Operation Adopt L.A.

[Los Angeles, CA]
Murphy originally met TAPS at a Los Angeles County Shelter. He was adopted in 2015, but due to his family's growing responsibilities with new babies they could no longer care for him. TAPS welcomed him back with open arms, and now Murphy is looking for his forever home once again.

Murphy is a unique blend of energy and calm. Some days, he's all puppy, eager to go on walks and cuddle up with you on the couch. Other days, he’s like a cat, happy to hang out under a chair and enjoy some alone time. He is housebroken, crate trained, and follows commands. Murphy loves the company of other dogs and enjoys spending time in the backyard. He can be a little nervous when meeting new people but always wants to make friends.

Perfect Home:
Murphy is for adoption through TAPSUSA.org and is eligible for an adopter living in the LA or San Diego areas. We are also looking for a temporary foster home for Murphy in the Burbank/LA area.

Why Adopt Murphy?

Loyal and loving: Murphy is a sweet, loving soul who just wants to please.

Versatile: He has the playful energy of a puppy and the calm independence of a cat.

Well-behaved: Housebroken, crate trained, and follows commands.

If you’re ready to welcome Murphy into your home, please contact us at [email protected] or visit our website at TAPSUSA.org to fill out an adoption application. Don't miss the chance to make Murphy a part of your family and give him the loving home he deserves.

02/03/2023

These letters have history. Today they started their next adventure. The Animal Protectorates' Operation Adopt pet adoption center starred in the first episode of the first season of Save our Shelter, a program that helped nonprofits remodel their space to showcase their adoptable pets in the best light. Save our Shelter had these made for us. The letters served Operation Adopt well as we Taught, Advocated, Protected and Supported (TAPS). During Covid, Operation Adopt closed because there were no animals in the shelters to help (adoptions from the shelter were at an all time high)and keeping the physical location in Burbank, CA open was too expensive. The contents were packed up and shipped to Friendsville, Tennessee where we were getting up and running. Today, they were installed at our new program - Saving Spot - a Designer Resale Boutique (Thrift Store) helping our orphaned pets. They continue to have a starring role as we Transform A Pet's Story (TAPS).

11/28/2022

[Friendsville Scholarship Pet Adoption #101]
Sweet little senior Doc melted all of our hearts. He arrived from the shelter with skin infected so badly that his fur was peeling off. He also had dental disease that made eating hard for him. After several months of R & R at Friendsville and a full dental surgery (with 18th teeth pulled), Doc felt like a champ and found the perfect home with this couple who understand him right where he is.

10/07/2022

Gingerale was adopted from Operation Adopt (California) in 2016. Today she lives in Maryland and channels her inner Gwen. Thanks mom for sending this photo!

02/15/2022

[Operation Adopt #1468] Our purple collar promise came through for Kat! Returned by her former adopter for quirkiness - her new mom (a very long time supporter of The Animal Protectorates) loves all of it! Kat is the official greeter at Junk For Joy in Burbank, California. She stands guard at the entrance and gives her opinion on your outfit selections. Stop by and say hi if you are in the area!

12/14/2021

Friendsville Scholarship Pet alum Butters (aka Betters) is spending his first holiday season in his new home and he is on cloud nine! When they stopped by to say hi we just had to send them off to the photography studio!

11/20/2021

[Operation Adopt LA #1467]
Every orphaned animal taken into The Animal Protectorates care gets a purple collar promise - to always be their back up if their adoptive family can no longer care for them. We made good on the promise to Shirley when her family had to move and they couldn't find affordable housing where she was allowed. Shirley got into a fabulous foster home who agreed to care for her until we found the right permanent home - well, the right permanent home was with a relative of her foster family. Shirely is now welcomed as extended family at all holiday gatherings.

07/15/2021

Operation Adopt LA MISSY!
Missy's safety net is her purple collar promise. We met this sweet little lady in the shelter 2016 and then paired her with the best cat mom ever. You never know what life is going to bring and without a plan in place for Missy, she was orphaned after her mom died. Thankfully, a neighbor knew that Missy was adopted through TAPS and had a purple collar promise to always be her backup plan. At 12 years young, Missy's big eyes and soft heart tell her story - especially that you'll appreciate her wanting to curl up and purr rather than unravel the yarn :).

