Rescue groups
Dog rescue organisations in Singapore
Adopting a dog in Singapore almost always means going through a rescue group. This page is a plain guide to the main ones: what each focuses on, how to adopt, foster, donate or volunteer, where to find their listings, and whether they are recognised by the Animal and Veterinary Service. Every figure below comes from the group’s own site or from the AVS register.
How adoption works here
Singapore has no large municipal pound that rehomes dogs to the public, so the work of rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming sits with charities and volunteer groups. Most of the dogs they care for are Singapore Specials, the local crossbreed shaped by decades of street life, along with surrendered pets and retired breeding dogs. A group will usually ask you to fill in a form, talk through your home and routine, and sometimes do a home visit before a dog moves in. None of that is meant to put you off; it is how a rescue makes sure a dog that has already had a hard start does not get returned.
Our companion page, /adopt, pulls the dogs currently listed by 6 of these groups into one feed that refreshes daily, so you can see who is available without opening eight tabs. This page is the other half: the organisations themselves, so you can pick a group whose focus and values match yours, and find the ways to help that are not adoption. Fostering, donating and volunteering keep these groups running between adoptions, and they are often the easier first step.
The organisations
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SOSD (Save Our Street Dogs)
Street and abandoned dogs, mostly Singapore Specials
SOSD began in July 2011 as a small group feeding and treating street dogs, and it has grown into one of Singapore’s busiest dog rescues. It received Institution of a Public Character status in 2015, so donations are tax-deductible, and its shelter now sits at The Animal Lodge in Sungei Tengah. The dogs in its care are overwhelmingly Singapore Specials, the local crossbreed that fills most rescue kennels here.
The group runs adoption, fostering, sterilisation and a steady stream of behavioural and medical work for dogs that arrive frightened or injured. If you are not ready to adopt, fostering frees a kennel space and helps a nervous dog learn to trust a home, and volunteers handle walking, washing and transport every week. SOSD’s own adoption page lists the dogs currently looking for homes, and those same listings feed our /adopt page each day.
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Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD)
Rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of local dogs
Action for Singapore Dogs was established in December 2000 and is one of the oldest dedicated dog charities in the country. By its own count it has rehomed more than 3,000 dogs, and it has roughly 120 dogs under its care at any time through its Canine Rehabilitation Centre. It is a registered charity, and its work runs from rescue and medical treatment through to rehabilitation and matching dogs with adopters.
ASD keeps a public list of dogs ready for adoption, each with a short profile, and it welcomes fosterers who can give a dog a calmer setting than a kennel while it waits. Donations cover veterinary bills, food and the running of the centre, and volunteers help with daily care and events. The dogs ASD lists as available flow into our /adopt feed, so you can browse them here and then apply on the ASD site.
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Causes for Animals (Singapore)
Street dogs and community cats, with heavy sterilisation work
Causes for Animals was set up and registered as a charity in 2013 by two longtime shelter volunteers and street feeders. It works across both street dogs and community cats, and a large share of its effort goes into humane Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage, the standard approach to keeping street populations stable without culling. Its stray management programme aims to sterilise around 15 dogs and 20 cats a month, with each stray costing roughly 400 dollars to trap, treat, vaccinate, microchip and return.
Alongside sterilisation, the group rescues, rehabilitates and rehomes dogs, and runs community outreach to reduce the friction between residents and the animals around them. You can adopt or foster a dog, donate towards the sterilisation and medical costs, or volunteer on trapping and care rounds. The dogs it lists as available appear in our /adopt feed each day.
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OSCAS (Oasis Second Chance Animal Shelter)
Singapore Specials rescued from the streets or culling
OSCAS, short for Oasis Second Chance Animal Shelter, has run as a registered charity and non-profit dog shelter since 2006. About 100 Singapore Specials live at its shelter, which has relocated over the years and now sits at Sungei Tengah. Every dog there was rescued from the streets, from the threat of culling, or after being abandoned, and many have waited a long time for a home.
Because OSCAS houses so many longer-stay dogs, sponsorship and fostering matter as much as adoption: a sponsored kennel keeps a dog fed and treated, and a foster home gives a shy dog the chance to settle. The shelter also relies on weekend volunteers for walking and washing. Its adoption gallery lists the dogs currently available, and those photos feed into our /adopt page.
