Giving Tuesday may have passed, but the season of generosity continues. Here in Santa Barbara County, year-end giving is a powerful way to make a personal, local difference and support nonprofits that sustain our community.
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Our Good for Santa Barbara County Nonprofit Section is designed to connect you with local organizations doing vital work. Whether it’s a donation, a few hours of your time, or simply helping spread the word, your contribution matters.
Explore our Giving Guide today and help brighten the season for those who need it most!
In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Linda Greco, President at Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation, to learn more about the nonprofit’s vision of promoting animal welfare and to better the quality of life for animals in Santa Barbara County through education, outreach, collaboration, and promotion of the humane ethic and responsible treatment of all animals.
Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation
Question: What is the name of your nonprofit, and what is its mission?
Answer: Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation. It is our mission to promote animal welfare and to better the quality of life for animals in Santa Barbara County through education, outreach, collaboration, and promotion of the humane ethic and responsible treatment of all animals.
Q: How long has your organization been serving the community, and who founded it?
A: Santa Barbara County (SBC) Animal Care Foundation was founded in 2002, by Linda Greco, Kerry Steele, Myrna Gaskin, in partnership with Santa Barbara County Animal Shelter Director, Jan Glick.
Q: What motivated the creation of your nonprofit?
A: In 2002, the South County Animal Shelter operated as a “no-kill” facility; however, the mid-county shelter—which received one-quarter of the county’s total animal intake—and the north-county shelter—which received half—were still considered “high-kill.” The north-county shelter, an aging and inadequate former residence, had been repeatedly cited for violations. Although the County Board of Supervisors had previously approved construction of a new facility, the project had stalled for years and costs had exceeded the original budget.
Because of limited space, the north-county shelter routinely conducted pre-emptive euthanasia ahead of high-intake periods such as holidays and the beginning and end of summer. In 2002 alone, 60% of dogs and 80% of cats entering that shelter were euthanized.
The Santa Barbara County (SBC) Animal Care Foundation was created to address these countywide challenges and to ensure that no single community or species received disproportionate attention. Its founding members recognized that meaningful reform required a broader perspective—one that monitored trends, identified systemwide needs, and supported long-term solutions across the entire county.
The Foundation was established as the official “Friends of” organization for Santa Barbara County Animal Services, the municipal agency responsible for all stray animals and many owner-surrendered pets, including those turned away from rescues due to space or medical concerns.
The Foundation’s first major initiative was to bridge the funding gap necessary to build the Santa Maria Animal Center, which opened in 2005. Now the largest shelter in the county, it receives half of all animals entering the system and includes both a community education center and an in-house veterinary clinic.
Since its inception, the SBC Animal Care Foundation has played a critical role in providing life-saving financial support for animals who enter county shelters as “unadoptable,” enabling medical treatment and rehabilitation that transforms them into adoptable pets. Through its strong partnership with Animal Services, the Foundation has been proud to help advocate for animals countywide and to contribute to the transformation of all Santa Barbara County shelters into “no-kill” facilities for adoptable animals.
Q: How is your nonprofit primarily funded, and what are its biggest needs right now?
A: Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation is funded through private donations, sponsorships, grants, legacy gifts, and the fundraising events we hold annually.
The SBC Animal Care Foundation is being called upon at a level we have never experienced. Historically, our role has been to provide supplemental funding to strengthen and enhance Santa Barbara County Animal Services. Today, we are being asked to help sustain essential programs that the County has traditionally funded.
Santa Barbara County Animal Services is facing an unprecedented budget crisis. Due to federal funding cuts, supplemental general fund support—normally shared with Animal Services—has been redirected to Human Services. As a result, Animal Services has been left without the resources required to maintain basic, life-saving operations. While we know our community deeply believes that animal lives matter, the County’s financial support simply no longer exists.
The SBC Animal Care Foundation has been urgently asked to serve as a safety net and help raise approximately one-million dollars to preserve critical programs and literally save lives. Without these funds, Animal Services will be reduced to fulfilling only its minimum mandated functions: picking up stray animals, enforcing rabies and public-safety laws, and responding to neglect and abuse cases.