04/19/2021

Shirley is a perfect example of how YOU help pets get a purple collar promise - a promise they'll never have to end up in a scary shelter ever again. Shirley came to us in 2015 when she was around 3 years old. She was adopted into a home where she has been since then. Now, due to the family not being able to care for her any longer because of not being able to afford a place to accept a pet, they contacted TAPS to become her guardian once again. What a privilege it is to be the ones who say - hey little girl, we've got you. Shirley's foster mom reports that she is an energetic and happy little companion who makes you smile. She is very friendly and loves to be with you. If you would like to meet Shirley, send us a message and we'll let you know the next step.

02/16/2021

Molly was one of the first dogs to join The Animal Protectorates and one of our founders first fosters - that was in 2014. She kept getting out of her yard in the Coachella Valley area of Riverside County, California. Her owners didn't want to deal with her any longer and turned this older girl into the shelter. Lucky for her we found her and for the past 6 1/2 years, Molly was loved beyond her wildest dreams until she crossed the rainbow bridge a few weeks ago.

"It's important to us that you know how thankful we are for you and TAPS. Your mission and work led us to Molly, and for that we will be forever thankful....We also smile knowing the kind of life we provided that girl after she was found off the freeway, unwanted by her previous owners. Molly saw a number of states, swam in oceans, rivers, lakes, and pools, basked in the sun in a yard made entirely with her in mind, and romped countless times in the snow. She surprised her mom at the hotel the day we got engaged and she walked down the aisle with us at our wedding. And then she refused to let cancer slow her down, living another 20 months after her diagnosis, returning to the same beaches, snow, and waters she always loved. "

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Raise the BAR for Animals®

The Animal Protectorates (TAPS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, began in Burbank, California as a mission to bring awareness to communities that most puppies and kittens sold in traditional pet stores come from commercial breeding facilities where the parents are confined for their lives in small cramped cages and where profit is more important than animal well-being. As a result of TAPS’s work and that of many other organizations, community after community across the country and even the entire state of California embraced legislation to prevent pets coming from these facilities to be sold in pet stores.

Consumers still want pets though, so where do they get them? Without alternatives, many turn to internet sales and craigslist– paying thousands of dollars, frequently sight unseen, for sick puppies and kittens being purchased from the same type of savvy commercial breeding facilities who sold to the pet stores under the old business model – but who now are taking advantage of the market and cutting out the middle man (the pet store) with flashy website ads that show cute puppy pictures without telling the whole story.

The alternative TAPS developed is to help orphaned shelter animals find stable homes with consumers who would adopt a shelter animal, instead of buying one, but who don’t want to go to an animal shelter for many reasons – the predominate one being having an emotionally difficult time seeing and hearing animals with uncertain futures calling them from behind bars at a shelter. With this alternative, TAPS founded the first pet adoption center of its kind - Operation Adopt – in a retail area in Burbank, California. Operation Adopt staff and volunteers visit local animal shelters daily, searching for animals with certain identifiable traits, the main ones being behaviorally safe and family friendly who will be adopted within a relatively short amount of time. Once identified, spayed and neutered and further assessed for any medical needs while settling in, the dogs and cats are then photographed, groomed if needed and begin the journey of finding a new family. Once a match is identified, staff and volunteers stand beside that animal through the adoption process.

Operation Adopt utilizes a Structured Adoption Approach™ which consists of an application, a counseling session, having interaction with the animal on multiple occasions and conducting a home visit where the animal is observed again with family members – both human and animal. Landlord (if applicable) consent is also required to approve the size and type of animal and any required pet deposit must be paid to the landlord prior to placing the animal in the new home. Setting everyone up for success is the goal.

Staff and volunteers also stand beside the animal after the adoption is complete. Even with the most thorough adoption process, occasionally a dog or a cat may need to be returned. The biggest priority at Operation Adopt is that once an animal leaves the shelter and wears Operation Adopt’s recognizable purple collar, the animal never has to return to a shelter again if for any reason the adopter’s situation changes – this is called the purple collar promise and this is a core value of the nonprofit.

How does Operation Adopt afford to do all of this? Operation Adopt relies on donations to get animals out of the shelter, pay veterinary bills, medication, rent, staffing, workers compensation, insurance, food, fire and alarm systems, supplies, utilities, software, and many other expenses that go along with running a pet adoption center.

In addition to donations, adoption fees help offset the costs of having a physical location. Sometimes people ask why it costs so much to adopt an Operation Adopt dog or cat (it’s true the adoption fees are higher than most organizations who don’t have to pay the overhead of a physical location) and why adoption fees vary between animals depending on their age and type. After visiting the clean and pleasant setting, it’s easier to understand that the adoption fee is just a number to help support a really awesome vision, an ideal, an alternative and kinder way of bringing people and pets together.