Feeding the Forgotten: Helping Stray and Abandoned Animals in Underserved Communities
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Across California, there are communities where stray and abandoned animals depend almost entirely on the compassion of ordinary people.
Dogs are dumped along roads and on abandoned properties. Animals wander through desert areas looking for food and water. Pregnant dogs give birth outside. Puppies are born with no safe place to go. Community cats continue reproducing because affordable spay/neuter can be difficult to access.
And in many of these places, local residents, small rescues, independent rescuers, feeders, and fosters become the animals’ only safety net.
Helping these people feed animals, provide spay/neuter, obtain veterinary care, secure animals from dangerous situations, and ultimately save lives is one of the core missions of Animal Rescuers For Change.
This is one example of that work.
Gabriel and Jenny: 17 Years of Helping Animals Others Have Left Behind
For approximately 17 years, Gabriel and Jenny have been helping stray, homeless, injured, abandoned, and vulnerable animals, largely using their own limited resources and with assistance from a small number of caring supporters.
Their work takes them into communities and desert areas between Los Angeles County and the Antelope Valley, including areas that have become dumping grounds for unwanted animals.
They tell us that they receive calls, messages, and social media posts about animals needing help several times a day—sometimes five or more reports in a single day.
There may be a dog wandering the streets, animals left on an abandoned property, a pregnant mother, an injured animal, or puppies discovered outside.
No individual person can respond to every request.
But Gabriel and Jenny keep helping as many as they can.
Caring for Multiple Packs of Desert Dogs
Gabriel and Jenny have been caring for and feeding multiple packs of stray and abandoned dogs in desert areas—dozens and dozens of animals over time.
For dogs who have been surviving outside and may be frightened of people, rescue doesn't always happen in a single day.
It often begins with food, consistency, and trust.
Gabriel and Jenny make repeated trips to feed the dogs and gradually work toward being able to safely secure them. Once an animal can be brought to safety, there are additional needs: vaccinations, spay/neuter, veterinary care, foster placement, and eventually, when possible, adoption.
One of the packs they are currently helping has been particularly urgent because multiple female dogs are pregnant.
Without intervention, a group of abandoned, unaltered dogs can quickly become many more animals trying to survive in the same conditions.
That is why helping with spay/neuter is such an important part of the assistance we provide. Feeding saves an animal from hunger today; spay/neuter helps prevent more animals from being born into homelessness tomorrow.
Five Puppies Are Safe — and the Work Continues
Recently, Gabriel and Jenny began working with a gentleman who lives near this particular pack.
He stepped up to help.
When Gabriel and Jenny cannot make the trip, he feeds the dogs near his property. The animals have gradually learned that this is a place where food is available and have begun spending more time there rather than remaining along the dangerous roadside.
Getting them away from the road and establishing a safer location was the first part of the plan.
Then we received some wonderful news:
Five puppies were successfully secured and are now safe.
One of the pregnant mothers has also given birth, and she and her babies are now secure with the gentleman who has been helping care for the pack.
But there are still pregnant dogs outside.
Gabriel and Jenny are continuing to work on securing the remaining pregnant mothers and getting as many of the other dogs to safety as possible.
And This Is Only One Group of Animals
The desert pack is not the only situation Gabriel and Jenny are dealing with.
They are also currently feeding dogs living on an abandoned property because those animals still need someone to care whether they eat.
They help community cats and other stray animals they encounter. They help injured animals and pregnant mothers. When they have the capacity, they also help animals facing euthanasia in shelters.
They currently have nine animals in their own care, with additional animals being cared for by family members and another foster.
When there is nowhere else for an animal to go, they sometimes pay private fosters approximately $5–$10 per day, per dog, depending on the dog's size, while also providing the food.
This is the reality for many small and grassroots rescuers:
Being full doesn't make the next animal in need disappear.
Helping People Keep Their Animals, Too
Gabriel and Jenny also help people experiencing homelessness who have animals.
When they encounter someone living outside with a pet, they try to provide the practical assistance that may allow that person to continue caring for their animal.
They have helped with pet food, vaccinations, deworming, spay/neuter co-pays and, when possible, veterinary expenses.
They also prepare and personally distribute care packages for people experiencing homelessness, including warm meals and drinks, blankets, towels, backpacks, toiletries, gloves, beanies, socks and other necessities—along with food, treats, toys and supplies for their animals.
Sometimes helping an animal means helping the person who loves and cares for that animal.
When Ordinary People Become the Only Safety Net
Stories like this are why supporting grassroots rescuers and community members matters so much to us.
There are communities where an abandoned dog may have no one coming for him except a resident carrying a bag of food.
A pregnant dog may have nowhere safe to give birth until someone opens a gate and allows her onto their property.
Five puppies may remain beside a road until someone decides they cannot leave them there.
A person may never have intended to become an animal rescuer at all. They simply encountered suffering and decided to help.
These are ordinary people doing extraordinary amounts of work with very limited resources.
They buy food from their own pockets.
They drive into remote areas.
They spend weeks gaining the trust of frightened animals.
They take animals home when they are already stretched thin.
They find fosters.
They arrange veterinary appointments.
They pay for spay/neuter.
And then they do it again for the next animal.
In some underserved communities, these people are the difference between an animal being forgotten and an animal having a chance.
Helping Rescues and Communities Is One of Our Core Missions
At Animal Rescuers For Change, we believe strongly in supporting the people who are already doing this work.
We help rescues, independent rescuers, community feeders, fosters, and ordinary residents who step forward to care for animals in need.
Depending on the circumstances and the resources we have available, we may help with food, spay/neuter, veterinary expenses, supplies, emergency assistance, or other immediate needs.
Sometimes that means helping feed a pack of abandoned dogs.
Sometimes it means helping spay and neuter community animals so another generation isn't born outside.
Sometimes it means helping a small rescue stretch its resources far enough to save one more animal.
And sometimes it means supporting an ordinary resident who unexpectedly became the only person standing between an abandoned animal and suffering.
This direct assistance is a core part of who we are and why Animal Rescuers For Change was created.
ARFC Has Already Been Helping Gabriel and Jenny
Animal Rescuers For Change has already been providing financial assistance to Gabriel and Jenny, including helping them afford food and spay/neuter for animals they are caring for and working to rescue.
We are grateful that they continue to show up.
We are grateful to the gentleman who stepped forward to help feed the desert pack and provide a safer place for the dogs to gather.
And we are grateful to the many people throughout our communities who quietly do the same thing every day.
But there are limits to what a handful of individuals—and what we—can do alone.
Gabriel and Jenny still have multiple animals and packs to feed. Pregnant dogs still need to be secured. Puppies need care. Animals need spay/neuter. And new abandoned animals continue to appear.
That is why we are opening a fundraiser to help us continue supporting this work.
❤️ Please Help Us Keep Helping Those Who Step Up
Your donations can help us provide food, spay/neuter, veterinary care, vaccinations, supplies, foster assistance, and other critical help to Gabriel and Jenny and to other grassroots rescuers and community members caring for animals who might otherwise have nowhere to turn.
The five puppies who are safe today are a reminder of what can happen when people care enough to act.
But there are still pregnant mothers outside. There are still dogs on abandoned properties. There are still hungry animals waiting for someone to notice them.
Please donate so we can keep helping those who step up where the system won't.
When someone opens their home, their property, their wallet, or simply their heart to an animal who has been forgotten, we want to help them keep going.
Please be the Change for these animals:
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