🐾 ANIMAL HELP & RESOURCES
Help for Moreno Valley pet owners and people who find animals.
Lost a pet? Found an animal? Need help with food or veterinary care? Facing a temporary crisis? Dealing with a pet after an owner's death or move to long-term care? Or reached the point where you can no longer keep a pet? There may be resources that can help.
Services, eligibility, funding and availability can change. Contact each organization directly to confirm current assistance.
Last reviewed: September 2026
🔎 Lost or Found Pet❤️ Help Keeping Your Pet🍲 Pet Food👵 Senior Pet Owners🏥 Temporary Crisis🪖 Military Service & Deployment🌈 Owner Died / Entered Care🏠 Rehoming & Surrender💉 Veterinary Care🐾 Shelters & Rescues🐇 Other Domestic Animals🐴 Livestock & Disasters🦉 Wildlife
🔎 Lost or Found a Pet
Lost a pet
Start with Moreno Valley Animal Services and check the shelter's lost-pet listings frequently. Don't rely on only one system—use several ways to get the word out and identify your pet.
14041 Elsworth Street, Moreno Valley
951-413-3790
Moreno Valley Animal Services
Lost-pet services to check
Create a lost-pet report and search for possible matches. The service uses photos and information from participating shelters and community members.
Petco Love Lost
If your dog is licensed through Moreno Valley's DocuPet licensing program, check the HomeSafe lost-pet service associated with the pet's license and profile.
DocuPet
If your pet is microchipped, report the pet missing to the company or registry that holds the microchip record and confirm that your phone number, address and other contact information are current.
Things to do right away:
- If your pet wears a GPS or smart tracker, check the tracker app immediately. Activate lost or live-tracking features when available and check the device's current or last known location. Examples include Life360 Pet GPS, Tractive, or another pet GPS/tracking service.
- Search the immediate neighborhood and ask neighbors to check garages, sheds, yards and security-camera footage.
- Post a clear, recent photo with the location and date last seen on Nextdoor, local Facebook lost-and-found pet groups, and other neighborhood networks.
- Check nearby shelters as well as Moreno Valley; animals do not recognize city boundaries.
- Keep checking. An animal may not arrive at a shelter immediately.
Found a pet
If it is safe to do so, check for identification and have the animal scanned for a microchip. Veterinarians and shelters commonly provide microchip scans. Report found animals to Moreno Valley Animal Services.
Do not assume an animal that looks dirty, thin or frightened was abandoned. A lost pet can deteriorate quickly.
❤️ Need Help Keeping Your Pet?
Sometimes surrender can be avoided when the underlying problem is food, veterinary expense, housing instability or another temporary family crisis. Check the resources below before giving up an animal if the problem may be solvable.
🍲 Pet Food Assistance
Temporary pet-food assistance for people experiencing financial hardship, including programs serving elderly and disabled Riverside County residents.
Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center
Riverside County lists pet-food assistance among its pet-support resources. Availability and procedures can change; check the current program before visiting.
Riverside County Animal Services
👵 Help for Senior Pet Owners
When grant funding is available, this program provides pet-care assistance to qualifying owners age 65 and older in eligible communities, including Moreno Valley. Income and other eligibility requirements apply. Funding availability can change.
Check Mary S. Roberts for current availability
🏥 Temporary Crisis
Hospitalization • Homelessness • Domestic violence • Displacement
A temporary crisis does not necessarily have to result in permanently giving up an animal.
Temporary pet boarding may be available in certain qualifying emergency circumstances. These programs may require coordination through a case manager, social worker, domestic-violence provider, homeless-services provider or other human-services organization. Riverside County also provides pet-support and emergency-planning information.
Riverside County Animal Services
Building Up Lives states that it works with animal-rescue organizations to help foster pets belonging to people experiencing homelessness until owners can get back on their feet. Contact the organization directly about current eligibility and availability.
951-550-5466
Building Up Lives Foundation
🪖 Military Service & Deployment
Military service, deployment or another qualifying service-related absence does not necessarily mean a family has to permanently give up a pet. National organizations maintain volunteer foster networks designed to provide temporary care until the pet can be reunited with its owner.
