With Guardians like you by our side, we’re able to work tirelessly, day in and day out, to create a better world for animals. Whether we’re rescuing animals in harm’s way, advocating for stronger animal welfare laws, helping communities in need or finding loving homes for animals looking for a second chance, you’ve been there to help make our work possible.

As a special thank you to our Guardians for your incredible generosity this past year, we’re sharing a few stories demonstrating the lifesaving impact you helped us make for animals across the country in 2025. 

In December, we opened the doors to the ASPCA Recovery & Rehabilitation Center in Pawling, New York! The 33,000 square-foot facility will provide high-quality integrated behavioral and medical care to animals rescued in partnership with the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

Many of the animals who come into our care through our partnership with the NYPD face physical and psychological wounds as a result of the abuse and neglect they’ve suffered, and when criminal charges are brought, can require longer-term care until ownership is legally determined. The new Center will give even more rescued animals the critical space, time and support they need to heal and to treat dogs with behavior and medical problems that cause suffering and prevent adoption, allowing us to significantly increase its capacity to care for some of the city’s most vulnerable animals.

This facility is now the fourth facility we operate dedicated to daily care, enrichment and medical and behavioral treatment for rescued victims of abuse and neglect in addition to the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center in Weaverville, North Carolina, the ASPCA Cruelty Recovery Center in Columbus, Ohio, and the ASPCA Animal Recovery Center in New York City.

Despite being a felony in all 50 states, dogfighting persists all over the country and in all types of communities. This year alone, our National Field Response team rescued nearly 250 dogs from suspected dogfighting.

In March, we assisted in a suspected dogfighting case involving dozens of dogs, including puppies, removed from a property in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

We were on the ground again in April rescuing more than 150 dogs from 10 locations across Dillion and Marion counties, South Carolina. We then returned to South Carolina months later to help rescue dozens more dogs from suspected dogfighting.

All of the rescued dogs received much-needed care at an ASPCA Recovery Center including Tulle, a four-month-old puppy who was removed from one of the properties in South Carolina, in April 2025.

After three months in our care, Tulle’s profile was posted to our website, hoping to find him an adopter. His photo immediately stuck out to Felicia S. who went to meet him on July 17.

During their meeting, Felicia debated if she could handle the amount of energy Tulle had but was soon convinced by her coworker whom she brought with her. That same day, Felicia took Tulle home.

It wasn’t until two weeks later that Felicia realized the significance of that day.

“July 17 is the anniversary of my fiancé’s funeral,” Felicia told us. “It didn’t dawn on me until I was looking at Tulle’s papers and was wondering why the date looked so familiar. I realized it was the day of his funeral and said, ‘Well, it was meant for me to have him then.’”

Paying homage to her late fiancé, Felicia renamed Tulle, King.

“King was the last name I was supposed to have,” explained Felicia. “It suits him too! He’s the king of the house.”

Rescuing and protecting animals isn’t always easy but seeing their smiling faces after they’ve been adopted into loving homes makes all our hard work worth the effort. Here are a few of the animals who, with your support, got second chances in 2025.

Just days before Christmas in 2024, a Good Samaritan found an emaciated pit bull on the side of the road covered with lacerations and burn wounds, including a large neck wound. He also had several scabs on his head and ears, and discoloration of his ears, consistent with early stages of frostbite. He was mentally dull and incredibly weak, unable to stand for more than a second, and had a fracture in his left pelvis. The dog, later named Peppermint, was rescued by the NYPD and brought to the ASPCA for lifesaving care.

Due to how critically ill he was, Peppermint required immediate intensive care. Our staff began warming him up to get his temperature back to a normal range. He was given IV fluids, a blood transfusion and had daily bandage changes for his neck wound until it was clean and small enough to close with sutures. He was also started on a refeeding protocol to help get him to a healthy weight.

Despite how much pain and trauma he endured, Peppermint was incredibly sweet through all his treatment, quickly snuggling his way into staff hearts.

After about three months of constant care, Peppermint showed significant improvement. He had gained 15 pounds — 50 percent of his intake weight — his neck wounds completely healed and he was walking well on his left hind leg.

Soon he was ready to find a home to call his own, so his profile was posted to our adoption page. His adorable photo caught the eye of Sherry and Kevin K. who made the over six-hour drive to come meet him and take him home. Peppermint, now named Rudy, enjoys running around his property in the country and playing with Sherry and Kevin’s grandchildren!

In April 2025, a young cat and two dogs were found by the NYPD living in inappropriate and unsanitary conditions. The animals were brought to the ASPCA Animal Recovery Center for urgent treatment and care.

Upon examination, the cat, later named Gustavo, was noted to have several fractured teeth, a wound on his chin and a fractured pelvis. Thankfully, Gustavo didn’t need surgery but was placed on cage rest for six weeks to allow it to heal.

In addition to his injuries, Gustavo was underweight and ravenously hungry, weighing only three and a half pounds. Normally, healthy kittens at that age are expected to weigh at least six pounds. To help him get to a healthy weight, Gustavo was placed on a modified refeeding plan.

Thanks to his sweet, gregarious personality, he quickly became a staff favorite, receiving a lot of socialization time with his new friends in his kennel while he waited for his fractured pelvis to heal.

By mid-May, Gustavo had attained a healthy weight, and new radiographs showed that his fracture had healed. That meant he was ready to move to the ASPCA Adoption Center and find a home of his own! It didn’t take long for couple Jacob and Dana to fall in love with Gustavo’s adorable face and adopt him. Gustavo’s favorite pastimes now include watching pigeons through the window, playing with his toys and exploring his very own cat castle.

May, Dororthy and Sweetie were just three of nearly 90 Morgan horses rescued in Madison County, Montana, in late January 2025. For nearly three months, our teams remained on the ground, providing these horses with daily care and veterinary services, ensuring that they received the support they needed until legal disposition was determined.

In April, we were finally granted legal ownership of these horses, allowing us to begin the process of finding them the loving homes they deserved. We hosted a six-day on-site adoption event and as the end of the event approached, Dorothy, May and Sweetie, three older mares, still hadn’t been adopted.

That’s when Virginia “Gin” K. and her husband Bill arrived for the second-to-last appointment of the event.

Gin and Bill fell in love with Dorothy and May and decided to bring them home. As they were loaded onto Gin and Bill’s trailer for the ride home, staff learned that Sweetie’s potential adopter, the last appointment, had canceled. As if on cue, Sweetie whinnied at Gin and Bill.

“I called Sweetie over to give her a treat,” says Gin. “I said, ‘Well, we have a three-horse trailer … we might as well load her up, too.’”

After the adoption paperwork was completed, our staff walked to the end of the driveway and cheered as Gin and Bill drove out. There wasn’t a dry eye among responders and staff, all deeply touched by seeing the last three horses find a wonderful home together.