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Since 2004

Saving Animals & Finding Homes

Our Mission

Pet MatchMaker Rescue aims to reduce the number of euthanized animals from Animal Control facilities. We also aim to reduce the number of stray animals in Kern county and hope to build a knowledgeable and understanding community. We aim to provide high quality care including, food, shelter, and medical services for these animals until they are adopted to a forever family.

Our Story

Our original mission was to rescue dogs and cats from the southern United States and transport them to New England. Our rescue first started with three friends with the same desire – to save as many animals as possible from situations they had been placed in through no fault of their own. These situations include 72 hour hold and kill shelters, owner abandonment, starvation, abuse, and neglect. In our most recent venture, we have relocated to California, where we found a similar situation of neglect and high euthanasia in Kern County.

Rescued Animals

Adoptions made

What we do

Rescue Rehabilitate Rehome

Pet Matchmaker is a 501(c)3 non-profit rescue organization that rescues homeless and unwanted dogs from high-kill shelters and abusive and neglectful situations in Kern County, California. Many of the animals we come across are shut-down, afraid, abandoned, or abused. We provide love, housing, a stable and supportive environment, socialization, spay and neutering, vaccination, vet care, and adoption for as many animals as possible in a humane, safe, and sanitary manner.

Unlike most of California, Kern County has low rates of spay/neutering leading to high rates of abandoned and/or euthanized animals. We have established connections to adoptees and other rescue groups outside of Kern County, allowing us to transfer or place some of our rescued animals in other areas that do not have the dog population problems that we see here. Currently over 2500 dogs and cats are euthanized every month in one Kern County shelter alone, so there is still much more work to be done.

Housing the rescue animals in foster homes and at our rescue facility enables us to get to know the needs of each individual dog and we at Pet Matchmaker strive to make the best possible match between a dog and its forever family prior to adoption to ensure the dog will be loved and cared for the rest of its life.

We also occasionally rescue horses and baby goats from slaughter auctions; rehabilitating them at the rescue until they can be adopted to homes where they will be loved and cared for as pets.

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helpful information

FAQs

What kind of dogs do you have for adoption?

We are an all breed rescue, and our dogs range from the tiniest puppies to very large dogs of all ages.

Do you have any cats for adoption?

Our facility will occasionally adopt out cats, but has a main focus on the dogs.

What are the costs involved in adopting a dog from Pet MatchMaker?

Our adoption fees include all age appropriate vetting- shots, spay/neuter, microchipping, deworming and other necessary surgeries or medical treatment on an as needed basis and range from $200 to $500 depending on the dog.

Is there a deposit?

If you wish to adopt one of our dogs, there is a $100 deposit required. The reason for this is the following: we are posting these dogs with the expectation that they will be adopted should you verbally commit to the adoption. Should you change your mind after we have taken the dog off the site, the dog loses valuable “web time” to been seen by potential adopter that would have otherwise committed. We then have an extra dog to place in foster care, which is a strain on our resources. Therefore the deposit is not refundable. The deposit is not an additional fee; it does go toward your adoption fee.

Can I visit the dog before I adopt?

If the dog is located in the Bakersfield facility, then you are welcome to come visit the dog if you are an approved adopter. Adopters are welcome to apply for dogs nationally, and transport can be arranged, but at the adopter’s expense.
We are both a facility as well as a network of foster homes, so the times in which you can meet the dog of your choice is dependent upon which dog you are interested in and where it is located. All animals are located in Bakersfield, CA. If you’ve been approved as an adopter, we will contact you to set up a time and location to meet the dog at its foster home or at the facility.

What happens if the pet doesn’t fit well with our family?

There is a two week trial period for your adopted pet. If you find within the two weeks that the animal doesn’t fit well into your home, he or she will be moved into foster care, and a refund of the adoption fee will be given, minus the $100 deposit. However, we will always take one of our animals back at any point in time, given a week or two to make space as needed.

How do I start the adoption process?

Complete and submit an application for the dog you are interested in. Please use the name of the dog listed on its informational page, not the name you would like to call it should you be approved to adopt. And please tell us about yourself so that we can do our best to ensure it is the “right match.” We will check your references and process your application.

How soon do I get the pet?

If you’ve been approved as an adopter, the length of time it takes to receive your new pet varies:
If you are local, an appointment can be made immediately, or whenever is convenient for the adopter to come meet the dog once the deposit has been placed and the dog has been spayed or neutered. Otherwise, adopters from out of the area can schedule a date to come meet and pick up the animal within two weeks of placing the deposit, unless an extension has been granted with the adoption coordinator.

How will I know the pet is in good health?

