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GOLETA, Calif. – Many people in Santa Barbara County have met a Spark Rescue dog without knowing it: the shy shelter pup who became a neighbor’s best friend, or the cat curled up in a coworker’s window. Since 2014, Spark Rescue Santa Barbara has quietly given thousands of dogs and cats a second chance in loving homes, without a shelter building and without paid staff. Many of Spark’s dogs and cats are abandoned, left on the streets or given up by families who no longer want them, while others are pulled from overcrowded Southern California shelters.
Who Spark Is
Susan Park founded Spark Rescue Santa Barbara in 2014. It is an all-volunteer, no-kill 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and it is foster-based: every animal lives in a volunteer’s home, not a kennel, while it heals, learns to trust, and waits for its family. Spark’s foster homes stretch across Santa Barbara, Ventura, Ojai and Santa Maria.
Spark rescues dogs and cats from some of the region’s most crowded areas, including LA City, LA County, SEAACA, San Bernardino, Devore, Hesperia, Kern County and Bakersfield City. Every animal receives full veterinary care through Spark’s partners, Simi Valley Spay and Neuter, St. Francis Pet Hospital and Village Vet Hospital.
Because the animals live in real homes, their foster families know them well, and that shapes how Spark places them. Approved adopters meet the animal at its foster home, bringing their whole household, and Spark reviews each home for safety before an adoption is finalized. Through Spark’s foster-to-adopt option, adopters can also care for a dog for up to 14 days to see if it’s the right fit. Every animal is carefully placed in a forever home, which has kept Spark’s adoption return rate below 1%. Spark is a grassroots organization that receives no funding from any national agency; it runs on the generosity of its incredible community.
How to Get Involved
- Adopt: Meet adoptable dogs and cats at http://www.sparkrescue.org and at Spark’s meet-and-greet adoption events.
- Foster: Open your home to an animal while it waits for its family. Spark provides support and covers care.
- Donate: Give at https://www.sparkrescue.org
- Share: Follow Spark on Instagram (@sparkrescue) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sparkrescuesantabarbara/), and watch Spark’s story on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vj2LFO7rcI
The Need: A Home for the Rescue
Spark’s foster network can no longer keep up with demand. For two years, Spark has searched for land of its own, but AG-II properties where a rescue can operate are scarce in Santa Barbara County.
Spark is also looking at other available properties, but one is perfect for the rescue’s needs: a 2.15-acre AG-II farmstead at 10800 Calle Real in Goleta, with two homes, an avocado orchard, open land and a 30×40 workshop. The county has confirmed that a rescue can operate on AG-II land. The price has been reduced to $2,175,000, and permits and build-out are estimated at about $700,000, for a total goal of $2,875,000. Spark could move in immediately.
Spark’s foster model would stay at the heart of the rescue. The property would shelter overflow and sanctuary dogs and cats and give volunteers a place to gather.
“For more than ten years, our foster families have carried this rescue on their hearts and in their homes. Calle Real would let us say yes to more of the dogs in shelters who are considered unadoptable. It would also be a sanctuary, a place for the dogs and cats who have nowhere else to go,” said Susan Park, Director and Founder.
Donations and pledges toward the property can be made at http://www.sparkrescue.org and on Givebutter at https://givebutter.com/spark-sanctuary-gj6eze.
Know of AG-II property? If you know of someone with AG-II property in Santa Barbara County who is interested in selling, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Spark Rescue at rescue@sparkrescue.org or (805) 225-8045.
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