FOUR PAWS is the global animal welfare organization for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need, and protects them. Founded in 1988 in Vienna by Heli Dungler and friends, the organization advocates for a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy, and understanding. FOUR PAWS’ sustainable campaigns and projects focus on companion animals including stray dogs and cats, farm animals, and wild animals – such as bears, big cats, and orangutans – kept in inappropriate conditions, as well as animals in disasters and conflict zones. We have offices in 15 countries, with our headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and our only US office is in Boston, Massachusetts.

FOUR PAWS works all over the world. We have offices in 15 countries, including our Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and our US office in Boston Massachusetts, and country offices in South Africa, Vietnam, Thailand, Ukraine, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Kosovo, and Australia.

Our rapid response team and disaster relief team often go where no one else will go to help animals in need, including past missions to Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Turkey, Ukraine, Argentina, and more.

Additionally, we have 13 sanctuaries in 11 countries for:

Big Cats: 

• LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary in South Africa
• FELIDA Big Cat Sanctuary in the Netherlands
• Al Ma’wa for Nature and Wildlife Sanctuary in Jordan (cooperative)
• TIERART Wild Animal Sanctuary in Germany (big cats along with other wild animals)

Bears: 

• BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach in Austria
• BEAR SANCTUARY Belitsa in Bulgaria
• BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr in Ukraine
• BEAR SANCTUARY Müritz in Germany
• BEAR SANCTUARY Ninh Binh in Vietnam
• BEAR SANCTUARY Prishtina in Kosovo
• BEAR SANCTUARY Arosa in Switzerland

ORANGUTAN FOREST SCHOOL – cooperative project in Borneo for orphaned orangutans 

OWL & BIRDS OF PREY RESCUE STATION Haringsee in Austria 

Yes, most of our animal sanctuaries are open to daily visitors! Our LIONSROCK Big Cat Sanctuary in South Africa also includes a Lodge where guests can enjoy a diversity of accommodations to suit their needs, ranging from luxury en-suite rooms to self-catering facilities for up to 70 guests.

Please be sure to check the sanctuary websites for the most up to date hours and other visitor directions.

You can find us on all major social media platforms with the handle @fourpawsusa. Follow the links below!

• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Reddit
• Twitter/X

We appreciate your passion for protecting and rescuing animals. While there are many instances around the world of animals in need, we know it would be nearly impossible to attempt to solve them all at the same time. Please know that we are continuously monitoring instances of abuse online, and we read all emails and messages that are sent to us.  While we will attempt to respond personally to all inquiries, we cannot always do so. When we believe there is a situation where we can help, we share the information with our internal team to see if we can assist.

If you have a concern for an animal in your area, please notify your local, state and federal authorities. If you see something online that you believe is animal cruelty, you can also notify the authorities and flag the content inside the platform.  

Thank you for your desire to help animals in need. If you believe you have witnessed a crime or have a concern for an animal in your area, please notify your local, state or federal authorities. If you see something online that you believe is animal cruelty, you can also notify the authorities and flag the content inside the platform. 

Please know that we read all emails and messages that are sent to us, and while we attempt to respond personally to all inquiries, we cannot always do so. When we believe there is a situation where we can help, we share the information with our internal team to see if we can assist.

We are sorry to hear about your situation. While FOUR PAWS runs wild animal sanctuaries around the world, we do not run any dog/cat shelters in the US. You can find listing of your local shelters through Petfinder’s Shelter List (https://www.petfinder.com/animal-shelters-and-rescues/search/) or you can try the Get Your Pet website, an online community that helps people adopt and rehome their pets ( https://getyourpet.com/) We hope this information is helpful, and we wish you the best of luck.

FOUR PAWS is aware of the overwhelming number of dogs, cats and other pets that end up in overcrowded animal shelters across the US and that this often leads to animals being euthanized. That is why we strongly encourage spaying or neutering your pet, adopting from legitimate shelters and rescues, and fostering rescue animals when you can. These efforts are proven to dramatically decrease the amount of euthanized animals in shelters. While we wish we could help every individual animal, sadly we are not able to do so. Local foster and rescue organizations are most able to help in these situations, and we encourage you to research orgs in your area. If you would like read more about our stray animal care work, you can do so here.

Thank you for choosing to help animals in need. In the US, many communities have local spca and other local animal welfare organizations, and they are most able to help animals in your area.  

If you live internationally in an area where FOUR PAWS runs stray animal care programs, please contact our international colleagues at office@four-paws.org You can learn more about our stray animal care programs here.  

