About North Star Rescue
North Star Rescue is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area dedicated to the welfare of small companion animals. We are the only rescue organization in the San Francisco Bay Area specifically dedicated to all species of pet rodents and rabbits. North Star Rescue is a no-kill rescue, which means we do not euthanize animals when they have been at our rescue for a long period of time, or for treatable medical conditions. Our goal is to end the unnecessary euthanasia of small companion animals in the San Francisco Bay Area, and to provide welfare and care information to pet owners everywhere to try and improve the lives of small animals and their owners alike.
North Star Rescue provides a variety of services to help small companion animals, including:
- Rescue and Foster Services for California Shelters
- Public Adoptions of Small Animals
- Behavioral Advice
- Educational Events
- Free Care Information for Small Animals
- Intake of Shelter Surrendered Animals
Unlike a traditional shelter, North Star Rescue has no central location, instead relying on private foster homes and public adoption outposts with locations in Danville, Sonoma, Santa Rosa, Napa, and San Jose. We are a network of foster homes run by dedicated volunteers who have united under the common goal of keeping small animals from being euthanized when they have nowhere else to go.
Our website offers information on how you can adopt your next small pet from North Star Rescue, care information for a variety of species, and up to date information on current projects with our rescue and news about small animal welfare. Thank you for taking the time to visit, and remember...
North Star Rescue is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area dedicated to the welfare of small companion animals. We are the only rescue organization in the San Francisco Bay Area specifically dedicated to all species of pet rodents and rabbits. North Star Rescue provides a variety of services to help small companion animals, including: Rescue and Foster Services for California Shelters, Public Adoptions of Small Animals, Behavioral Advice, Educational Events and More. Unlike a traditional shelter, North Star Rescue has no central location. We are a network of foster homes run by dedicated volunteers who have united under the common goal of keeping small animals from being euthanized when they have nowhere else to go.
Our website offers information on how you can adopt your next small pet from North Star Rescue, care information for a variety of species, and up to date information on current projects with our rescue and news about small animal welfare. Thank you for taking the time to visit, and remember...
Make Adoption your First Option!
Need to get a hold of the North Star Rescue team? Please use the following e-mails to contact a volunteer at our rescue.
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General Adoption Inquiries.
Animal adoption inquiries, requests, and adoption event information
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Placement Assistance Services
Owner surrender and placement assistance requests.
(Shelters, please use this e-mail address for rescue requests. Owner surrenders, please review our Placement & Surrenders section and fill out a placement/surrender request.)
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Lauren Paul, Founder & President
General Inquiries, Shelter Relations, Public Relations, Press Info, Care and Behavioral Inquiries, Napa Foster Home
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Cynthia Cross, Director
Danville Adoption Outpost, East Bay, Shelter Relations
Mailing Address
Donations can be sent via postal mail to:
North Star Rescue
PO Box 537
Diablo, CA 94528
Did you send an e-mail and not receive a response?
If you have e-mailed North Star Rescue and have not received a response within 72 hours, please be sure that you have checked both your Spam Inbox or Junk E-mail Filters. We respond to most e-mails within 24 hours of receipt. Many e-mail providers do not immediately recognize e-mail coming from our web hosting provider's servers and will classify even solicited e-mails as spam. If you do not know how to adjust your spam settings or know where to find your junk/spam e-mail boxes, please check with your e-mail provider.
Why are there no phone numbers listed?
North Star Rescue is an all-volunteer organization, which means we do not have a central location or phone system, and we have a policy against giving out the personal phone numbers of our volunteers to respect their right to privacy. All of our volunteers have regular jobs and are not always available during the day, the best way to communicate with us is by e-mail where you will receive the fastest response.
If you need to speak to someone in person, please visit one of our adoption events which will be staffed by volunteers who can answer your questions.
Placement Assistance
North Star Rescue offers a Placement Assistance program to help owners find new homes for pets they can no longer keep themselves. This program is intended to help owners while the pet remains under their care, and is not intended for owners who immediately need to give up a pet. If you need to surrender an animal, please check our Surrender a Pet page.
