After fostering hundreds of homeless German shepherds for more than nine years, there’s one success case a Yorba Linda couple doesn’t forget.
It was 4-month-old Kuzco who Jennifer Coakley and her husband, Steve, took in. The challenging pup loved being the alpha.
His first adoption failed, and the German shepherd returned to the Yorba Linda couple at 9 months. Committed to not giving up, Steve Coakley put in extra training hours, and German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County, for which the couple fosters, even paid for professional training.
About a year later, Kuzco was adopted by a new family. On May 5, he celebrated his fifth birthday with a Cinco de Mayo party thrown by his smitten pet parents in his Pomona home.
That outcome is exactly what Maria Dales, who founded the German shepherd rescue in 1999, lives to see: Matching a rescue with a safe and suitable — and forever — home.
But now, Dales said adoptions for large dogs have dropped by half, while calls for help have increased significantly and her rescue group is on the brink.
Public shelters and private rescues across Southern California are seeing an increase in large dog abandonment and owner requests for assistance. Now, animal advocates and shelter officials say they are at a crisis point with very few options, resulting in higher euthanasia numbers.
The dogs come to Dales’ rescue organization from overburdened public shelters filled to capacity, from community members who have lost jobs or homes and can’t keep their dog or they are found loose on the streets. More recently, rescues are seeing dogs left behind when their owner was detained by immigration enforcement authorities, Dales said.
After 25 years, Dales worries she may have to shut down, especially if her Newport Beach-based nonprofit can’t raise $100,000 by the end of September to take advantage of a donation match.
“No one is adopting large dogs; the adoption rate has crashed,” Dales said. “Vet care costs are so high that we are getting double the calls to surrender. Even vets are calling, ‘My client wants to put their dog to sleep because they can’t afford this or that.’ Shelters are calling, and they’re also turning away dogs because they have no room and telling people to call rescues.”
“It’s mostly the cost of care, that’s the big, big change,” she said, adding that nonprofit rescues have always relied on some support from the public and now donations have also dipped by 25%. “We still have the same overhead costs.”
Robin Jampol, who runs the Westside German Shepherd Rescue of Los Angeles, is facing the same crisis and worries about the future of her rescue.
Jampol said her situation is 50% worse than it was a year ago, citing the same causes Dales sees. Her monthly costs are $20,000 a month.
“Our biggest hurdle is the volume of dogs needing help and slow adoptions,” she said, adding that she is blessed with loyal private donors. “We can only help save a fraction of what we could before.”
The rescue, which runs with a staff of 23 and about 40 volunteers, has 90 dogs in need of homes.
In the past, Dales said she could rehome between 300 and 400 dogs in a year. More than halfway into 2025, she’s only placed 126. She has 85 dogs in need of homes, with 22 of them in foster care.
The current crisis is not only in Southern California; shelters and rescues across the country are inundated and have to make life and death decisions multiple times every day.
According to the nonprofit Shelter Animals Count, which tracks populations nationwide, an estimated 5.8 million animals filled shelters in 2024. In the first half of 2025, 2.8 million went into shelters and the group expects the year to end about 1% higher than 2024. A third of those are large dogs.
In 2019, 55% of shelter dogs were adopted or returned to their owners. That number dropped to 50% in 2024, with an estimated 334,000 canines being euthanized, the nonprofit said.
Kris Watson is the shelter director for San Bernardino City Animal Services, one of the area shelters Dales helps. In 2024, the shelter took in 12,000 dogs and cats; unfortunately, its return-to-owner rate is among the lowest in the nation at 15%, Watson said. Only about 10% of the dogs have been spayed or neutered.
While plans are in place to add more than 300 temporary kennels at its property, Watson currently has only 160 dog runs so it is a constant struggle to house all the pets that come to the shelter.
“Large dogs and puppies tend to have a more difficult time being placed,” Watson said. “This whole region, we have a heavy population of renters. If you’re renting a home and your landlord tells you you can’t have this type of animal or a dog over 30 pounds or a German shepherd, that means those animals are going to end up in the shelter. Whether it’s through an owner surrender or turned in as a stray.”
