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.
When responding to cruelty cases, we help local agencies by providing investigative and legal support, operational planning, rescue, evidence documentation, forensic exams, medical care, emergency and long-term sheltering, behavioral treatment and placement of animals. We also support law enforcement, prosecutors and animal welfare professionals with expert testimony, legal guidance, training and consultations.
During disasters, our response teams assist with animal relocation, search and rescue, sheltering and placement. Over the past three years, we’ve awarded nearly $2.4 million in grants to disaster response agencies. We also work with lawmakers to enact policies requiring animals to be included in emergency plans.
Our work changes lives. Fiona and Rascal are dogfighting survivors who went from severe trauma to snuggling on the couch. We transported Dumplin, a three-legged dog who had heartworms, from Georgia to our Cruelty Recovery Center in Ohio, where she was adopted into a loving home.
Managing Cases of Suspected Cruelty and Helping Animals Recover
In 2023, the ASPCA Animal Recovery Center and Canine Annex for Recovery and Enrichment provided lifesaving care and behavioral treatment to hundreds of dogs and cats, many rescued through our unique partnership with the New York City Police Department. We have trained nearly 3,500 NYPD officers to handle suspected animal cruelty cases and supported more than 350 cases across New York City’s five boroughs. Through this partnership, we have provided medical treatment, behavior assessments, forensic evaluations, sheltering and adoption services for more than 1,000 animals.
Willow and Serenity are two of the animals transformed by this work. Willow is a young calico cat who suffered a horrific tail injury, broken jaw and other traumas. After extensive medical care at the ASPCA, Willow was adopted into a loving home. A puppy, who was later named Serenity was abandoned and severely emaciated. She was transferred to the ASPCA Animal Recovery Center and placed on a refeeding diet to help her gain weight properly and treated for multiple medical issues. Serenity was eventually adopted by the good Samaritan who found her.
Our Community Engagement team helps New York City pet owners who have difficulty accessing vital pet care due to barriers like financial constraints, health issues, lack of veterinary resources, transportation challenges and domestic violence. This team assisted more than 1,900 animals in 2023 by delivering food and supplies, connecting animals and their owners to veterinary services and building community alliances through the NYPD and other agencies. We provide critical grooming care as well, surpassing the milestone of 1,000 pets who received these services — including Brodie, a loveable, little dog with a big personality.
Addressing Animal Behavioral Challenges and Sharing Resources Nationwide
The Behavioral Sciences team improves the behavioral health of shelter animals by strengthening programs and elevating the role of professionals within the animal welfare field. In 2023, the team conducted nearly 80 in-person and virtual trainings on behavior and psychopharmacology and reached more than 2,000 attendees during presentations at academic conferences. The Behavioral Sciences team also provided forensic behavior evaluations for 386 dogs from criminal cases and participated in 20 deployments.
Our Behavioral Rehabilitation Center in Weaverville, North Carolina, treats severely fearful dogs rescued from situations like puppy mills and hoarding so they can be adopted. The transformations of dogs like Jillian and Riley exemplify the work of our experts who employ over 30 scientifically tested behavior modification protocols to help improve the dogs’ quality of life. The 2023 graduation rate for dogs at the Behavioral Rehabilitation Center was 86%.
Our Learning Lab amplifies the impact of shelter behavior programs by sharing expertise with animal welfare organizations. Through in-person and online learning and coaching, professionals can enhance their current programs and discover new methods to give once-traumatized animals a chance for adoption. In 2023, we had over 43,000 enrollments from more than 700 organizations worldwide, sharing much of this expertise on ASPCApro.org.
Our Cruelty Recovery Center in Columbus, Ohio, provides emergency sheltering, medical and behavioral care. In 2023, more than 600 animals were helped at the center. These animals were rescued from cruelty cases and disasters, and the center helped them recover and prepare for adoption. The Cruelty Recovery Center also supports local law enforcement and animal welfare agencies, enabling them to respond to animal crises.
Elevating Animal Cruelty Prosecutions and Law Enforcement Response
The ASPCA's Veterinary Forensics Program is at the forefront of combating animal cruelty through expert forensic analysis and case support. With laboratories in New York City and Gainesville, Florida, our forensic science team collaborates with local law enforcement, prosecutors and animal shelters to aid animal cruelty investigations and prosecutions.
