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CBS News
8 hours ago
- Health
- CBS News
Pandemic-era puppies, kittens now filling San Francisco shelters beyond capacity
The COVID-19 pandemic is still having a deadly effect on the pet population. The number of unwanted animals is straining San Francisco's shelter capacity to the breaking point, sometimes with tragic results. Just about every animal shelter in the state is jammed these days and it all points back to the pandemic when shelters were empty and it was hard to find any animal to adopt, as people tried to cope with COVID isolation. But also at that time, spaying and neutering were suspended or drastically reduced. And now those generations of puppies and kittens are filling the shelters. "So, not just in San Francisco, but in California and nationwide, we are like two million spay/neuters behind. So, that just leads to more and more accidental breeding," said Virginia Donohue, Executive Director of San Francisco's Animal Care and Control. "Pre-pandemic, we were full a couple times a year. Now we're full a couple times a month. It is a constant problem. It's no longer an occasional problem." And it can have heartbreaking consequences. SF Animal Care and Control works to find unwanted pets a home, but when none is available, they must turn to euthanasia to make room. "We try very hard to euthanize just for medical and behavior issues," said Donohue. "But there are points when an animal is here too long and nobody is coming for it, we don't have a place for it to go and its behavior is deteriorating. Then we're going to euthanasia." One of the reasons the city's public animal shelter is so full is because its major adoption partner, the San Francisco SPCA, is taking a lot fewer dogs and cats than it used to. The SF SPCA, which is a private entity, has joined forces with the Stockton SPCA and is now rescuing a lot more unwanted pets from the Central Valley. "Historically, they've taken as many as 600 dogs," said SF's Donohue. "Currently, it's under 200. So, obviously, that's a pain point." It's also a reason why Animal Care and Control is having to turn to euthanasia. Another is that the shelter has a "custody" program that holds dogs up to two weeks for people who go to jail or the hospital or who die. That all takes space from those pets looking to be adopted. On Saturday, a dog owner named Ethan said he sometimes wonders where they're all coming from. "To see the amount of people out there that have dogs that aren't taking care of them, like, I don't really understand how they got these dogs in the first place," he said. The dogs are out there, many in desperate need of a caring home. But there is only so much space in the shelters and reducing the population is now more than just a humane thing to do. It's becoming a matter of life and death. "I mean, don't get a dog if you weren't intending to get a dog," Donohue said. "But if you want a dog, just look at your local shelter first. Even if you don't find the dog of your dreams there, just look and see what's available."
San Francisco Chronicle
3 days ago
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco is euthanizing more stray dogs. Here's why
When a divorce made life overwhelming late last year, a woman surrendered her dog to San Francisco Animal Care and Control. The 3-year-old pit bull and mastiff mix was gentle, easygoing and friendly, the owner told the shelter, and had no medical issues. But after a short time in the facility, the dog became so anxious that he had to be put down, shelter records show. These shelter records are full of heartbreak — stories of people abandoning their dogs because they couldn't afford veterinary care or housing. Last year, such cases propelled Animal Care and Control, the city's public shelter, to the highest rate of euthanasia since 2013, and it's on track to worsen this year. The problem is playing out across California. When veterinarian clinics closed during the COVID-19 outbreak, spay and neuter surgeries stopped, creating generations of surplus puppies. Huge numbers of people adopted pandemic pets, but now demand for dogs, especially large ones, has plunged. In San Francisco, an increasingly strained relationship between the city's two main animal shelters — one public, one private — is making matters even more difficult. The city-run shelter, San Francisco Animal Care and Control in the Mission District, is obligated to care for all stray, lost and surrendered animals within city limits. In the past, it sent most of the dogs and cats it couldn't adopt out to the private shelter down the street: the San Francisco SPCA, a 157-year-old nonprofit known for filling the windows of Macy's in Union Square with puppies and kittens during the holidays. As a private organization, the SPCA does not accept animals from the public and can choose which dogs or cats it brings into its shelter. Since the 1990s, it has promised to take in any 'adoptable' dog or cat that San Francisco's public shelter can't place as a way to