THE LIMIT
We cannot say yes to everyone
The number of dogs we can help is the number of foster homes we have. When they are full, we are full, and we would rather say so plainly than take a dog in with nowhere for it to go.
About us
One program, a lot of spare rooms.
ABC Animal Rescue exists to get dogs out of situations they cannot stay in and into homes they can. It does that one way: by placing each dog with a volunteer foster family, paying its vet bills, and finding it an adopter.
There is no office, no kennel and nobody on payroll. The organization is a group of volunteers in and around Ballston Spa, the foster homes they have signed up, and the dogs currently sleeping in them.
Who we are
A small charity, on the public record.
ABC Animal Rescue exists for one purpose: to rescue dogs and find them homes. Here is what the IRS has on us, which is most of what there is to know about an organization this size.
Our charitable purpose
ABC Animal Rescue Incorporated is a nonprofit organization in Ballston Spa, New York. The Internal Revenue Service recognizes it as exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3), effective 15 March 2023 — EIN 92-2323056, determination letter issued 25 May 2023. Contributions to it are tax-deductible.
The IRS classifies it as a public charity under section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) — an organization supported by donations from the general public, rather than a private foundation funded by one family or company.
It runs one program: foster-based dog rescue. Dogs who have lost their homes are taken in, cared for in volunteer foster homes, given veterinary treatment including vaccination and spay or neuter surgery, and placed with adopters in Saratoga County and the Capital Region.
There is no paid staff. Donations pay for veterinary care, food, crates, leashes and the gas it takes to get a dog to its appointments.
- Legal name
- ABC Animal Rescue IncorporatedBallston Spa, New York
- EIN
- 92-2323056Gifts are tax-deductible
- Status
- 501(c)(3) public charityExempt effective 15 March 2023
- Classification
- 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)A publicly supported charity — funded by donations from the public
- Annual filing
- Form 990-NFiled for 2023, 2024 and 2025. Calendar tax year; under $50,000 in gross receipts
- Look us up
- Nonprofit Explorer →ProPublica’s copy of the public IRS record
What foster-based means
Why a rescue with no building is not a lesser rescue.
It is a different shape, with different limits and different strengths. Here is what it means in practice.
THE STRENGTH
Every dog is known by someone
A dog in a foster home is living a normal life, so its foster can tell an adopter how it really behaves — in the car, with visitors, at 3 AM. That is the difference between a good match and a returned dog.
THE COST
Almost all of it is the vet
With no building and no payroll, overheads are close to nothing. What a donation buys is exams, vaccines, testing, surgery and medicine — the things a foster home cannot provide on its own.
How a rescue actually works
Three steps, and a spare room in the middle.
A rescue without a building runs on people’s houses. Every dog in our care is living with a volunteer while we get it ready to go home for good.
STEP 01
A dog runs out of options
An owner who can no longer keep a dog, a shelter out of room, a dog nobody came back for. We take in as many as we have foster homes ready for — never more.
STEP 02
A foster home and a vet
The dog moves in with a volunteer and goes to the vet: an exam, vaccines, testing, and spay or neuter surgery. The foster learns who the dog is — with children, with cats, left alone.
STEP 03
A family takes it home
An adopter applies, meets the dog, and signs an adoption agreement. They leave with the vet records and everything the foster learned. The spare room is free for the next one.
Questions we get asked
Frequently asked.
Can I come and see the dogs at your shelter?
We do not have one. Every dog in our care lives in a volunteer’s home, so there is no kennel to walk through. You meet a dog by arrangement with its foster, or at an adoption event. Start on the adopt page.
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes. ABC Animal Rescue Incorporated is a 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 92-2323056, tax-exempt since 15 March 2023, and our IRS determination letter confirms that contributions to it are deductible. Online gifts get an emailed receipt automatically; for anything else, ask us and we will send one.
Can you take my dog?
Sometimes. It depends entirely on whether a foster home is free, and we will tell you honestly if one is not. Email us with the dog’s age, size, health and how it is with people and other animals. If it is urgent, read our guide to rehoming a dog first — it covers the other options in Saratoga County.
I have found a stray dog. Can you help?
In New York, stray dogs are the job of the local dog control officer, and in this county the Saratoga County Animal Shelter on County Farm Road in Ballston Spa is the place to call first — (518) 885-4113. That is also where an owner will look. A rescue taking a found dog would make it harder for its family to get it back.
Is the adoption fee a price on the dog?
No. It is a contribution towards what the dog has already cost: the exam, vaccines, testing, surgery and whatever else the vet found. On most dogs it does not cover the whole bill, which is what donations are for.
Where does the money actually go?
To the dogs. Nobody at ABC Animal Rescue is paid and there is no building to heat, so donations go to veterinary care, food, crates, leashes and transport.
Every dog we save is paid for by donations and cared for by volunteers. ABC Animal Rescue Incorporated is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit — gifts are tax-deductible.