Every August, NBC and Telemundo stations across the country turn their platforms over to something simple: helping shelter pets find homes. 

Now in its 12th year, the campaign started as a single pet-adoption event in North Texas in 2014, hosted by NBC 5 and Telemundo 39. The goal was to empty a few over-stretched local kennels. 

Since then, it has grown into a monthlong, nationwide push presented by Hill's Pet Nutrition that pairs NBC and Telemundo stations with more than 1,700 shelters and rescues across every state, Washington DC, Puerto Rico and Guam. Since 2015, it's helped more than 1.3 million pets find homes and raised over $5.6 million for the organizations that care for them.

The size of those numbers says something about the scale of the problem. Roughly 6.5 million companion animals enter U.S. shelters every year, and while adoption numbers have climbed steadily, plenty of open-admission shelters are still pushed past their limits, especially the high-intake municipal shelters that accept animals no matter what. 

These shelters often get stuck with an unfair "high-kill" label that scares off the very donors who could help them do better. The truth is messier and less dramatic than the label suggests: most of these shelters didn't create the overpopulation crisis. They're just the ones asked to absorb it, often without the funding or staff to match.

That's exactly the space the nonprofits below work in. Where Clear the Shelters throws a spotlight on adoption for one loud, energetic month, these featured groups do the quiet all-year-round work of moving dogs from crowded kennels into foster care, running low-cost spay and neuter clinics, training service dogs and even flying animals across oceans to find a family. Clear the Shelters Month isn't reflective or solemn. It's a rallying cry, and it's meant to feel like one.

This post is part of Breakthrough Nonprofits, an extension of Give Lively's monthly newsletter for nonprofit professionals. Each month, the series spotlights organizations that refuse to accept the status quo, whether that’s an outdated shelter model, an underserved region or an assumption about which animals deserve a second chance. For Clear the Shelters Month, we’re celebrating nonprofits that saw an overwhelmed system and decided to build something better.

The nonprofits

The Give Lively member nonprofits featured below are leading examples of breakthrough work in animal welfare.

From Kabul Small Animal Rescue’s actions in Afghanistan and West Coast Labrador Retriever Rescue’s all-volunteer team to Sacramento Shelter Pets Alive work with at-risk shelter dogs, these three organizations show what breakthrough work in animal welfare can look like.

The rest also saw a shelter system stretched thin and stepped in anyway: county humane societies, a working farm, a prison training program, a rabbit rescue and a TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return) clinic, spread from Oregon to Nicaragua. Different animals, different corners of the map, same instinct.

Kabul Small Animal Rescue

Kabul Small Animal Rescue runs a full-service veterinary clinic and shelter in Afghanistan, open around the clock for emergencies. It treats owned pets alongside injured and orphaned street animals, from dogs and cats to the occasional tortoise or goat. Once healed, its patients find homes locally or are flown to homes around the world through its adoption program.

West Coast Labrador Retriever Rescue

West Coast Labrador Retriever Rescue is an all-volunteer nonprofit saving Labradors, golden retrievers and other retriever breeds across Southern California. It pulls dogs from crowded shelters and helps owners who can no longer keep their pets find them a soft landing. With more than 800 dogs rescued and counting, it's proof that "all about the dogs" is more than a tagline.

Safe Humane Chicago

Safe Humane Chicago builds safer, more humane communities by strengthening the bond between people and animals. Its Court Case Dogs program takes in victims of abuse tied to criminal cases and gives them lifetime behavioral support, while its Lifetime Bonds program pairs participants with shelter dogs to build job and life skills together. It also partners with courts and law enforcement to hold animal abusers accountable, turning justice and compassion into one shared mission.

Susquehanna Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The Susquehanna SPCA has looked after homeless animals in Otsego County, New York, since 1917, working toward a day when every companion animal has a loving home. Spay and neuter, adoption and education are at the center of its work, backed by hands-on cruelty prevention efforts. A brand-new shelter and the newly launched Campbell Hill Farm mean it's now equipped to help even more animals, farm animals included.

Sacramento Shelter Pets Alive

Sacramento Shelter Pets Alive is a safety net for vulnerable dogs and the people who take them in, pulling at-risk shelter dogs into foster care and matching them with adoptive families. Its support doesn't stop on adoption day, either, with training, playgroups and behavior counseling helping dogs and owners work through everything from leash reactivity to full-blown anxiety.

