Rescuers scramble to aid pets abandoned after ICE raids

As ICE raids continue in cities across the United States, many people taken into custody are leaving behind forgotten victims: their pets. These animals are often abandoned when their pet parents are caught up in raids; others may get left behind when undocumented immigrants choose to self-deport. Though rescuers are working to save these animals, many say it is an uphill battle.

How many pets have been abandoned?

The exact number of animals left behind following ICE raids is likely impossible to quantify. These figures are “not tracked by the patchwork of government agencies responsible for animals or by the local and national nonprofits that fill gaps in care,” said The New York Times. Some cities, though, have been able to report data on these abandoned animals.

In Minnesota, the government agency St. Paul Animal Services “recorded a 38% increase in stray, seized and relinquished cats and dogs in January 2026 compared with January 2025,” said the Times, the increase coinciding with ICE’s Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities area. Other cities face similar stories: In Tampa Bay, the nonprofit Mercy Full Project took in “record numbers of abandoned pets linked to families leaving the U.S. from the recent immigration crackdown,” said Fox 13.

In California’s Los Angeles County, total dog surrenders to animal shelters “more than tripled in the fourth week of June” last year, said the Los Angeles Times. The number of animals at one shelter doubled in June 2025 compared to June 2024, while at another, the “count jumped by roughly 50% over the same period.” It isn’t only deported pet owners who are affected. When Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE in Minneapolis, video footage “revealed that she had a dog in her vehicle during the incident,” said People.

How can these animals be helped?

Pet parents taken by ICE are “likely not given the opportunity to make arrangements for their cats and dogs,” said pet lifestyle company Kinship. Encounters like these can be “traumatic for both the animals and the people who love them, and they underscore how critical preparedness and community awareness are,” Rachel Mairose, the executive director of rescue organization The Bond Between, told Kinship.

Providing assistance for these animals “often begins with helping neighbors, friends or family members understand the proper steps, like first contacting animal control,“ said Kinship. The “most important step is having a pet care preparedness plan” for those who are concerned about encounters with ICE, Mairose said to Kinship. The main part of this plan includes identifying someone who could watch over the animal and also “having veterinary and vaccination records easily accessible or shared in advance.”

For the pets who are abandoned, certain groups are taking steps to help. Beyond shelters taking in more animals, people nationwide are also volunteering to foster “pets that had been left behind by former neighbors,” said the Times. In New Orleans, a dog named Heinz was “spotted near homes where immigration enforcement had occurred.” A local rescue organization reached out to find a foster for Heinz; this foster parent “posted a short biography of Heinz on the rescue’s website. Within a week, he had a new home.”