Mission Statement:

The Animal Rescue Foundation of Colorado is determined to ensure that no pet die for lack of space, medical care, training or attention that it is within our means to save.

ARF is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2003 out of a deep passion to save as many pets lives as possible. Believing that all life is sacred, the Animal Rescue Foundation of Colorado is dedicated to saving the lives of as many abused, neglected, needy, abandoned or surrendered pets as possible. Through a network of volunteers and supporters, and by collaborating with other rescue organizations to extend our reach and expand our capacity, ARF provides medical care, training, rehabilitation, shelter and financial support while actively, expeditiously and creatively working to place the pets we rescue in responsible, loving, permanent homes.

We are an adoption guarantee, or "no-kill" organization. We do not yet have a shelter but rely on a local kennel and foster homes to house our pets while they are in transition to a permanent home. Nevertheless, we adopted out 110 animals in 2008 and over 600 animals in the last 6 years!

While in our care, ARF pets receive vaccinations, spay/neutering, and specialized treatment where necessary. We also provide socialization, training and TLC to our valued guests. While actively "marketing" our adoptable pets, we also carefully screen potential homes in order to ensure a proper match that will lead to a loving and permanent bond.

ARF relies almost entirely on volunteers and therefore relies heavily on volunteers to carry out it's mission of saving pets, caring for them and ultimately finding them permanent, loving homes. As the adoption fees fall significantly short of our expenses, fundraising plays a key role and supports us in our mission.

In looking toward the future, our goal is to build a state of the art, progressive shelter and animal wellness center that is self-supporting and provides the means to dramatically increase our rescue and adoption rate. While there are fantastic, tax payer supported, no kill shelter options locally in Pitkin and Eagle counties, unfortunately there are still far too many areas of valley, state and region that do not provide such protection for their animals. Therefore we continue to be overwhelmed with requests to help rescue perfectly adoptable dogs and cats that are in danger due solely to lack of space. It is for this reason that we have set our sights on a shelter in which we can house, rehabilitate and train far more animals than we currently have the space or resources to save.

We invite you to visit our website to see the animals we have for adoption or to find out more about how you can help - there are so many ways, and so many animals in need.