Provides temporary foster homes for pets of eligible active-duty service members, National Guard members and Reservists during qualifying deployments. Certain veterans experiencing qualifying hardships may also be eligible. Application requirements and foster availability apply.
Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pet
Provides free temporary pet foster care through a nationwide volunteer network for eligible service members during deployments and other qualifying military obligations. Check the organization directly for current eligibility, application requirements and foster availability.
Dogs on Deployment
🌈 When a Pet's Owner Dies or Can No Longer Provide Care
The death, hospitalization or long-term-care placement of an owner can leave family members unexpectedly responsible for an animal. Do not assume immediate shelter surrender is the only option.
- Ask whether a family member, friend or neighbor who already knows the animal can provide temporary or permanent care.
- Contact the animal's veterinarian for medical records and possible local resource referrals.
- Contact the rescue, shelter or responsible breeder from which the animal originally came; some require or encourage animals to be returned to them.
- Contact an established breed-specific rescue when appropriate.
- If permanent placement is necessary, use the responsible rehoming resources below.
🏠 If You Can No Longer Keep Your Pet
If keeping the animal is not possible, responsible rehoming is preferable to abandonment. Riverside County Animal Services encourages owners of healthy pets to explore alternatives such as friends and family, direct rehoming and appropriate rescue organizations before shelter relinquishment.
Rehome by Adopt-a-Pet provides a structured way for owners to create a pet profile, communicate with potential adopters and arrange direct placement.
Home To Home is another direct owner-to-owner rehoming platform.
Rescue organizations
Breed-specific and established rescue organizations may sometimes accept animals or assist with placement. Intake policies and foster space vary considerably. Always contact the organization before transporting or surrendering an animal.
If you have an emergency, have exhausted other options and cannot continue holding the animal, contact Riverside County about current options. Owned-animal intake may depend on capacity and urgency.
1-888-636-7387 (PETS)
Riverside County Animal Services
💉 Affordable Veterinary Care, Vaccinations & Spay/Neuter
The City provides public veterinary services and animal-health programs through its shelter. It also periodically offers limited low-cost spay/neuter assistance for qualifying Moreno Valley residents. Check current eligibility and availability before visiting.
Moreno Valley Animal Services
Provides low-cost animal-health services in Riverside in addition to pet-assistance programs.
Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center
🐾 Shelters, Rescue & Foster Resources
Rather than attempting to maintain a list of every rescue in Southern California, this directory starts with established public agencies and nonprofit resources.
Municipal shelter, animal control, lost/found animals, adoption, licensing, veterinary services and other programs for Moreno Valley.
Visit Animal Services
County shelter system, pet-support services, crisis assistance, owner-rehoming information, adoption and foster programs.
Visit RCDAS
Established Riverside nonprofit providing adoption and other animal-welfare programs, including food and veterinary assistance.
Visit Mary S. Roberts
🐇 Rabbits, Birds, Reptiles & Other Domestic Animals
Do not assume every shelter or rescue accepts every species. Call first. Riverside County shelters may handle animals beyond dogs and cats, including rabbits and reptiles. For birds, rabbits, reptiles and other specialty pets, an established species-specific rescue may also be appropriate.
🐴 Livestock & Animals During Disasters
Riverside County's emergency animal system provides rescue, evacuation, sheltering, care and welfare for domestic and livestock animals during disasters and extraordinary emergencies. This is an emergency/disaster program, not a routine livestock-rehoming service.
Riverside County Animal Services
🦉 Injured or Orphaned Wildlife
Wildlife is different from a stray domestic animal. California wildlife officials advise people not to capture, handle, confine, feed or give water to apparently injured or orphaned wildlife without guidance from a trained professional. Young animals that appear abandoned may not actually need rescue.
CDFW maintains information about permitted wildlife rehabilitation facilities and what to do when you encounter injured or orphaned wildlife.
California Wildlife Rehabilitation Facilities
Wild burros should not be treated as ordinary found livestock. Use Moreno Valley Animal Services' current burro guidance and reporting information.
Moreno Valley Animal Services