ABOUT UNCHAINED
Why We Exist
Each year, thousands of dogs arrive at shelters across Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties—often because their families ran out of time, housing, or support.
Combined local data show that well over 2,000 dogs enter shelters annually, with total intakes frequently climbing past 3,000 to 4,000, depending on the year and reporting agency.
In that same region, an estimated 350 to 400 young people each year move through foster-care and youth-justice systems still learning how to make space for healing.
Some encounter both systems before finding stability.
UnChained exists so compassion can become a counterforce — a way for our community to rebuild trust where systems have been stretched thin
Who We Are
Founded in 2011 on California’s Central Coast, UnChained began with a simple idea:
healing multiplies when you pair two beings who need to be seen.
Our work has always centered on partnership — between youth and shelter dogs,
between detention facilities and rescues, between compassion and accountability.
We are not a rescue. We are a bridge — a training ground for empathy that connects disconnected worlds.
Through our flagship program, Canines Teaching Compassion (CTC),
youth learn to guide dogs using positive-reinforcement methods that model patience, structure, and calm.
Dogs regain confidence; youth discover leadership rooted in care.
Every leash held is a lesson in mutual steadiness.
When & Where We’re Headed — CTC → DIR
For more than a decade, CTC has proven what’s possible when compassion becomes curriculum.
In 2026, that foundation will grow deeper roots through our next evolution:
Dogs In Residence (DIR) — a model that brings the same humane-training principles into longer-term, on-site partnerships within youth facilities.
DIR will not replace CTC; it expands upon it.
It represents the next chapter of the same story — one that keeps learning, refining, and listening to the communities we serve.
Why We Still Believe
We believe healing can be taught, modeled, and multiplied.
When a young person steadies a dog’s trembling body, they practice steadying their own.
When our community invests in that moment, we all become part of the repair.
Because every act of care—no matter how small—proves that compassion is not a feeling.
It is a skill we can choose to practice together.
Learn how UnChained builds bridges of trust