Owners participating in the Placement Assistance program provide North Star Rescue with information and pictures of the animal(s) they are trying to find new homes for. We add a listing online to our Pets Available by Owner page, as well as run advertisements online on Craigslist. We also provide a flier in PDF format that owners can print out and post at local pet stores and veterinary offices.
Please note that your pet will not be listed on Petfinder.com. You may register with Petfinder.com to use their free classifieds ad section. However, it is against Petfinder's Terms of Service for us to add listings to our account for individuals.
During the time an owner is searching for a new home for their pet, they are welcome to contact North Star Rescue with questions about how to screen potential new homes before adopting out their pet.
Please read our Placement Assistance Program Rules and Guidelines before filling out a Placement Assistance Request. You will find the link to our Placement Assistance Request Form at the bottom of this page.
Placement Assistance Program Rules
North Star Rescue's Placement Assistance program is a free program, and is subject to a reasonable amount of use.
- Requests for Placement Assistance must be made for personally owned animals only. The legal owner or guardian of an animal must be the one making the request for Placement Assistance.
- This service is limited to animals that are personal pets. People involved in the intentional breeding of animals may not list animals with our Placement Assistance program.
- Rabbits in the Placement Assistance program must be spayed or neutered, or adopted out on a Spay/Neuter contract with their new owners.
- Owners must charge an adoption fee for the animals listed, which may not exceed North Star Rescue's adoption fees. This is to prevent those people who may be trying to sell animals for profit from abusing the service.
- Owners are expected to actively work to find their pet a new home, both on their own and with North Star Rescue's assistance. We recommend that owners talk to local pet stores, humane societies, rescues, shelters and veterinary offices to help put the word out that they have an animal that needs a new home.
- Owners are expected to care for their pet and keep it in good health while they seek a new home for their pet. Owners are expected to provide adaquate socialization to keep their pet friendly during this time as well.
- Owners should recognize that animals with health or behavioral problems, or animals that are very elderly, are not as likely to be adopted. We do not recommend that owners put an animal up for adoption as a way of avoiding paying vet bills.
- While an animal is waiting for adoption, Owners should look for ways to try to make their pet more adoptable to a new family. Having an animal spayed/neutered, well socialized and healthy makes it easier for an animal to be adopted.
- Owners should make efforts to communicate promptly with interested adopters who call or e-mail. Be sure you have provided accurate contact information.
- It is important to take the time to talk with new potential owners and be sure that you are placing your pet into a responsible new home. You should ensure that your pet's adopters are prepared to care for the animal, and have reasonable expectations about the health, behavior and personality of their new pet.
- It is important to remember that when you are adopting out your pet, you must be prepared to let them go. While this may seem obvious, we hear of many adopters who have been put off on adopting an owner's animal because the owner requests to be allowed to drop by and visit, or has unreasonable expectations of their animal being cared for in exactly the same manner they would have cared for the animal. If you are not prepared for your animal to become a part of someone else's family, it is best to explore alternatives to keeping the animal in your own care.
- Owners should be completely honest about their pet's age, health, personality, temperament and history with potential adopters. If your pet has any issues, be sure their new potential family knows before they bring them home!
We offer free consultations and advice regarding a wide variety of situations involving small animals at no cost, just send us an e-mail and ask! We respond to most e-mails within 24 hours, most within the same day, and we are more then happy to share our advice and experiences with you.
Thinking of adding a small animal to your life? We can offer you honest, detailed insight on how a particular species might fit into your lifestyle and what the real care dedication would be. We are happy to invite you to our main adoption outpost by appointment and will gladly give you an opportunity to have hands on learning time with a wide variety of species. We can give you demonstrations on nail clipping, grooming, daily care, health check-ups, and answer any questions about pet ownership you might have.
Having a behavioral problem with a current pet? We can offer you objective, situation specific ideas for solving a behavioral problem with your pets. We've been there and done it with a variety of animals and situations and can generally offer you personal experience. If not, we're happy to refer you to other information resources that might help you and your pet find your solution.
