Compassion. Awareness Responsibility. Education.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization ID# 46-3226620
Through CARE we try to emphasize Compassion for all animals, raise Awareness about animals in need, encourage people to take more Responsibility for their pets, and help Educate them before they take on a new animal.
Not only are we a 501(c)(3) rescue that helps to save animals in need, but we also want to try to prevent more animals from ending up on the streets or in the shelter through knowledge. By educating people on what goes into taking care of pets, the difference in breeds and how one breed can be a better fit for a certain lifestyle than another, and about how many amazing animals are in the shelters, we hope we can start to lower the number of pets that are killed every day. It is important for people to know how many great animals are euthanized each year because of irresponsible people and bad pet owners, not bad pets. By helping to change one person at a time, we can save one animal at a time. If you CARE, we can all make a difference.
Though we are small, we are mighty. With no facility and just being able to save animals with fosters and limited space, we have rescued hundreds upon hundreds of in-need companion animals. We depend on fosters to make this all possible, so we welcome any and all people who are interested in helping to ask us about our foster program and learn how you can make a huge difference as well as save a life. One day, we hope to have a facility and have the capacity to create a sanctuary for animals in need, but in the meantime, we will continue to do what we can to help as many as we can.
We also depend heavily on donations from our fellow animal lovers. Every animal requires vet visits, food, supplies, and more. There is no way we could do what we do without the help of our donation angels. If you feel like helping, we take checks or you can also donate through PayPal at Carerescuela@gmail.com. EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR goes to the animals. We do this because we want to make a difference and all the payment we need is seeing the happy faces of the animals we have saved. (As well as the humans saved by finding their new best friends)
Thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about us and what we do. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We always appreciate help by sharing our posts on social media!
If you can’t adopt, foster. If you can’t foster, donate. If you can’t donate, share. Sharing is caring and it all makes a difference!!
Meet The CARE Rescue LA Team
Rebecca Kuzma, President & Co-Founder
Rebecca worked as a makeup artist for the Lion King on broadway for years in New York before moving to LA to pursue her dream of doing makeup for television and movies. She grew up an avid animal lover and would help everything from earthworms to hermit crabs.
Rebecca started joining Kelle on her dog rescue missions early on just for fun. Now, as best friends, they have worked together to build CARE Rescue into something bigger than they ever dreamed. Rebecca has a heart of gold and is someone who is there to always help a friend or an animal in need. While CARE Rescue started as a dog rescue, Rebecca quickly established her role on the CARE board as the “cat lady” and dedicates most of her time to helping cats.
She lives here in LA with her 3 rescue cats.
Kelly Klopping, Treasurer
Kelly Klopping is a senior admistrative assistant who was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico with a strong will and desire to spend the rest of her life following her dreams. While growing up Kelly had many different pets and a strong love for any living creature. Her family was always of the mind that pets were family members that should be adopted or saved. The most influential animal in her life was her childhood cat, Oreo, who was rescued in front of a popular restaurant when Kelly, 10 years old, begged her father all evening to take the little kitten home. He finally acquiesced and Oreo grew old with a loving family. Oreo taught Kelly how wonderful it was to save a life and impressed upon her how important it was to give and receive unconditional love.
While working in Los Angeles she has aligned herself with CARE Rescue LA in order to spread awareness about the increasingly desperate situation many pets find themselves in. Kelly's goal as Treasure is to acquire and maintain the much needed funds for the non profit so we can continue helping save lives and educating the Los Angeles population about the shelter and animal care systems. She is honored to be working so closely with the most hard working beautiful ladies in the Los Angeles rescue scene.
Whitney Gries, Secretary
Whitney Gries is an actor and producer who was born and raised in small-town Iowa. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue opportunities within the entertainment industry.
Whitney grew up surrounded by kitties. Her first cat, Sassy, was discovered by Whitney & her brother when they were just 5 and 8 yrs old. The kitten was secretly "fostered" and fed on the front porch until Whitney's upcoming birthday when they knew they could guilt their parents into keeping the kitty as a birthday present.
Whitney started as a foster with CARE Rescue LA. Her passion quickly grew as she realized the incredible mission CARE Rescue LA's members work toward every minute of every day. Every life matters and Whitney is proud to be a part of such a smart, strong, and big-hearted team.
Whitney resides in LA with her best friend, Mona (her first foster/foster fail) and her new fluffy boyfriend Bruce (another previous CARE foster).
Jenn Sterger, Board member
Jennifer is a working actress, writer, and comedian. Growing up in Lutz, FL, Jenn has been bringing home animals since she was 5 years old. She comes from a long line of passionate rescuers. Her mom once swerved her car to miss a giant caterpillar (true story). Jenn lovingly refers to her childhood home as a zoo, having grown up with dobermans, cats, guinea pigs, gerbils, bunnies, hamsters, hermit crabs and a turtle. She started fostering for Care Rescue LA when Rebecca and Kelly showed up on a doorstep with ten bottle feeding kittens. Her passion for fostering soon blossomed into a full time member role with Care. Jenn is passionate about fundraising for animals with special medical needs and raising awareness about animal rescue efforts in our community. She can commonly be found running to save a stray dog in between her stand up comedy sets.
Bridgham Leigh, Board Member
Bridgham Leigh is a working model and actress who moved to LA in 2010. Growing up in Florida, she spent a lot of time watching her father rescue animals. Her Great Uncle helped start the original “parrot jungle” in Miami, Florida- which is now known as “Jungle Island.” Her grandmother would bring back all kinds of birds- even a rescued toucan named Teddy! She would bring back baby alligators, snakes and nurse sharks to raise until they were big enough to go back to the nursery. She would rescue all kinds of cats and dogs too, so her home was known as the “animal house.” Bridgham’s father was one of the biggest animal lovers she’s ever known, and that’s where Bridgham’s love of animals came from.
After Bridgham’s father died in 2016, she met Rebecca & Rebecca introduced her to CARE Rescue LA. Bridgham immediately felt like she had a purpose again in helping these broken, innocent, abandoned and sometimes mistreated animals. She immediately jumped on the bandwagon and started fostering. Her passion for learning and helping these animals quickly made her want to do more with CARE Rescue LA. Seeing how hard these girls work every minute, while still managing everyday life is incredible and so inspiring. I couldn’t be more proud and honored to now be beside them on the board trying to make a difference in our community with all of the animals in need out there that need our love!
Kelle King, Founder
Kelle grew up on a ranch and has always been surrounded by animals. She started rescuing them at the age of 4 when she would bring home sick, injured, or stray creatures, and she and her mom would help them and rehome them. She always dreamed of having her own rescue one day but never imagined it wouldbe at the age of 30. She started with rescuing one dog from North Central Animal Shelter and finding it a home and then just kept going, one dog at a time. Kelle is also a photographer and works with a company called NightWatch that helps to save the lives of horses. She lives between Nashville and LA and has horses, dogs and cats of her own. She's always fostering animals and hopes to one day live on a ranch where she can take in as many animals as she can.
Ava Gaudet, Co-Founder
Ava is an animal lover from way back. She has always had a desire to help animals and began her charity efforts as a child when she would host yard sales, set lemonade stands & hot chocolate stands then donate all the earnings to the ASPCA. As an adult she began fostering rescue dogs and learned how fulfilling it is to open your heart and home to the little souls who need another chance at life!
She helped create CARE Rescue LA so she could continue helping our furry friends in need and is more fulfilled than ever!
She is currently raising a rescue pup named Rocky, and continues to save lives in honor of her dog, Java, who became the love of her life and was saved from death row in a high kill LA shelter.