This budget shortfall threatens the programs that have transformed our shelters into compassionate, modern, life-saving facilities. Adoption services, foster programs, and volunteer programs will all be dramatically impacted. With fewer staff and reduced supportive resources—such as foster coordination, rescue networking, outreach, and adoption efforts—euthanasia rates will inevitably rise. Basic needs such as food will become tightly rationed, affecting how long an animal can remain in care once its mandated holding period ends. When healthy animals are at risk, those entering the shelter as “unadoptable” lose any chance at rehabilitation.
These cuts force our system back more than twenty years. This is not an exaggeration. It is a genuine crisis.
Our community is our only hope. We are asking our citizens to come together to help sustain these essential programs until a long-term solution can be secured. Every contribution directly helps protect vulnerable animals and preserves the compassionate services our county has worked so hard to build.
Q: How do you allocate your funding to support your mission?
A: Prior to 2026, our funding supported emergency medical treatment, IDEXX lab tests, behavioral intervention, special projects, and our Camp HOPE youth education program. During this crisis, we will work closely with Santa Barbara County Animal Services to determine which programs and services must be prioritized to protect animal welfare.
Our approach will rely on fundraising targeted “buckets of funding,” beginning with the programs of highest urgency. As resources become available, we will expand support to additional needs, doing everything we can to maintain the essential services our community depends on.
Our typical annual operating budget is approximately $150,000, which makes the current crisis and the need to raise significantly more especially challenging. To strengthen our fundraising capacity, we plan to work with an independent contractor in 2026 to extend our community reach.
Every dollar entrusted to us is used thoughtfully and strategically to advance our mission and protect the animals who rely on our county’s sheltering system.
Q: What types of events or programs do you run to engage your community and raise funds?
A: In 2026, we will be holding a variety of fundraisers, including restaurant fundraisers, raffles, a calendar contest, professional holiday photos, the “Wags and Purrs” online auction, a spring mid-county family festival, Camp HOPE summer camps and microcamps, south county “Tails of HOPE”, and a return of the beloved north county “Zombie Glow Walk/Run”
Q: How is your team structured? Have there been any major changes in your operations since you started?
A: We currently have a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. In 2026, we will be building a satellite structures of volunteers to include a variety of levels of volunteerism spanning from volunteer event chairs to day-of volunteers.
Q: How can people get involved with your nonprofit or volunteer?
A: Please send us an email at info@sbcanimalcare.org. We would love to assist you to assist us to invest your time in making an immediate and lifesaving impact to raise the needed funds for all of our county’s most vulnerable animals
Q: What sets your nonprofit apart from similar organizations?
A: We are an all-volunteer working Board of Directors serving the entire county, rather than focusing on a single community or species. Our countywide perspective allows us to identify and respond to the full spectrum of animal welfare needs, emerging issues, and long-term trends affecting animals in Santa Barbara County. We serve as advocates and agents of change, always working to improve the quality of life for our county’s animals, especially those who rely on our sheltering system.
We are also the official “Friends of” organization for Santa Barbara County Animal Services. As a result, donations made to our Foundation directly support the largest number of vulnerable, homeless animals in our region. As the “Friends or” organization to Santa Barbara County Animal Services, it is important to understand that SBC Animal Care Foundation is an independent 501 (c) (3) organization; Donations to SBC Animal Care Foundation are not donations to the County of Santa Barbara. The SBC Animal Care Foundation Board of Directors control the use of all donations in support of the shelter animals through our mission.
Our structure is exceptionally lean. We do not pay rent, staff salaries, workers’ compensation, vehicle costs, mileage, or equipment expenses. By keeping overhead to an absolute minimum, we ensure that the funds entrusted to us go directly toward programs and services that enhance the welfare of animals in Santa Barbara County.
Q: Can you share a fun fact or little-known detail about your nonprofit that would surprise people?
A: In 2026, residents of Santa Barbara County will have access to DIY Pet Microchip Scanning Stations placed in targeted areas of the county by the SBC Animal Care Foundation, and made possible through a generous grant from the Santa Barbara Foundation. The community will be able to help reunite and keep stray animals safe by scanning them for a microchip, capturing their microchip number, contacting the microchip directory and successfully reuniting animals with their pet parents in real time.
Click here to support Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation’s mission of promoting animal welfare and to better the quality of life for animals in Santa Barbara County through education, outreach, collaboration, and promotion of the humane ethic and responsible treatment of all animals.
Check out Noozhawk’s Guide to Giving for a full list of nonprofits to donate to this giving season.
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