The Pacific Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) was founded in 2003 by Dorothy “Louise” Shirey.
Louise (pictured) was dedicated to providing care for and rehoming the abandoned and displaced animals of Coronado from the time she joined our community in 1986 until her death in 2014.
Through determination, community organization, and persistent lobbying as an animal advocate, Louise achieved her dream of creating a Coronado animal rescue (PAWS), and establishing a partnership between PAWS and the City of Coronado to provide comprehensive animal services in the Crown City.
Following in Louise’s footsteps, PAWS grew under the care of dedicated animal advocates Sharon Sherman and Karen Dwinell into a trusted community organization capable of helping hundreds of animals each year.
Today we continue to honor Louise’s legacy by providing high-quality medical care, treating the animals in our care with love and compassion, and seeking to find each animal a perfect forever home through our adoption services.
Our Mission:
To advocate for animal welfare by providing adoption and rehabilitation services to the animals under our care, while fostering a more educated community.
Our Vision:
The vision of PAWS of Coronado is for every animal to have a safe and loving forever home.
Our Commitment:
The Pacific Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) of Coronado is committed to the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of all treatable and manageable animals at our facility and those receiving care through our foster care network. PAWS works hard to find permanent homes through our adoption services and animal rescue partnerships. Since its founding, PAWS has not euthanized any healthy animals with treatable conditions. PAWS is a member of the San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition (SDAWC) and has adopted the Asilomar Accords to clarify the standard of care and what constitutes ‘healthy, treatable/manageable and ‘unhealthy/untreatable’ conditions in shelter animals. The SDAWC reached ‘zero euthanasia of treatable animals’ in July of 2015. “Getting to Zero” is the San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition’s commitment to reaching zero euthanasia of healthy or treatable shelter animals in our community. Each member of the SDAWC provides data to the Shelter Animals Count: The National Database to ensure transparency around our work.
Unlike other animal welfare organizations, PAWS has a jurisdictional responsibility to provide animal sheltering and pet licensing for all domestic animals in Coronado. PAWS receives all animals that are legal to own within the Coronado city limits including dogs, cats, pet exotic mammals, birds, and reptiles. Sadly, many of the animals arriving to PAWS have significant medical and/or behavioral conditions that render them ‘unhealthy/untreatable’ as defined in the Asilomar Accords. PAWS only places treatable, manageable animals up for adoption.