Ready to adopt a pet? Here are 6 great NJ animal rescues

Brick City Rescue will ensure you find the dog of your dreams and have the resources to give it the life it deserves. Their mission is to find stable loving homes for their animals, and also give new animal owners the proper tools to raise them. They often have events where you can meet the fostered animals and either adopt or donate, however, those have been paused indefinitely. Now, more than ever Brick City could use your help, so if you’re looking to adopt definitely check it out here.

The Closter Animal Welfare Society (CLAWS) has been finding animals safe homes for over 50 years now. Their adoption process is simple, as they rescue their animals, nurse them back to health and finally find them adequate homes. CLAWS runs entirely off of donations, as they are a non profit with no paid employees, making each and every adoption count. In addition to their great adoption program, they also have animal food drives for families who can not afford to feed their animals, but want to give them the love and support they deserve. CLAWS updates their website regularly with all of the animals up for adoption. Each animal with their own unique story and of course, adorable image to go with it.

Halfway Hounds specializes in finding abandoned animals a proper, better home. Many of these animals were either brought in by their owners who didn’t have the ability to give them good lives, or found by local volunteers. They also have a great foster program, if you are interested in giving an animal a home temporarily. Check out their website here.

After helping many other pet rescues to do great work helping animals, North Star Pet Rescue was established in 2017. Dedicated to saving abandoned and mistreated dogs, North Star is a New Jersey volunteer-based, 501(c)(3) all breed animal rescue, focused on saving at-risk dogs from overcrowded animal shelters.

Like most rescue organizations out there, Castle of Dreams does not keep dogs in a facility. Rather, they rescue dogs from high kill shelters all over the East Coast and then place them in foster care through an extensive network of foster homes until they find their forever homes. Castle of Dreams’ website explains: “By taking a foster dog into your home, you actually save TWO lives: the life of your foster dog and the life of the dog who takes his/her place in the shelter."

This Monmouth County-based rescue agency cares about the animals that many others don’t—the ones that aren’t the most wanted, like the black dogs and cats, dogs known as “plain brown wrappers.” (those that are plain on the outside but exceptional on the inside) They also champion bully breeds, seniors, pregnant animals and others that would ordinarily be overlooked. You can find out more here.