Creating a New Breed of Pet Stores: Shelter Hope Pet Shop Santa Clarita

Welcome to Featured Rescue Friday, a series where we share an amazing rescue that should be on your radar. This week we are featuring the innovative Shelter Hope Pet Shop Santa Clarita (SHPS SCV)!

SHPS SCV’s Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. Photo Courtesy of Shelter Hope Pet Shop Santa Clarita

As an animal lover, I inevitably find myself in pet shops when I go to the mall. While I do not support and would never buy a dog or cat from a traditional pet store due to the horrific conditions many of those pets come from, I can’t help but go in and look at the adorable puppies and kittens. My most recent mall trip in Santa Clarita, CA provided me with a completely different pet store experience than I’ve ever had before. I came across a pet store that had pets, but these pets were different. They weren’t your typical puppy mill pets. The pets available at this store were all rescue animals!

Shelter Hope Pet Shop in Santa Clarita’s Westfield Valencia Town Center opened its doors on April 14th, 2015 after taking over the store space from what had previously been a typical pet store. They are a non-profit, volunteer run pet shop showcasing shelter and rescue pets that can be adopted right in their store! According to their website:

SHPS SCV provides a fun, friendly place where visitors and volunteers can meet and interact with shelter or rescue animals needing adoption. This retail environment provides a pleasant setting where we can introduce shelter and rescue pets to adopters who may never consider visiting a shelter.

SHPS SCV’s 299th and 300th adoptees with their mom! Courtesy of: Shelter Hope Pet Shop Santa Clarita

The volunteers at the store are passionate about rescue and educating people about the importance of adoption. Some of the volunteers even foster the animals until they find their furever homes. No dog is ever left alone at the store upon closing; the shop ensures they all go to foster homes each night.

On February 8th, 2016 less than 1 year after opening their doors, SHPS SCV reached a huge milestone: 300 adoptions! For a new tactic in the fight to reduce euthanasia rates by increasing adoption rates, it is clear their method to find homes for pets in need is working and helping open people’s eyes that rescue pets are oftentimes the best furry addition to any family.

In addition to facilitating in-store adoptions, they also sell merchandise ranging from adorable shirts for both dogs and people to collars to toys and more! The items sold at the store is used to save more animals.

Shelter Hope Pet Shop has additional locations in Thousand Oaks, CA and Sacramento, CA. All the shops are part of the Shelter Hope Project, an initiative hoping to make adoption the new way people shop for pets! Their website states:

Shelter Hope Pet Shop is part of the Shelter Hope Project, which strives to make this the business model for all pet shops nationwide. We hope to abolish all puppy mill pet shops, help find homes for the countless pets in our shelters that face euthanasia, and educate the public on how we can all help reduce future shelter population.

SHPS SCV is one of the most intuitive yet unique animal adoption strategies I have seen and I hope they succeed in transforming the way pet shops are run throughout the United States. If you are ever in Santa Clarita, Thousand Oaks, or Sacramento, be sure to stop in and meet the adoptable pets! Guaranteed, Shop Hope Pet Shop will make you rethink supporting typical puppy mill pet stores and eliminate any hesitations you had about adopting a pet in need. Always remember: adopt, don’t shop!

To stay up to date on the latest news from Shelter Hope Pet Shop, be sure to follow them on Facebook. Want to donate? Check out their website for more information!