Nicalove

NicaLove serves animals and the people who love them in some of Nicaragua's most vulnerable communities. It partners with local organizations to rescue and rehabilitate domestic and working animals, while its wellness clinics bring sterilization and basic health care within reach. In 2023 it opened its own shelter, giving its rescue and partnership work a permanent home base.

Clatsop Animal Assistance

Clatsop Animal Assistance is an all-volunteer nonprofit supporting the homeless pets of Clatsop County Animal Shelter in Warrenton, Oregon. It covers veterinary services, medicine and the spay and neuter fees the shelter's budget can't absorb, on top of supplies like litter and grooming. Adoption events, a foster network and community education round out its work toward a day with fewer homeless animals in the county.

Henry County Humane Society

Henry County Humane Society is a no-kill shelter in Geneseo, Illinois, funded entirely by donations. For 50 years it's given homeless dogs and cats food, shelter, enrichment and veterinary care while it searches for their forever homes. Its Paws for a Dollar campaign shows just how far a community can stretch a single dollar when everyone pitches in together.

Fayette Humane Society

Fayette Humane Society is an all-volunteer, community-backed nonprofit working toward a Fayette County (Georgia) where every companion animal is spayed or neutered and treated with compassion. Powered by the High Five Club of monthly donors, its pet services, adoption support and community education make up its core work, often carried out through adoption events at local Petsmart locations.

Arkansas Paws in Prison

Arkansas Paws in Prison pairs rescue dogs with selected inmates  who learn how to train the pets in obedience and socialization. Since the program began in 2011, it's expanded to seven facilities across the state and helped more than 2,800 dogs find new homes. The benefits run both ways: dogs get a second chance and inmate trainers build skills that reinforce their own successful return to society.

Pope Memorial Humane Society (formerly Cocheco Valley Humane Society)

Pope Memorial Humane Society tends to more than 1,000 animals a year in New Hampshire's Seacoast region, from strays and surrenders to transports from other agencies in need. It also helps keep families and their animals together through low-cost veterinary attention. A state-of-the-art shelter, made possible by a major gift from Lyman Pope Jr., now gives its adoption, spay-neuter and education work plenty of room to grow.

Working Dogs for Vets

Working Dogs for Vets trains rescue dogs to become service dogs for veterans with combat-related disabilities at zero cost to the veterans. With a 98% shelter rescue rate, it's saving dogs from euthanasia at the same time as it's helping veterans regain independence after returning to civilian life. The whole operation is run by volunteers and delivers lifetime support to both ends of the leash.

Hope2K9 Rescue

Hope2K9 Rescue's mission starts before a dog ever needs rescuing. Through dog obedience training and owner education, it helps keep struggling dogs in their own homes in the first place. When dogs do need a new home, they come from shelter, rescues and owner surrenders, and each one gets a full board-and-train program before meeting an adopter. The result is a soft landing for dogs and owners who speak the same language.

Noble Friends Foundation for OC Animal Care

Noble Friends Foundation works exclusively with OC Animal Care in Orange County, California, funding the extra care the shelter's budget can't cover on its own. Its Medical Pets Program connects badly injured animals, like a dog with a hernia or a cat hit by a car, with specialty veterinarians who can give them a real shot at recovery. A pet food pantry, vaccine clinics and educational workshops round out its support for the shelter and the community around it.

Eastern Shore Rabbit Rescue and Education Center

Eastern Shore Rabbit Rescue and Education Center looks after the health, safety and emotional well-being of abandoned pet rabbits across Maryland's Eastern Shore. Its all-volunteer foster network tends to 40 to 50 rabbits at a time, arranging spay and neuter surgeries, RHDV2 vaccinations and adoptions into new homes. Between its educational programs and its Bun Run fundraiser, it's built a small but mighty community around a famously underestimated pet.

Operation Catnip of Gainesville

Operation Catnip protects the health of cats in Gainesville, Florida, through spay, neuter and vaccination clinics, cutting down on kitten births at the source. Its clinics double as hands-on training ground for veterinary students, sending new vets out into the world ready to help community cats wherever they land. It also runs a Working Cat Program and Kitten Shelter Diversion effort, placing outdoor-suited cats and diverting kittens away from crowded shelters. It's easy to see why spay and neuter programs nationwide look to Operation Catnip as a mentor.