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SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
All animals: cruelty investigation, rescue, adoption, a community clinic
The SPCA is the oldest animal welfare body in Singapore, established on 24 March 1876, formalised as the RSPCA branch in 1947 and reorganised in 1954. It is the broadest of the groups here: as well as dog adoption it investigates cruelty complaints, runs a 24-hour rescue line for sick, injured and very young animals, and operates the only community animal clinic in the country for low-income owners. The SPCA reports caring for more than 200 animals a month.
Running all of this is expensive; the SPCA says it needs in the region of four million dollars a year to keep every service going. For a dog owner the most direct ways to help are adopting or fostering one of the dogs at its shelter, donating, or volunteering. Its adoption pages list dogs by name and breed, and those same records feed our /adopt page through the SPCA’s public listings.
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Voices for Animals (VFA)
Retired breeding dogs rescued from breeders and puppy mills
Voices for Animals is a Singapore society founded in 2013 that focuses on a group few others take on: retired breeding dogs pulled from breeders and puppy mills. These dogs are usually five years and older and need patient rehabilitation, since many have spent their whole lives in cages. VFA holds adoption drives roughly once a month rather than keeping an open shelter, and it does not take walk-ins.
Because its dogs are introduced at scheduled drives and shared through its Facebook and Instagram pages rather than a fixed web gallery, VFA is the one group here whose listings do not flow into our /adopt feed automatically. To meet its dogs, follow its Facebook page for the next drive, or reach out about fostering, donating, or volunteering. The well-known voicesforanimals.org domain belongs to a separate United States organisation, so use the Singapore VFA’s own channels.
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Purely Adoptions
Rescued cats and dogs, funded by adoption fees
Purely Adoptions is a volunteer-run animal welfare group that rescues and rehomes both dogs and cats, and it is one of the partner welfare groups recognised by the Animal and Veterinary Service. It does not run a large shelter; instead it works through fosters and a small team, and the adoption fees it collects are put back into sterilisation, medical bills, rescue and fostering rather than profit.
Its dogs and puppies are posted on its website and, in more detail, on its Instagram, and the team handles enquiries over WhatsApp rather than walk-ins. You can adopt, foster a dog while it waits for a home, or donate towards its medical costs. The dogs Purely shows on its adoption page feed into our /adopt page, though the full set is easiest to browse on Purely’s own site.
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Mercylight Animal Rescue and Sanctuary
Stray dogs, rehabilitation and rehoming
Mercylight began in 2009 as a handful of volunteers feeding stray dogs in the east of Singapore, was incorporated as a non-profit in 2015, and was granted charity status in 2020 as Mercylight Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. It is an approved Institution of a Public Character, so donations qualify for tax deduction, and it is one of the rehoming partners that works with the Animal and Veterinary Service under Project ADORE.
The sanctuary takes in stray and abandoned dogs, rehabilitates them and rehomes them through its adoption pages. You can adopt or foster one of its dogs, donate towards their care, or volunteer at the sanctuary. Mercylight is not yet wired into our daily /adopt feed, so use its own adoption page to see the dogs it currently has available.
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Exclusively Mongrels
Singapore Specials, working across shelters and fosters
Exclusively Mongrels was set up in 2012 specifically to advance the welfare of Singapore Specials, the local mongrels that make up the bulk of the country’s rescue dogs. Rather than running one large shelter, it acts as a bridge between other shelters, fosterers and adopters, raising the profile of dogs that might otherwise be overlooked and matching them with the right homes.
Its adoption process is deliberately careful, with a home check and a two-week homestay before anything is finalised, so the fit works for both the dog and the family. There is no fixed adoption fee, though donations are strongly encouraged to fund its work. You can adopt, foster, donate or volunteer; its dogs are listed on its own adopt page rather than in our /adopt feed.
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If you are not ready to adopt yet
Adoption is the headline, but it is not the only way to help, and for many people it is not the right first move. Fostering is the closest thing to a trial run: you give a dog a home for a few weeks while it waits for a permanent one, the rescue covers the vet costs, and you free up a kennel for the next dog that needs it. Nervous and senior dogs do far better in a foster home than in a shelter run, so fosterers are always in demand.
Donating is the quiet engine behind all of this. Sterilisation, vaccination, microchipping and emergency treatment add up fast, and several of the groups above publish what a single rescue costs them. If you have time rather than money, every shelter needs hands for walking, washing, transport and adoption drives, and most run regular volunteer sessions you can join without a long commitment. Pick a group whose focus matches what moves you, whether that is street dogs, retired breeding dogs, or the wider welfare work the SPCA does, and start with one small thing.