With dogs filling San Francisco shelters, animal care waives adoption fees
SAN FRANCISCO – Today is a good day to adopt a dog.
So say officials with San Francisco Animal Care and Control and the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, both of which have waived adoption fees temporarily to encourage more adoptions.
Pandemic-related delays in spay and neuter surgeries has filled shelters in the city—as well as elsewhere in the Bay Area and across the nation, local officials said—with homeless dogs.
Compounding the issue is a decline in people adopting dogs—especially larger canine breeds—as life slowly returns to normal, officials said.
"When you adopt, you're not just saving one animal's life, you're also opening space in our shelter so we can save another animal," said Dr. Jennifer Scarlett, leader of the San Francisco SPCA. "If you've been thinking about adopting, now is a great time. Our shelter is full and we have a huge variety of dogs - especially bigger dogs."
"The pandemic caused a delay in a lot of our ability to spay and neuter dogs and animals, in general. So, there are a lot more animals as a result now that are homeless and out on the streets," said Lisa Feder, the Chief of Rescue & Welfare with the SPCA. "I think, primarily, the reason we are so full is just because people aren't coming to adopt right now. We're not seeing as many people in the shelters."
On Tuesday, there were around 40 adoptable dogs living at the SF SPCA shelter. The typical number there is 20, according to Feder.
Scarlett and Virginia Donohue, animal care's executive director are hoping that waiving adoption fees will lead to many of our dogs finding loving new homes.
"The number of dogs in our care - especially large ones - has significantly impacted our operations," Donohue said. "We're clogged, and we work with 100 different organizations, and they're also clogged. The whole pipeline is in trouble. We're not seeing surrenders like we are not having a lot of people come in and say I can't take care of my dog anymore, here it is. We are having a lot of stray dogs in the street."
Over the weekend, there were around 75 dogs at SF Animal Care & Control. The shelter typically likes to keep that number under 50, according to Donohue.
The SPCA is waiving adoption fees for all adult dogs age 5 months and up as part of its Summer of Lovin' adoption promotion.
Animal care is waiving adoption fees for all dogs through June 30.
"We're clogged, and we work with 100 different organizations, and they're also clogged. The whole pipeline is in trouble," said Virginia Donohue, the Executive Director of San Francisco Animal Care & Control. "We're not seeing surrenders like we are not having a lot of people come in and say I can't take care of my dog anymore, here it is. We are having a lot of stray dogs in the street."
View adoptable dogs at the SF SPCA at sfspca.org/adoptions/dogs and at animal care at sfanimalcare.org/adoptable-animals/dogs/.
