RUSTY S RESCUE INC

- Rusty’s Rescue Inc. — Corporate-Friendly, Emotional, and Impact-Focused Description

Rusty’s Rescue Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal rescue and sanctuary in Southern California, founded by a disabled U.S. Navy veteran and his family. Our organization exists for one purpose: to save the animals who have the least chance of survival—those suffering the most severe neglect, abuse, medical crisis, or abandonment.

We specialize in high-risk, high-need populations that often fall through the cracks of the traditional shelter system. Our work focuses on three critically vulnerable groups:

- Severely Neglected and Abused Equines

Many of the horses who come to us have been seized by Animal Control from extreme cruelty or starvation cases. They arrive emaciated, feral, injured, or completely shut down from trauma. Rusty’s Rescue is known for taking stallions, unhandled horses, and large-scale seizure cases that require expert handling and intensive rehabilitation. For many, we are their only chance at survival.

- Farm Animals in Crisis

From goats and sheep to potbelly pigs and donkeys, we take in farm animals who have endured prolonged neglect, untreated medical conditions, overbreeding, or abandonment. These animals often require urgent veterinary intervention, specialized diets, and months of healing before they can begin to trust again.

- Orphaned Neonatal Kittens — The Most At-Risk Animals in the Shelter System

One of the most fragile groups we serve are orphaned neonatal kittens, often only hours to days old. These kittens, commonly referred to as “bottle babies,” are the highest-risk population in any shelter.
Without a mother and requiring feeding every 2–3 hours, they cannot survive on their own.

Most municipal shelters simply do not have the staff, resources, or overnight coverage needed to care for these tiny lives. As a result, neonatal kittens are often euthanized on the very day they arrive—not due to illness or injury, but because there is no one available to feed them around the clock.

At Rusty's Rescue, we give these kittens the chance they never would have had. Our family and volunteers provide 24/7 feeding, warming, sanitation, and medical care. Many require incubators, antibiotics, parasite treatment, and constant monitoring to have a fighting chance. Every kitten saved represents a life that would have been lost within hours.

- A Mission Rooted in Service, Family, and Second Chances

Founded by a disabled U.S. Navy veteran and supported by his wife and four children, Rusty’s Rescue is built on values of service, compassion, and responsibility to the most vulnerable.
This is a family who understands perseverance and healing—and who has chosen to extend that same care to animals with no voice and no advocates.

Every animal we intake receives individualized treatment plans, specialized rehabilitation, and—when safe and possible—an opportunity for adoption. Those who cannot be adopted due to medical or behavioral needs remain in our sanctuary, protected and loved for life.

- Why Our Work Matters

Animal Control agencies rely on Rusty’s Rescue because we consistently step in when others cannot—when the case is too severe, the animal is too fragile, or the time required is beyond what shelters can provide.
Our impact is measured not only in the number of animals saved, but in the cruelty cases resolved, suffering relieved, and futures rewritten.

We believe that every life deserves dignity, and we are committed to transforming trauma into safety, survival, and hope.