In partnership with the NYPD, our New York City team supported over 350 cases of suspected animal cruelty in 2023. Our ASPCA Veterinary Forensic Science Center in Gainesville is the nation’s only laboratory dedicated to companion animal cruelty cases. It provides crucial forensic services including live animal exams, necropsies, skeletal analysis and crime scene response. This center also serves as a training hub, sharing knowledge with veterinarians and animal welfare professionals nationwide to improve their handling of cruelty cases.
In 2023, our teams in New York City and Gainesville supported nearly 450 cases involving over 1,100 animals, offering expert court testimony on more than 30 occasions.
Our Legal Advocacy & Investigations team assisted with over 65 animal cruelty and animal fighting cases, providing investigative expertise, crime scene processing and legal support. They conducted more than 50 training sessions across 16 states, equipping law enforcement, animal control officers and legal professionals with advanced skills in animal cruelty response and forensic science.
Advancing Policies to Protect Animals
The ASPCA works with policymakers at local, state and federal levels to enact meaningful protections for animals. We also provide advocacy training and resources for citizens engaging in grassroots lobbying.
Our efforts result in large-scale, lasting changes for animals. In 2023, we focused on critical issues including pet restrictions in housing, puppy mill cruelty, farm animal welfare reforms, disaster preparedness, ending horse slaughter and increasing access to veterinary telemedicine.
Federal Highlights
- Industrial Agriculture Accountability and Farm System Reform Acts: Supported by the ASPCA and over 100 other organizations, these bills aim to hold industrial operators accountable for stronger welfare standards and support the transition to higher-welfare farms.
- Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act: Reintroduced to protect American horses from commercial slaughter, this legislation is driven by years of ASPCA advocacy.
- Housing Bills: The ASPCA supported two federal bills to remove barriers for pet owners in public housing and those experiencing homelessness. The Pets Belong With Families Act prohibits breed-specific restrictions in public housing. The Providing for Unhoused People with Pets Act provides grants to homeless shelters for pet support. When the ASPCA witnessed one New Yorker struggling to find housing for herself and her two cats, we stepped in to help.
State Highlights
The ASPCA's comprehensive state legislative and regulatory work in 2023 advanced the welfare of companion animals, horses and farm animals, ensuring their protection through effective laws and policies. Highlights include:
- California's Proposition 12: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld this law prohibiting the sale of pork from cruelly confined pigs. The ASPCA provided support by filing an amicus brief with the Court.
- New York Horse Protection: Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law protecting all New York horses from slaughter, expanding a previous law that applied only to racehorses.
- Veterinary Telehealth and Pet-Friendly Sheltering in California: Governor Gavin Newsom signed two ASPCA-supported bills into law, effective January 1, 2024.
- Indiana's Fire Alarm Requirement: New law requires state facilities housing dogs or cats to have an operating fire alarm system or staff present overnight.
- Colorado Pet Housing Barriers: A bill removing certain barriers to pets in housing was signed by Governor Jared Polis.
- Veterinary Telemedicine in Arizona: The ASPCA supported a bill expanding access to remote veterinary care.
- Companion Animal Capital Fund in New York: Legislators designated $5 million to support animal shelters.
- Emergency Plans in Nevada: Governor Joe Lombardo signed a bill requiring emergency plans for the transport, evacuation and shelter of people with pets.
Advancing Farm Animal Welfare and Promoting Humane Food Systems
We expanded our Shop with Your Heart initiative by adding over 125 new product lines and 59 new brands to our list of higher-welfare foods, and we secured commitments from more than 20 food companies to adopt more compassionate animal welfare practices.
The ASPCA launched the Higher-Welfare Pet Food Initiative, encouraging pet owners to choose animal welfare-certified brands and secured certification commitments from 10 pet food brands. We introduced the ASPCA Supermarket Scorecard, the only resource ranking U.S. grocery retailers on farm animal welfare practices.
We cohosted the inaugural Food Not Feed Summit in Washington, DC, joining nearly 40 organizations to discuss creating a more humane and resilient food system through the Farm Bill.
Responding to advocacy efforts, including over a decade of work by the ASPCA and other groups, the USDA previewed new Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards to strengthen welfare standards for animals raised under the USDA Organic Program.
We supported programs that assist former factory farmers in their transition to new livelihoods, such as Mercy for Animals' Transfarmation Program and the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project’s Contract Grower Transition Program. Additionally, the ASPCA Fund to End Factory Farming awarded over $200,000 in grants to six organizations developing innovative projects that reveal new data or narratives around the harms caused by factory farming and the benefits of alternative systems for both animals and people.