Frequently asked questions.

Yes, Outta the Cage is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with an IRS determination letter based in Los Angeles, CA. Our EIN is 81-2662285. We are volunteer-only meaning that no donation money goes to paying salaries. All our money is spent on the pups.

We network any dog that is stuck in a public or private shelter facility with no prospects in sight. At any given time, approximately 30% of the dogs in shelters are purebred.

While we don’t condone breeding (there are too many dogs in need of homes), we recognize there will always be people who favor certain breeds. And those breeds end up in shelters more than anyone would like to admit.

We don’t have a dedicated facility to house dogs. We assess each dog we save, and most go to great foster homes. Occasionally, we’ll take the dog to one of our trainers for decompression or additional socialization. And sometimes the dog already has a adopter lined up. (Those are good days.)

If you’re interested in adopting a dog, please see the Available Dogs section on our website. You can also see fun videos and photos on our Facebook page or Instagram.

As much as we would love to help every dog in every shelter, we only rescue dogs we have already met. This policy allows us to focus on dogs who are local to us—southern California remains one of the highest-kill regions in the country. We can better represent and match local dogs to local fosters and adopters.

We get hundreds of requests a week to help rescue specific shelter dogs. It’s heartbreaking. Many of those dogs are out of state, or even across the country. If you need a rescue to help you save a shelter dog, the best thing to do is post your interest on the dog’s Instagram or Facebook thread. This will increase the chances that a local rescue steps up to help you.

Don’t let us stand in your way. You can go directly to the shelter and adopt the dog (make sure you have its ID number). If the dog is rescue-only, please contact us.

Sadly, some dogs are too sick or traumatized to make it out of their cages in a way that will be safe for them and for humans. In those situations, we believe euthanasia is the kindest alternative. We work hard to ensure such instances are the exception, not the rule.

Foster! Foster! Foster! The more foster homes we have, the more dogs we can get outta the cage.

If you are unable to foster a dog, we occasionally need help transporting dogs.

Our funding comes through private donations from individuals and foundations. Believe it or not, our biggest source of funding is Facebook birthday fundraisers (hint, hint!).

Click here if you’d like to donate—and thank you!