Annual event · 10 years running
Santa Paws on Skid Row — a decade of showing up.
Every December for ten years, we've rolled our mobile spa vans into Skid Row. Free professional grooming for every dog. Hot meals for every human. Dignity for people the rest of the city walks past.
Why we do this
The pets of LA's unhoused community aren't strays. They are loved — often fiercely, often as the only constant a person has. But grooming is the thing that always slips first. It's a specialist service, it's not cheap, and there is nowhere on Skid Row that offers it.
So every December, we bring it to them.
What Santa Paws on Skid Row looks like
On event day, our mobile spa vans park in the middle of Skid Row. Volunteer groomers, vets, and community volunteers set up on the sidewalk. Word spreads fast — and within an hour, there's a line of dogs and their people waiting.
- Free professional grooming — bath, brush, nails, ears, sanitary trim, de-matting when needed
- Free hot meals — for the humans who came with them
- Pet supplies — leashes, collars, blankets, food, treats — whatever we've been able to gather
- Basic vet check when a volunteer vet is on-site — flagging issues that need follow-up
- A moment of normal — sitting in a chair, being handed a hot meal, watching your dog get treated like the family member they are
Ten years of tradition
What started as a one-off idea has become the event our whole team plans around. Ten Decembers in a row. Ten years of the same crew showing up in the same neighborhood for the same reason. And every year, more volunteers, more supplies, more meals.
It's the event we're most proud of — because Skid Row is the corner of LA where showing up matters most.
Sponsor this year's Santa Paws on Skid Row.
Every dollar goes directly to grooming supplies, meals, transport, and pet care. $50 sponsors a full groom. $500 helps sponsor a whole van-day. Tax-deductible.
Volunteer for this year's event
We need certified professional groomers, vets, food volunteers, and helping hands. If you can donate a Saturday in December, email info@hollywoodrescuegrooming.org with your role — we'll add you to the crew.
Partner organizations
Every year we work alongside LA's other Skid Row responders — meal programs, shelters, faith-based outreach groups, harm-reduction teams. If your organization is on Skid Row on event day and wants to coordinate, please reach out. The more of us who show up together, the more we can do.