reduce the city's euthanasia rates. The SPCA continues to take in the majority of the public shelter's extra cats — especially kittens, which are easier to adopt. But over the past decade it has increasingly rescued more dogs from Central Valley shelters, where it says the need is greater, and fewer from San Francisco. Critics say the consequences for San Francisco are significant, leading to fewer dogs getting out of the city's shelter alive. The SPCA, though, says its focus is on increasing the amount of low-cost veterinary services in the city to keep animals out of the shelter. The differing perspectives on how to best serve these animals, and which ones to rescue, provide a glimpse into the complex challenges shelters face as they try to save animals during uncertain economic times. 'Historically, the SPCA has taken as many as 600 dogs from us, which helped us save more dogs,' Virginia Donohue, the executive director of Animal Care and Control, said in an email. 'Unfortunately, for the last few years it has been fewer than 200 dogs, so we have looked further afield to find homes. As a city, we need more adoptions and less breeding to make sure that all of our dogs have families to love them.' Jennifer Scarlett, a veterinarian and the CEO of the San Francisco SPCA, which is independent from other humane societies, agrees that the city needs more adoptions — and more San Franciscans willing to adopt. 'At its core, we want to save as many animals in shelters as possible, with the priority being we want to work with Animal Care and Control,' Scarlett said. However, she added in an email, 'We are more than a shelter, and our strategic focus lies on building a system of care in San Francisco.' The SPCA said it provided $3.5 million in free and low-cost veterinary care in the city during the past fiscal year, including for vaccines at mobile clinics, emergency surgery at its animal hospital and preventative care at its Excelsior district clinic, an increase of more than $1 million from the previous year. The SPCA has a larger budget and staff than the public shelter, and it provides a different range of activities, including running its veterinary hospital. It brought in $46 million in the fiscal year ending in June 2024. It cares for only dogs and cats. The taxpayer-funded Animal Care and Control, by contrast, takes in wildlife and domesticated birds, reptiles and rabbits in addition to dogs and cats and has an annual budget of $11 million. It also manages a team of animal control officers who respond to thousands of calls on biting dogs, aggressive coyotes and, recently, baby raccoons nesting in Chase Center. The SPCA accepted 158 of the more than 2,800 dogs that came through the public shelter in 2024, a drop from more than 600 dogs in 2013, records obtained by the Chronicle show. Scarlett said one reason for the decrease is that many San Francisco dogs have medical or behavior issues or are larger breeds — though the SPCA also brings in large dogs from Central Valley shelters. After the Chronicle inquired about the decrease, a spokesperson for the SPCA said it had committed to taking at least five dogs per week in late April, higher than recent years. As of June 13, it had not hit that number regularly, but in some weeks took more than five, according to records. Central Valley collaboration The SPCA started working closely with Central Valley shelters in 2012, when it partnered with Stockton Animal Services, said Regina Moore, a spokesperson for the nonprofit. At the time, the Stockton shelter's live release rate was down to 32%, according to the SPCA. The organization said it helped boost the rate to 82% over five years by providing medical support, such as spay and neuter surgeries, and then moved on to work with other Central Valley shelters, including by bringing their animals to its adoption center. 'One thing that is unique about the S.F. SPCA is they do have the resources to help out in other areas,' said Allison Cardona, California state director for the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program. 'There is a critical need for veterinary spay/neuter across the state.' Drawing from a large network of shelters allows the SPCA to match 'more quickly adoptable' animals from rural and suburban areas with potential adopters in San Francisco, Moore said. San Francisco's public shelter has typically had a higher live release rate than Central Valley shelters, and the figure shot up during the pandemic, when pets were in demand. From the 2017 to 2023 fiscal years, the city's live release rate stayed above 90%, achieving what private shelters call 'no kill' status. However, the rate dropped from 91% to 88% in the fiscal year ending in June 2024, the lowest rate since 2013. That year, it euthanized 257 dogs, and the rate will probably drop to 87% this year, the shelter said. Angie Yen, a former SPCA employee of 12 years, said the nonprofit's drop in dog acceptances from the public shelter contributed to the rise in euthanasia rates locally. SPCA 'reduced their quota to something that works for them but just puts more responsibility on (San Francisco Animal Care and Control) to try to save those lives,' said Yen, who resigned in 2023 in part over what she described as disillusionment with the organization. Yen is now a registered veterinary technician, similar to a nurse, at the public shelter, and said she was speaking for herself. Yen and Chelsea Capaccio were among six former SPCA employees who told the Chronicle they think the nonprofit is putting too large a share of its resources into the Central Valley. 