Seattle Persian and Himalayan Rescue was founded in 2004 with the goal of rescuing purebred Persians and Himalayans from kill shelters. Many people do not realize that Persians are the number one breed turned into shelters in the United States. Persians also tend to do very poorly in the shelter environment compared to other breeds, and often face euthanasia and or are not placed up for adoption because they become sick (their flat faces cause them to catch upper respiratory viruses much more easily than cats with longer noses). For these reasons, many public shelters seek to transfer Persians to rescue.

We strive to rescue every adoptable (and many unadoptable) Persian from the shelters we work with in the Northwest, and also do our best to assist owners that need to rehome cats. When we have the space and funds, we extend our care to other breeds of cats as well as mixes and domestic (mutt) cats. SPHR is run b y a small group of volunteers that devote an enormous amount of time, care, and energy to saving these wonderful creatures.

We operate solely on donations, and thus have a very tight budget. Despite this, we are able to provide excellent veterinary care to all our cats in need with the help of Dr. Teri Byrd and her staff at Madison Park Veterinary in Seattle. With her help, we are able to treat virtually every cat that needs our care. SPHR focuses on Persians not only because they need us, but also because they are highly adoptable due to their popularity. By focusing on highly adoptable cats, we are able to achieve a very high number of adoptions per year, and thus are able to save the most cats with the few resources we have available. We operate through a network of foster homes, so all our rescue cats live in calm and cage free environments. Please email our Foster Coordinator if you are interested in joining this network of caring volunteers.