Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) is a nonprofit organization founded by Elaine and Tony La Russa, based in Walnut Creek, California. ARF rescues dogs and cats from public shelters where they would otherwise be

euthanized Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

and adopts them into new homes. Their programs include a spay and neuter clinic, training classes, service dog training for military veterans, a volunteer therapy dog program, and humane education programs for children. On May 7, 1990, during the opening game for Major League Baseball teams

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

and the New York Yankees, a stray cat wandered onto the playing field at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The game was halted as the cat ran around the field. La Russa (then manager of the A's) coaxed the cat into the dugout, and began looking for a local shelter to re-home the cat. Tony and Elaine could not find a shelter, and learned that the cat would most likely be

. They decided to open their own shelter, and in February of the following year, Tony La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation opened. In 2003, the organization moved to Walnut Creek, California, where it is headquartered in a building. By 2015, ARF reported rescuing 30,000 cats and dogs and spaying or neutering 28,000. The organization also has therapy dogs, which had made 184,000 visits as of 2015. Five years later, in 2020, the organization claimed to have rescued 42,000 cats and dogs and spayed or neutered a similar amount.

References

External links

Animal Rescue Foundation home page
Animal charities based in the United States Charities based in California Organizations based in Contra Costa County, California No kill shelters 1991 establishments in California {{US-philanthropy-org-stub