Do you have medical questions? We cannot replace the experience of a qualified vet, nor diagnose any conditions as we are not licensed veterinary practitioners. However, we can offer advice for minor medical issues, preventative care, home remedies in certain circumstances and ways to keep your pet comfortable until you can get them to a qualified vet.
Do you know of an animal in distress? We can help guide you through the process of contacting animal control and the proper authorities if you believe an animal is being subjected to abuse.
Did we miss something here? Don't hesitate to ask, the worst that can happen is we'll try and refer you to someone more qualified to answer your questions!
Please note: We are not qualified behaviorists or veterinarians, we've just been through the gauntlet with just about every species and we are happy to share information and resources that we feel will be helpful.
North Star Rescue offers a variety of Education and Outreach services that are custom tailored for each unique situation. Our Outreach services are currently limited to Northern California.
Personal Consultation
We offer personal consultation services for owners who are interested in learning about small pet care, or have questions related to a particular animal or situation. We are happy to answer your questions related to pet ownership, care, health and behavior. Consultation is available for free by e-mail, or by appointment at our main foster home in Santa Rosa.
Personal Consultation is also available for owners in their own home for a fee. Fees are assessed based on distance and length of visit. Please contact us for a quote.
Youth Group Education
Educational presentations are available for schools, day cares, summer camps and other youth groups who are interested in bringing a hands on animal care experience to the kids. We bring animals from our rescue and talk about care, handling, animal welfare and more.
Educational events are custom tailored to each program, and vary depending on the ages of the children involved, time of presentation, and number of attendants. Please contact us for a quote.
Commercial Pet Store Education
We offer educational and training services to commercial groups involved in the care, handling, distribution or sale of small companion animals. We offer training services on diet, care, handling, health concerns and more for pet stores and other commercial pet companies. Discounts are available for commercial entities not involved in the sale or breeding of small companion animals. Please contact us for a quote.
Non-Profit Pet Education
We offer educational and training services for non-profit or not for profit groups involved in the care, handling, distribution or sale of small companion animals. We offer these services to Animal Shelters, Rescues, Sanctuaries and Welfare groups at a reduced cost. Please contact us for a quote.
If for any reason the animal you adopted from us does not seem to be a match, we will refund your adoption fee within 14 days of the adoption. If you have adopted an animal from us to bond to your current pet, and the bonding does not work out, we will refund your adoption fee within 30 days of the adoption. Please note that you need to notify us within this time period that you will be returning the animal, and we will refund the adoption fee upon receipt of the animal.
If at any time you are unable to keep your pet, we will accept them back into the rescue program. Please contact us 14 days in advance to surrendering an animal adopted from our rescue so that we can ensure there is room for them.
Please note the following:
Travel fees are non-refundable. If you have paid to have an animal transported to your home and the adoption does not work out, we will waive a pick-up fee within 100 miles of our main foster home in Santa Rosa (round trip).
While we do our best to screen all animals for health, we can not guarantee against genetic health conditions including, but not limited to: Glaucoma, Cataracts, Diabetes, Heart Defects, Chronic Respiratory or Tumors.
We will give you our best assessment of an animal's health and temperament, as well as it's medical history with our rescue at the time of adoption.
North Star Rescue is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization that depends on public support and funding to continue rescuing endangered animals from shelters, and to provide education and support to the public. While we collect adoption fees for each animal adopted out from our rescue, those funds do not entirely cover the cost of habitats, food, bedding, toys, medical care, marketing and other costs for the hundreds of animals that come through our rescue program each year.
Donate Money to North Star Rescue
You can donate money at any one of our mobile adoption events, or securely online through PayPal to our rescue. 100% of the donated money goes directly to the rescue programs to benefit the animals and provide public education, our rescue team is an all-volunteer crew! Click the button below to donate any amount of money to North Star Rescue. Your donations go a long way, we buy all of our supplies in bulk to use donations to help as many animals as possible. You can also subscribe through PayPal to send a regular monthly donation of your choice to North Star Rescue. If just a few people can make a small monthly commitment, we can count on your donations to help us fund rescues for animals who need more extensive medical care. A majority of our subscription donations fund our emergency medical fund.
