Shelter Tails
Fragile Friends
Caring for vulnerable puppies & kittens
Longterm Love
Adoption stories that were worth the wait 2025 Annual Report
From the CEO:
Over the last year, I have once again been amazed by the outpouring of support from our community of adopters, fosters, volunteers, and donors who give so much to help homeless dogs and cats find loving homes In particular, 2025 showed me just how far our supporters will go for pets who require extra care, time, and hope.
Woods witnessed historic numbers of vulnerable kittens and puppies last year, with many of them battling serious contagious illnesses and needing weeks of in-depth treatment Where other shelters might not have hoped for miracles, our team expected and enabled them.
Longtime resident dogs, who had spent most of their lives in a kennel at one shelter or another, benefited from months of Woods training, exercise, and enrichment. Our work paid off as so many of them finally found loving homes
With dedication and enthusiasm, we made matches for young pets and senior pets, pure-breeds and mixed-breeds, bonded pairs of animals, dogs and cats with medical conditions, and pets with unique behavioral traits.
Thanks to the support of people like you, more than 3,000 animals crossed our path this year on their way Out of the Woods Thank you for being a part of this journey I hope you will read this newsletter and know that your love makes a difference, and your continued support is the force behind the smiles, snuggles, and wagging tails of this community
Sincerely,
Boardof Directors
President Lisa Adams
Vice President Jen Melton
Secretary Bruno Giberti
Treasurer Nicole Mainini
Past President Jo Campbell
Board Members:
Scott Bloom
Autumn Clark
Ty Green
Cory Karpin
David Valadez
24/25Income
Donations40%
ServiceFees18%
Grants2%
Bequests31%
SpecialEvents8%
RetailSales1%
24/25Expenses
ProgramSalaries&Wages29%
Veterinary30%
Operations23%
Management&General11%
Fundraising7%
7 5
5,632
6
3,181 Adoptions TDog Sraining tudents
855 munityCatTNRs euter ries Year 2025wasa
teer urs 912
1,202
FRIENDS Fragile CARINGFOROURMOST
In 2025,
Woods Humane Society reached unprecedented levels of cuteness. We found homes for 574 puppies, a 63% increase from 2024 and an all-time high in our 71-year-long history. We also processed adoptions for 870 kittens. The majority of these babies required foster care sometimes involving bottle-feeding every two hours, around the clock before they were old enough and healthy enough to receive their spay/neuter surgery and become available for adoption. On top of this routine care, many of these young, fragile friends arrived with serious conditions such as parvo virus and panleukopenia and were fighting for their lives.
Heroic Efforts Pay Off
Woods Humane Society pulled together to overcome all odds and help the influx of tiny, struggling young animals survive in 2025. The work entails vigilance in feeding, medicating, and monitoring our patients; painstaking shelter-cleaning protocols; and, often, multiple rounds of foster coordination. Thanks to a dedicated team of staff and volunteers, Woods maintained a survival rate that is far above average for an animal shelter. We were grateful to see so many sickly pups and kittens like Piadina, Anagram, Elsie and Dexter make brave recoveries and go on to bring joy to local families.
Defending Our Friends
The growing cost of private practice services like spay, neuter and vaccination are at the root of the spike in puppies, kittens and illness last year. Woods Humane Society is doing everything we can to serve our community and reduce barriers to essential veterinary care. We offer low-cost spay/neuter surgeries to the public, as well as free and reducedpricing through various stipends and grants. We also aim to protect pets through regular free vaccine clinics, thanks to Petco Love, to help fend off parvo and panleukopenia, the most common deadly diseases. (Learn more at woodshumanesociety.org/spay-neuter).
You Can Help!
p ur most vulnerable population of pets. Donate today at WoodsHumaneSociety.org/ShelterTails to support our lifesaving efforts.
Elsie HERNIASURVIVOR
Piadina PARVOSURVIVOR
LONGTERM LOVE
A year ago, wildfires burned across Los Angeles, destroying homes and endangering families and their pets More than three years have passed since the same story engulfed the island of Maui In disasters like these, Woods is grateful to have the support of this community, enabling us to take immediate action. For us, this means transporting dogs and cats who are already in the shelter system in order to free up local kennel space for animals displaced from their homes by the blazes.
The animals who enter our transport van have often already waited months or years in previous shelters to be adopted, and often come with behavioral or medical challenges to speedy adoption. Therefore, when the Woods leg of their journey to a home begins, it is not always a short ride. Handsome, Scotty, and Lenny were three such long-term guests.
Handsome arrived in SLO from Maui in 2023 as little more than a puppy. He lived up to his name, but had a hard time finding his match due to his strength and size. After more than a year of work with our diligent training team, Handsome’s prince walked through our doors and changed his life forever. Scotty, a gorgeous but excitable young shepherd, came on the LA transport in January 2025. He worked on his manners with us for months before a local woman took a chance on him and found her best friend. Lenny, an American Bulldog, also arrived from a shelter in LA in the wake of the fires. We removed a mass from his ear and helped him learn to walk on a leash. After nearly 8 months of waiting, working on himself, and winning hearts, Lenny found a patient, kind family that adores him.
Throughout their months at Woods, our team provided not only shelter, food, and medical care we also worked hard to keep these dogs’ minds sharp and spirits up. At Woods, this involves a daily menu of exciting enrichment activities such as behavior training; puzzle toys like peanut butter frisbees; essential oils to spark their scenting interest; rotating play groups with hand-selected play-mates; agility course work (and even a treadmill in Handsome’s case); and time off-site, either in foster care or on beach and hiking adventures.
These were just three dogs in more than 3,000 adoptions last year, but the sense of relief, joy, and pride we felt when each of these boys walked Out of the Woods was unparalleled. It takes much more than our average cost of care to transport long-term loves like Handsome, Scotty, and Lenny from natural disaster to loving home, and Woods can only commit to this work with the support of our community. You can enable us to help pets in need without hesitation by becoming a sustaining member of our Circle of Compassion today at WoodsHumaneSociety.org/Circle.
Nov. 2023, Maui
“Handsome has made himself right at home (even claiming a spot at the dinner table!). He has been doing so well, and gets excited and happy with meeting new people.”
Sep. 2024, LA
Oct. 2024, LA
“Scotty is such a snuggle bug, is great when he has to be left alone, has been good with other dogs at the dog park, and has been loving adventures!”
Sep. 2025, SLO
Jul. 2025, SLO
“Wow! We are blessed to have Lenny. He's adorable. Just a loving dog.
Thank you for the dog we love. We think he is happy to find us, too.”
Aug. 2025, SLO