'They're so focused on this Central Valley expansion that they've forgotten that they're the San Francisco SPCA,' said Capaccio, who resigned as co-director of the organization's animal hospital in October over what she said was a personnel matter, after working there for three years. She acknowledged the challenges in the Central Valley, but said the organization should first meet the need of low-income San Franciscans to access veterinary care. Scarlett disagreed that SPCA has forgotten its roots and said her organization is focused on reducing the number of homeless pets, including by providing spay and neuter surgeries at a subsidized rate for San Francisco's public shelter, at a value of $500,000 per year — which Donohue said is an essential service. This year, it is providing an extra $50,000 toward those surgeries at Donohue's request, after the city cut the public shelter's budget. In San Francisco, 'We've seen a slip in the live release rate,' Scarlett said. 'What's happening in the Central Valley is even harder. We're finding buckets of puppies and kittens in orchards.' Trouble moving puppies On a tour of the San Francisco public shelter in March, Donohue noticed that a 5-month-old dog named Starburst had been there for six weeks. The pit bull and husky mix had endearing lopsided terrier ears and mismatched eyes — one blue, one brown. Volunteers brightened her day with walks, but she had resorted to throwing herself balls each morning. 'We're having trouble moving puppies out of the shelter,' Donohue said. The number of puppies was up 40% last year compared with before the pandemic, Donohue said. This year, 18% more dogs came into the shelter from January to May than during the same time period in 2024. Donohue said the public shelter typically does not euthanize 'adoptable' dogs like Starburst, meaning those without major behavioral or medical problems — that is, unless it and its partner shelters are completely full. Also, behavioral issues can get worse over time for animals in the shelter and put them on the euthanasia list. Another factor in rising euthanasia rates is that, in recent years, the shelter has received 60% more custody cases than it did before the pandemic, Donahue said. The cases mostly involve dogs that come to the shelter because their owners are incarcerated or in the hospital. The shelter is required to hold them for two weeks, rather than four days for strays, to give owners time to reclaim them, which fills up valuable kennel spots. 'The pipeline gets clogged, which reduces the number of options you have for getting out,' Donohue said. To find homes for its dogs, and some of its cats, the public shelter increasingly sends them to rescue organizations far afield. Last year, it transferred 89 dogs out of California and 141 out of the Bay Area, compared with 11 out of state and 39 out of the Bay Area in 2019, according to public records. Donohue said that many large dogs, such as huskies, go to rescue facilities in Lake Tahoe where they can roam more freely. And many stay in town, going to places such as Muttville Senior Dog Rescue. Animal shelters across California are facing overcrowding. Last year saw a 7% rise in stray dogs entering shelters in the state, while that number declined nationally, according to the nonprofit Shelter Animals Count. One of the reasons is probably the scarcity and high cost of veterinary care in the state, said Cardona of the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program, who manages a $50 million state grant program aimed at preventing euthanasia of treatable animals. The ultimate goal, Cardona said, is to keep animals within their own communities, with support from pet-inclusive housing policies or pet food pantries, such as those hosted by the organization Full Belly Bus. The nonprofit Vets in Vans provides low-cost and free veterinary care in front of Animal Care and Control. With a $150,000 state grant, it recently diverted close to 200 people from surrendering their animals there, said founder Tracy Huang. Donohue said people can help by donating to the nonprofit Friends of Animal Care and Control and by adopting local dogs from shelters instead of purchasing them online, where they often come from puppy mills in the Midwest. Starburst, at least, ended up being one of the lucky ones. Even after four months in the shelter, she stayed friendly and playful. In April, she left with a new family — and no longer has to throw balls to herself.
