About Us

Our mission is to be a resource and advocate for senior dogs and senior people on California’s Central Coast. We focus on helping dogs and people from Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito counties.

We find loving foster and forever homes for dogs whose guardians can no longer care for them and for senior dogs in shelters. We also provide volunteer and financial assistance so seniors can keep their pets with them as long as possible. In addition, we make pre-arrangements to take in dogs should their guardians become unable to care for them.

A Lifetime Commitment

We have a lifetime commitment to all the dogs who come into our care. They will either be adopted into a wonderful, permanent home, or will live out their lives in one of our foster homes. (Sometimes when we bring a senior dog into our care, it becomes evident that he or she should not have to endure one more move or life change.)

We help senior citizens pay for veterinary care for their dogs if they are unable to afford medical expenses. We also provide temporary foster care for people who are hospitalized and dog walking for people who are no longer able to walk their dogs.

Our Team Is Awesome

POMDR is led by a dedicated board and an incredible staff. POMDR is also supported by a network of over 1500 volunteers who help with foster care, adoption events, transportation, office work, fundraising, and other tasks as they come up. We pride ourselves on adhering to the POMDR culture.

Our Vision

Our vision is to model lifetime care for dogs and all companion animals to help bring about a positive change in the way society thinks about and treats senior dogs, and to create better lives for them through rescue, foster, adoption, hospice and education.

Our Compassionate Food Policy

POMDR has adopted a Compassionate Food Policy for our organization. We believe that all animals should be treated humanely and with compassion throughout their lives. One way POMDR chooses to support the concept of compassion to all living beings is to serve only vegetarian food at all POMDR events, from small meetings of staff and volunteers, to large gatherings such as our annual Lucky Dog Gala. We recommend the same but do not control food options when outside organizations are the primary host or sponsor of an event.

DEI Policy

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are important to POMDR. This includes staff, volunteers, adopters, and Helping Paw clients. We do not tolerate discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, or pregnancy. POMDR makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time. POMDR makes adoption decisions based on the best match for the dog and adopter taking into account the dog’s activity level, special needs, size, health, and temperament.