Every pet is checked out by one of our veterinarians prior to adoption upon being altered. Paperwork listing their vaccinations, proof of spay/neuter, dewormings and overall health status are given to each adopter, but we can not guarantee health once the dog has left our care.

I’m not ready to adopt — are there other ways to help?

Yes! You can volunteer your time, become a foster dog parent, sponsor a specific dog, or submit a general donation to our rescue.

Can you help me if I have an animal that needs a new home?

We want to help all animals, but we will not attempt to place unaltered and unvetted animals from owner surrender. All animals must be fixed and up to date on their vaccinations in order to be posted on our site and available for adoption.

I still have questions, how can I contact you?

We can be reached at petmatchmakerca@gmail.com

Why kern county

We recognize that there are animals in need all over the country. We’d help them all if we could. However, we wanted to focus our limited resources in the areas where we thought we could make the greatest impact.

Many shelters in Kern County, CA are overcrowded and sweet dogs are being euthanized every day due to:

inadequate spay/neuter programs (although this is beginning to change)
some owners who “dump” off their family pet by a roadside or at a shelter due to a change in job or lifestyle, a move, or an inability to afford veterinary care
difficulty in placing some dogs, not due to temperament, but rather because of their looks or misconceptions people have about them.

livestock rescue

We also are doing what we can to save animals from slaughter auctions. This means that Pet Matchamaker Rescue CA goes to the live auctions, learns about as many animals there as they can, and try to save as many as they can. We have been able to save many horses and goats from an ending we do not want to even think about. Please follow our social media to stay up to date on the animals we are able to save!

Stray/Found Dog Protocol

Bakersfield, CA

This is the most common call we get here at Pet MatchMaker:

“Help, I found a dog, what do I do? Can you take it?”

We are sorry, but the rescue is nearly always kept full with animals we have pulled from the local shelters to save them from possible euthanasia and make room for others to be brought in.

If you find a stray or lost animal, here are some steps you can take to find its owners:

See if There are Any Tags: If the dog has tags call the owner if information is provided. If there is just a rabies tag call your county animal control (661) 868-4685 and provide the tag number to them. They will be able to trace which vet the tag was issued to and the vet will be able to trace which client the tag was assigned to.
Scan for Microchip: If there are no tags, take the dog to the nearest vet and they will be able to scan the dog for a microchip. THIS IS FREE and does not require an appointment. (A microchip is a device some owners have implanted into their dog’s skin between the shoulders and has info to trace the owner).
Contact Local Shelters: If there are no tags/chip and you are willing to hold the dog, contact all three local shelters. Be sure to give a description and your contact info so if the owner comes looking they have a way to find their dog and contact you. The first place an owners will look is the shelters, so this is a very important step! The shelters keep a lost/found binder at the front desk just for this purpose.
Surrender the Dog: If you are unable to hold the dog or find someone trustworthy to foster during legally required 15-day stray hold, please take the dog to the city or county shelter (depending on where you live). You can always put yourself as a last resort to call if the dog is not claimed and is scheduled to be put down.
Hold the Dog: If you can hold the dog, make flyers to put up in the area the dog was found and place ads on Bakersfield Craigslist, Petfinder.com, Facebook lost pet pages specific to your area, the NextDoor app, and call the Californian to submit a free “found” ad to get the word out fast about the dog.
Post Found Listings: When listing a found dog on the internet give a brief description but be sure to leave some details out so the person trying to claim it has to identify some specifics and you can make sure it is indeed the correct owner and not someone with ill intent! There are a lot of dog fighters looking for free “bait dogs” and dog flippers looking to get free animals they can turn around and sell for a profit in Bakersfield. Require some proof of ownership: photos, vet records, knowledge of unique markings, etc.
Contact Rescue Groups: If the legally required stray hold of 15 days is up, you have exhausted all options to find its owners, and you do not want to keep the dog, contact breed-specific rescue groups to see if they have room to take the dog. If you can’t find one, start contacting the local all-breed rescues to see if any others have room.
Rehome the Dog: If you cannot find a rescue that has room to take the dog, you can try to rehome it yourself by making flyers to post around the neighborhood and local businesses or on pet pages online.
Spay/Neuter the Dog: We STRONGLY recommend that you spay/neuter any unfixed dogs before trying to rehome them to prevent them from accidentally reproducing or being used as breeding dogs. Critters Without Litters offers very affordable spay/neuter.
Require Rehoming Fee: We also recommend that you ask for a rehoming fee from anyone trying to adopt the dog to weed out people looking for free dogs. You can ask for whatever you spent on the dog’s spay/neuter, for example.