Short answer
No. Zakat must go to eligible people, mainly poor and needy Muslims, as their own property, and an animal cannot own anything. Caring for animals is a real good deed with great reward, so support shelters, rescues and feeding from your voluntary sadaqah instead. The four schools agree.
Zakat given to an animal charity is not valid zakat and remains owed, because it is not handed into the ownership of an eligible person. Spending on animals from sadaqah or general donations is permitted and rewarded.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Quran limits zakat to eight groups of people: the poor, the needy, collectors, those whose hearts are to be won, captives, debtors, those in the cause of Allah and stranded travellers (9:60). Animals are not among them. The Hanafi school also requires that zakat becomes the property of the person who receives it, and an animal cannot own property.
A shelter's vets, staff, buildings, food and medicines are not zakat recipients either. If you have already given zakat to an animal charity, that money counts as sadaqah, and you still owe the zakat to eligible people.
None of this lowers the value of caring for animals. The Prophet ﷺ told of a man who climbed down into a well to bring water to a thirsty dog, and Allah forgave him. When the Companions asked whether there is reward even for animals, he said there is reward in serving every living creature. Rescue work, feeding strays and paying for treatment are excellent uses of:
- Voluntary sadaqah, which has no fixed recipients (see what sadaqah is).
- General donations, often called lillah.
- A waqf whose income keeps paying for animal care (see what waqf is).
One case is different: a poor Muslim who owns animals, such as a struggling farmer, may receive zakat himself. Once it is his, he can spend it on fodder or a vet. The zakat went to a person, not to the animals.
See what zakat can be used for and the who can receive zakat checker.
The evidence
Quran, Surah At-Tawba 9:60
۞ إِنَّمَا ٱلصَّدَقَٰتُ لِلْفُقَرَآءِ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينِ وَٱلْعَٰمِلِينَ عَلَيْهَا وَٱلْمُؤَلَّفَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ وَٱلْغَٰرِمِينَ وَفِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۖ فَرِيضَةًۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌۭ ﴿٦٠﴾
Zakah expenditures are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect [zakah] and for bringing hearts together [for Islam] and for freeing captives [or slaves] and for those in debt and for the cause of Allah and for the [stranded] traveler - an obligation [imposed] by Allah. And Allah is Knowing and Wise.
Zakat recipients are people in eight named groups.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2363
Sahih... في كل كبد رطبة أجر ...
"There is a reward for serving every living creature."
Kindness to animals is rewarded, as sadaqah.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1395
Sahih... تؤخذ من أغنيائهم وترد على فقرائهم ...
"It is taken from their rich and given back to their poor."
Zakat goes to poor people.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on those to whom zakat may be given. Zakat needs a recipient who becomes its owner.
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the recipients (bab al-masrif). Tamlik to an eligible person is a condition of zakat.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.