Spaying and neutering is an important strategy to help keep unwanted pet populations under control, and we applaud you for seeking to spay/neuter your pet. Many local spca’s and shelters offer low cost spay and neuter programs, and we encourage you to work with the local animal welfare organizations in your area.  

You can donate securely through our webpage here.  Learn more about other ways to donate here.

We appreciate your passion for protecting and rescuing animals. FOUR PAWS USA is the American branch of FOUR PAWS International, which is headquartered in Vienna, Austria. Our organization works as one to rescue and protect animals all over the world, so rest assured that your donation will help rescue animals whether it is made through our USA page or our International page. Once an individual project goal is reached, we use your gift where the need is greatest, which allows us to act quickly in emergency situations. By donating through our US office, we will be able to provide you with a tax receipt, and donations can be made in dollars rather than Euros, which many Americans find to be more appealing. 

Thank you for choosing to donate to FOUR PAWS! If we are fundraising for a particular rescue, then you can donate through that donation page and the funds raised will ensure that we do all we can to rescue that specific animal. Once an individual project goal is reached, we use your gift where the need is greatest, which allows us to act quickly in emergency situations.

While we don’t currently have a program to donate funds targeted towards a specific animal that lives at our sanctuaries, we encourage you to donate through our general donation page, and dedicate your gift to this special animal in the “tribute information.”

Yes, honoring a loved one with a donation to FOUR PAWS is a beautiful tribute which will help animals all over the world. When you donate through our general donation page, you can dedicate your gift to a special person or animal in the “tribute information.”

Yes, you can absolutely mail a check to our Boston office:   

36 Bromfield Street, Suite 410, Boston, MA 02108 

Thank you so much for your support! 

The Founder’s Society is a dedicated group of philanthropists who provide meaningful, long-term support for animals worldwide through FOUR PAWS’ rescues, sanctuaries, and campaigns. You can read more about this program here.

FOUR PAWS currently holds an 84% or three-stars rating on this third-party nonprofit review platform. While our rating is good, our profile is missing some key factors.  We are working on it now so that our score can truly represent the growth and integrity of this amazing organization. If you are interested in more information, we can offer you a copy of our annual report. Thank you again for your question and your support of FOUR PAWS and for helping us rescue animals all over the world.  

Thank you for your interest in our rescued animals. Most of our animals have their own page on our website where you can read their rescue story and learn how they are adjusting to their new life at our sanctuaries. You can find our rescue homepage where you can search for individual animals here. You can also follow our social media pages where we frequently share updates about our animals and sanctuaries.  

If you still have further questions about a particular animal, you can email us at info@fourpawsusa.org. We do our best to answer all emails personally, but please realize we receive a large number of emails, and this is not always possible.

FOUR PAWS is aware of the unprecedented severe disasters that have struck in various regions across the world, causing thousands of casualties and massive destruction. With heavy hearts, we are always monitoring the aftermath of these events and evaluating the effects and our ability to help.

We remain in close contact with animal welfare and humanitarian organizations to obtain up-to-date information on the developments in the areas affected by these destructive hazards, and animals in urgent need of help. Efforts to help animals must be in coordination with other support that is immediate and effective but also sensitively applied when the humanitarian crisis is severe.  

We will continue to closely follow the developments in all the affected regions and exchange with our contacts to see if and how we could support relief efforts. We will keep the public informed about any next steps should they arise. 

The best way to receive our most up to date rescue information, is to follow our social media channels and to sign up for our newsletter.

We are aware of the tragic conflict unfolding in Israel and Gaza Strip. Due to the unpredictability of this severe and deadly situation, FOUR PAWS is currently not able to provide direct help for animals on-site. We will closely monitor further developments. FOUR PAWS will evaluate together with the responsible people if and how we can help going forward. We keep the affected people in our thoughts during this difficult time.

We appreciate your passion for protecting and rescuing animals. While there are many instances around the world of animals in need, we know it would be nearly impossible to attempt to solve them all at the same time. Please know that we are continuously monitoring situations where we can help. You can contact us with a tip at: info@fourpawsusa.org and we will do our best to answer all inquiries personally, though please realize that this is not always possible. 

If you live in the US and have a concern for an animal in your area, please notify your local, state and federal authorities. If you see something online that you believe is animal cruelty, you can also notify the authorities and flag the content inside the platform.  

We appreciate your passion for protecting and rescuing animals. While we don’t generally share petitions from other organizations, we do support your cause and are fighting for animals right along side you. Thank you for being a champion for animals!