Watson said her shelter staff does all they can, but they are limited in space and that makes the rescue groups vital.
“The longer the dog stays, the higher the risk is it goes on a list,” she said. “Without established relationships and reaching out to rescues, those dogs get euthanized.”
More government investment in affordable spaying and neutering services, in shelter resources and in strengthening enforcement of breeding laws would help curb the population of pets that need homes, said Judie Mancuso, founder of Social Compassion in Legislation.
“Only then can we begin to break the cycle and give every animal a chance at a safe, loving home,” she said.
Many of the dogs Watson’s San Bernardino shelter is looking to send to rescues have medical or behavior issues.
Currently, Dales said about 15% of the adoptable dogs have varying medical needs, many that are very treatable, such as diarrhea, eye infections, teeth extractions and skin issues. But caring for those ailments until a dog is adopted comes with a cost.
Most that come in need to be spayed or neutered because many shelters don’t have veterinarians on staff or they are backlogged for months with surgeries.
Dales spends more than $350,000 annually on vet care costs alone, she said.
When she adopts out a dog, the fee will cover some of the rescue’s costs. But that means she has to be competitive.
“I have to make myself different enough – because of the quality of dogs, the knowledge we have of our dogs, because of our match-making skills – to draw those people to us to spend $520,” she said.
Dogs are matched to people’s lifestyles, experience level, and whether or not there are children in the home.
Fosters such as the Coakleys are key to helping socialize and prepare dogs for successful adoptions.
They are currently helping raise 12 mixed Belgian Malinois puppies who have been with them since birth. The 10-week-old pups are being socialized to learn how to respond to people and also have some interaction with the couple’s own dogs.
“All 12 survived, but the mama had a tough time keeping up with the milk,” Jennifer Coakley said. “So we bottlefed them for a week and a half. They’re the biggest litter we’ve ever had, but they’re extra well-behaved.”
Of the group, five puppies already have adopters waiting to take them home. But that is seven more that need homes.
Jampol said potential adopters have extremely high expectations of what they want.
“The dogs need to be perfect, but it is tough,” she said. “Long gone are the people wanting to rescue a dog no one else wants.”
To make the pups more adoptable and to ensure they stay in homes once they’re placed, Jampol said her rescue has trainers who work with the dogs every day.
While she can’t afford an in-house trainer, some of her more experienced volunteers help out, Dales said, and she refers new adopters to trainers.
“German shepherds are smart, athletic and strong dogs,” Dales said, adding that “there’s something so soulful about shepherds. This is a breed that performs so many incredible jobs for humans, yet somehow they were languishing in cold, scary kennels.”
She also emphasizes to her adopters that they are ambassadors for the breed, so it’s critical that they represent well.
“We don’t want to perpetuate the stereotype of the ‘mean and scary’ German shepherd,” she said. “Training is 50% for the dog and 50% for the handler.”
Among those who have lent a helping hand by discounting training fees for rescue adopters is Vladae Roytapel, owner of SoCal Dog Training, who has worked with dogs for four decades.
“When you adopt any dog, you’re giving them a second chance, a chance that for many may be their last,” Roytapel said, adding that behavioral problems are among the top reasons for dog abandonment.
Adopting the dogs, he said, is a huge responsibility that should be taken on with logic, not emotion. And, he said, early efforts play a major role in the dog’s future.
“What you’ll end up with isn’t just a dog in your home but a German shepherd – a true human in a fur coat who will become a real member of your family,” he said.
Roytapel recommends that the best match for this breed is someone with a strong core personality.
“Someone who can set rules, enforce them and stay consistent,” he said, adding that a big backyard isn’t essential if there is a nearby area to exercise the dog. “A flexible work schedule works too because German shepherds require not just time and exercise, but ongoing training, mental stimulation, and social bonding.”
It’s critical, Roytapel said, that those selecting to adopt a shepherd – or the recent craze of Belgian malinois and huskies – understand what they’re getting into.
“Choosing a dog without understanding their purpose, temperament, and need is not just unfair to the dog,” he said, “it’s setting yourself up for frustration, destruction, and heartbreak.”