Marley's Mutts Animal Rescue in Tehachapi has given hope to over 800 dogs from Kern County shelters this year, treating injuries, finding fosters and placing them in loving homes. Now the shelter is stretched thin and urgently needs support to continue its life-saving work.
The rescue has adopted out 171 dogs this year through its Mutt Movers program and transferred 776 dogs to rescue partners. Since 2009, Marley's Mutts Dog Rescue has saved over 6,000 dogs.
On average, the rescue helps between 600 to 700 dogs annually, but in 2025 that number has reached 948 dogs.
"We have 20 acres here. At any given time, we have anywhere between 30 and 50 dogs on site. Again, at any given time, there's probably about 20 dogs in foster homes," Connor Long said.
Long is the nonprofit's operations manager and says veterinary visits are becoming increasingly expensive, especially with more dogs needing extra care.
"We have a three year old female pity that we pulled out of the Wasco shelter. So her femur head is broken and we're going to have to go in and shave that down. That one, we got quoted about $7,500. We also have Mr. Squishy, who's one of our newest dogs. He has a broken radius and ulna in his left front leg. One vet quoted us $8,000. We're trying to work on getting another estimate from another vet," Long said.
Long says they're doing everything they can to balance operations.
"We are scaling our population down right now and focusing more on trying to have space for transport dogs so that they can get out of the shelter and they're not sitting there waiting for transport and taking up space there. With a population of transport dogs that overturns a lot quicker, we should be able to lower a lot of our operational costs," Long said.
Long says he understands that times are tough and not everyone can donate money, but a simple click can make a huge difference.
"One of the easiest things to do is hitting the share button on a social media post. I don't think people really understand the impact of how far our reach can spread if everybody's sharing those posts," Long said.
Their goal is to raise at least $20,000.
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