Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS)
Investigating pet shops and puppy mills since 1992.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Two million puppies and kittens are born in animal mills every year. These animals are often unhealthy, and their parents suffer in overcrowded, unsanitary cages. Typically, the young animals produced at mills are sold to unsuspecting customers at pet shops or in online marketplaces. The goal of CAPS is to end this inhumane practice. We use a coordinated strategy of nationwide programs in this effort.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Investigations
CAPS conducts hundreds of undercover investigations each year. Our targets include not only pet shops but also the huge network of USDA-licensed breeders and brokers who supply pet shops with animals. Undercover CAPS investigators have been inside more than 1,000 puppy-and-kitten mills. Videos and reports from our investigations have helped expose the disturbing realities of commercial dog and cat breeding. These investigations also provide important evidence for our ongoing legal, legislative, and outreach efforts.
See samples of CAPS undercover investigations online at https://www.caps-web.org/investigation-reports/.
Education & Outreach
A big part of the CAPS mission is to educate the public about pet shops and their connection to animal mills. We use many methods of outreach:
Social media
News stories
Television and radio public service announcements
Protests and outreach events
Blogs, action alerts, and newsletters
A pet shop complaint form and database for the public
Watch our Public service announcements, Videos, Investigation Videos and Reports on our website and social media channels.
Rescues and Rehabilitation
As evidence of abuse and neglect, CAPS periodically rescues animals during our undercover investigations. We provide these animals with veterinary care and partner with shelters, rescue organizations, and animal lovers to place them into foster care or permanent homes.
Read some of our rescue stories on our website: https://www.caps-web.org/category/caps-general/rescues/
Legislation and Legal
CAPS regularly assists in the creation of legislation to restrict the retail sale of certain animals. These laws put financial pressure on puppy mills by eliminating their retail markets. More than 340 pet shop ordinances and state laws have been passed in the United States and Canada since the 2010 passage of a CAPS-generated ordinance in West Hollywood, California. Our longtime work in California was also critical to the passage of a 2018 law banning the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in the entire state. Maryland has since passed a similar law, and other states now have comparable legislation pending.
Learn more about laws we’ve helped enact on our website: https://www.caps-web.org/category/legislation/.
USDA Oversight
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) licenses and inspects our country’s 3,000 commercial dog and cat breeding facilities. The USDA is supposed to protect the animals living there by enforcing the Animal Welfare Act. CAPS has been investigating the USDA since 1995, and our evidence has proven, however, that the federal agency has minimal concern for dogs and cats suffering in mills—or for puppies and kittens transported to pet shops or sold online. CAPS continues to put pressure on the USDA, and we are advocating for congressional oversight hearings into the USDA’s wrongdoings.
Read the OIG Report and USDA-Related Articles on our website.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Since 1992, the Companion Animal Protection Society's primary goal has been to protect companion animals by investigating their abuse and suffering in pet shops and puppy mills. CAPS has a highly integrated and effective program of action called the Pet Shop Campaign. The components include: pet shop investigations, consumer complaints and assistance, puppy and kitten mill investigations, shelter statistics, pet shop protests, humane store conversions (from pet shops selling commercially bred animals to adoption centers offering shelter/rescue animals), ordinances, and consumer education/outreach through media and public service advertising. The goals are to: eliminate the abuse and exploitation of companion animals in pet shops and puppy and kitten mills, reduce the emotional distress and financial costs to defrauded consumers, convert pet shops to humane adoption centers that provide animals from local rescues and shelters, and decrease the number of animals being euthanized in shelters each year.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Pet shop ordinances help to advance CAPS' mission by addressing inhumane breeding and sales practices. In turn, some pet shops transition to offering shelter and rescue animals for adoption; other retail adoption centers open to replace pet shops that close. Peaceful protests raise community, consumer, and media awareness of industry cruelty and can change consumer behavior as well as shop policies regarding sources of animals. Investigations allow CAPS to document conditions and violations of local, state and federal laws. Media coverage of CAPS' efforts highlights the cruelty behind the cute puppies and kittens in pet shops and encourages people to adopt from shelters and rescues rather than buy from pet shops.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
CAPS is uniquely qualified to do this work via decades of experience focusing exclusively on all aspects of the pet shop and puppy/kitten mill industry. We are the investigative experts for this cruel industry. CAPS has strong relationships with key players in all levels of government, other nonprofits, and the media. CAPS is the only national organization that investigates inside USDA-licensed dog and cat breeding facilities (more than 1,000 to date). CAPS sends an undercover investigator to the breeders and brokers who provide puppies and kittens to the pet shops we are targeting and investigating. The investigator shoots undercover video footage and photographs and writes in-depth reports that document Animal Welfare Act (AWA) violations. If the facility has serious violations, we turn over our evidence to USDA and appropriate state agencies. CAPS uses USDA inspection reports and photographs as additional evidence. Our investigative expertise supports all of the other components of our work. CAPS uses investigative evidence to produce PSAs, investigative exposes, educational literature, and media stories to inform our audience about the connection between pet shop animals and the facilities where they are bred.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since the CAPS-generated ordinance passed in West Hollywood, the number of pet shops selling puppies and kittens in Southern California has decreased from 81 to 34, retail adoption centers and store conversions to adoption centers now total more than two dozen, and the number of USDA-licensed brokers and breeders has decreased from 5,000 to 3,000. This illustrates the domino-effect of our work. However, CAPS' goals can be limited by the impulses, ignorance and apathy of consumers who want to acquire a puppy or kitten. These consumers are not inclined to go to a shelter or rescue but instead buy from a pet shop or online seller. Undercover investigations are necessary to get the information required to enforce and create ordinances, but they are not easy to accomplish, and they are expensive. CAPS/ undercover investigations reveal that the USDA is extremely negligent in its enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) as it applies to commercial dog/cat breeders and brokers. It is difficult to simultaneously try to work with this federal agency and hold it accountable for enforcing federal law to protect animals. Those who profit from pet shops and puppy/kitten mills don't want to see the laws affecting their businesses change, and they usually fight back. Fortunately, CAPS' legal pleadings have enabled municipalities with pet shop ordinances to successfully defend lawsuits by pet shops and trade industry associations. Despite many challenges, CAPS has made great strides against pet shops and the puppy/kitten mill industry.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We don’t use any of these practices
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS)
Board of directorsas of 03/07/2024
Ms. Deborah Howard
Deborah A Howard
Ida McCarthy
Stephanie McMorrow
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/07/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.