Donate a Hammock to North Star Rescue
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A favorite toy at our rescue for many species is a safe fleece hammock. You can purchase discounted hammocks for rescues through the Brux & Boggle for Rescues program from The Rat Stash which are sent directly to our rescue! Large, flat hammocks are the most versatile design for our critters as they are enjoyed by rats, guinea pigs and chinchillas. Smaller hammocks with pockets are a great choice for rats, hamsters and mice.
For more information, please visit Brux & Boggles for Rescue at The Rat Stash. |
Shop on Amazon.com to Donate
North Star Rescue receives a percentage of sales through Amazon.com through their affiliate program. Any purchases you make on Amazon.com can help save small animals! To help donate through your purchases at Amazon, click the following link and complete your purchases normally through Amazon: Shop on Amazon Now
Shop on WineCountryVillage.com to Donate
Wine Country Village donates a minimum of 10% of each sale to charity groups. To make sure part of your purchase is donated to North Star Rescue, mention 'North Star Rescue' at checkout and 10% or more will be donated each month to help animals at our rescue. Click Here to Shop at Wine Country Village
Donate Supplies to North Star Rescue
Would you like to donate supplies to help the animals being fostered at our rescue locations? Your gently used, no longer needed pet supplies can be put to good use enriching the lives of our foster animals while they wait for adoption. We are constantly in need of:
- Carefresh Bedding
- Silent Spinner Wheels
- Rat Hammocks
- Water Bottles
- Heavy Ceramic or Metal Food Bowls in All Sizes
- Fleece blankets and material
- Small dog and cat beds for bunnies
- Small animal carriers (Critter keepers or small wire carriers)
- Chew Toys
- Alfalfa and Timothy Hay
- Lab Blocks for Rats, Hamsters and Mice
- Grain, Oats, Barley, Rye or Cereals for Rats, Hamsters and Mice
- Alfalfa and Timothy Hay Pellets for Rabbits, Guinea Pigs and Chinchillas
If you have supplies to donate, please contact us for the nearest drop-off site to your city. If you have small items to donate, you can also mail them to the address below.
Mailing Address
Donations can be sent via postal mail to:
North Star Rescue
PO Box 537
Diablo, CA 94528
Adoption Locations & Hours
North Star Rescue is a network of multiple foster homes and adoption outposts spread all over the California Bay Area.
North Star Rescue's administrative headquarters and main foster home is located in Novato, CA. We are available for adoptions and pet consultations by appointment only.
Hours of Operation: Please E-mail for Current Schedule
Hours of Operation: Monday - Saturday, 10 AM to 6 PM
Hours of Operation: Monday - Saturday, 10 AM to 6 PM
What is North Star Rescue?
North Star Rescue is a small, home based rescue that is based in the North Bay Area of California. We are a network of foster homes that work to rescue Bunnies, Chinchillas, Guinea Pigs, Rats, Syrian Hamsters, Dwarf Hamsters and Mice that are at risk of euthanasia in shelters all over the Bay Area. North Star works with shelters and other rescues to try and ensure that no animal is euthanized for lack of space or medical treatment.
North Star Rescue is a not-for-profit organization, although we are not yet a registered 501(c)3 non-profit as of this time.
North Star is still a relatively small rescue, and we strive to spend as much one-on-one time getting to know and working with each of our foster animals. We do our best to provide interesting environments for our rescue animals, and to provide plenty of socialization so that we can best match our adopters with an animal that will work for them.
Since the North Star animals are kept in a home environment, we are better able to predict how they might fit into an adopter's home. We offer services to help match people with their new pets, as well as bonding a new friend to an existing pet.
While North Star Rescue primarily takes in animals only from shelters and cooperating rescues, we take a limited number of animals by personal surrender under special circumstances. North Star is a No-Kill Rescue, which means we do not euthanize any animal unless we determine a medical condition cannot be treated and is keeping the animal from having an acceptable quality of life.
Besides Rescue and Adoption, North Star also offers a variety of services at low or no cost to encourage responsible ownership, proper care, and awareness about the plight of small animals who are often abandoned at shelters.