The folks at Muttville are seeing unprecedented rates of senior dogs being euthanized at other shelters, and they’re responding with a huge push to take in and find homes for 100 of those adorable mutts.

It is a proud San Francisco tradition that we have puppies in the windows of the Union Square Macy’s, with all of them hopefully finding homes through SF SPCA adoption. But on the other end of the dog age spectrum, the elder doggos of Muttville senior dog rescue are harder to find adoptive homes for, as they are not little puppies. Though they may be lower maintenance!

And NBC Bay Area reports that Muttville is seeing a “crisis” of older dogs being euthanized at other shelters around the state. But they’re barking back at the crisis with a dog adoption blitz to take in 100 dogs with 100 hours from other shelters, and get those senior dogs a forever home for the holidays.


Muttville CEO Sherri Franklin told NBC Bay Area that "Just in the last month, I received three separate urgent shelter help emails that were different than they had been before, [saying] 'We’re starting to have to euthanize adoptable dogs for space because we’ve run out of space.'”


And Muttville is making amazing progress on that goal. They’re on pace to hit the goal of 100 new dogs taken in, and they’ve already found permanent homes for 33 of those dogs.


The dogs are generally not from San Francisco. Muttville takes in senior dogs from other agencies, which unlike Muttville, often keep the dogs in cages and euthanize them if they can’t find adopters. The Muttville dogs come from shelters and animal care agencies from places like Monterey, Amador, Fresno, Kern, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Sacramento, Sutter, and Stanislaus counties.


If you’re inclined to adopt, Muttville has posted their roster of dogs available so you can adopt a senior dog. You can also foster a dog for the short term. Pop by Muttville at 255 Alabama Street (at 16th Street). Or if you just want to donate to Muttville, they’re currently running a matching gift program.

Related: Video: About The SF Woman Who Started Muttville Senior Dog Rescue [SFist]

Image: Aquableu C. via Yelp