- The nOkill Network
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No Kill Animal Shelters
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California
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San Francisco SPCA
Woof! Meow! One thing before you go…
Do you need to find a loving home for your pet?
Shelters are often inundated with pet surrenders, and do not want to provide a simple outlet that takes away the obligation of responsible pet ownership. Therefore, they would prefer that people try hard to find a solution before resorting to surrendering their pet to a shelter. If you must find a new home for a pet, please try posting to our adoption portal before placing the burden on the shelter. Direct adoptions work well and allow everyone to share in the accountability of their community!

San Francisco SPCA
San Francisco, CA
Visit San Francisco SPCA >> http://www.sfspca.org (report broken link)
0
Visit
San Francisco SPCA >>
http://www.sfspca.org
(report broken link)
Adoptable Pets in California
(report broken link)
Submitted and reviewed by the community. Periodic check-ins to ensure the status is accurate.
last checked 04/21/25
NOTE:
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While the SFSPCA is listed as a no-kill organization, we have seen multiple reports of people attempting to surrender pets to SFSPCA, and they direct the person to instead surrender to San Francisco Animal Care & Control (SFACC), which is not no-kill. According to the SFACC's website (source: https://www.sfanimalcare.org/about-us/shelter-faqs/), "The SFSPCA is a partner of SFACC but the organizations are separate. The SPCA takes some dogs and cats from SFACC for their adoption center, and SFACC pays the SPCA to spay and neuter many of its animals."
The SFSPCA may direct you to surrender to SFACC and tell you that they will then adopt from SFACC, but there is no guarantee that the animal that you are surrendering will make it back to SFSPCA and it could be euthanized at SFACC, although SFACC maintains that they have a "very low euthanasia rate compared with other shelters" in their FAQs.
Thank you to our community for highlighting this situation - we want to provide as much transparency on this topic as possible before following their direction without consideration for other options that you might have. You may look for other local no-kill organizations, work your own personal network to look for adoption possibilities, or trying rehoming via our free direct adoption posting. Try all of these things before surrendering a pet in need of adoption to the SFACC if you want to ensure that euthanasia is not an option.
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ABOUT SFSPCA:
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In 1994, under the direction of Richard Avanzino, the San Francisco SPCA launched the no-kill revolution by ending the killing of healthy dogs and cats in the city. This SPCA is one of the pioneers responsible for the original no-kill philosophy and continues to be forward-thinking about issues that affect animals today. Without the efforts of this organization and Richard Avanzino, many no-kill shelters throughout the nation would not exist. Our sincere thanks to Mr. Avanzino and the San Francisco SPCA for all the work they have done to save and protect animals.
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Our Mission
The mission of The San Francisco SPCA is to save and protect animals, to provide care and treatment, to advocate for their welfare and to enhance the human-animal bond.
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The no-kill movement is firmly rooted in the history of The San Francisco SPCA. In the last decade, we have moved well beyond our original goal of guaranteeing homes for all adoptable animals to providing care for thousands of treatable animals that need medical care, training, and patience until a loving home is found. We continue to operate as a no-kill facility and The SF/SPCA celebrates a 97% Live Release Rate.
----------------------
While the SFSPCA is listed as a no-kill organization, we have seen multiple reports of people attempting to surrender pets to SFSPCA, and they direct the person to instead surrender to San Francisco Animal Care & Control (SFACC), which is not no-kill. According to the SFACC's website (source: https://www.sfanimalcare.org/about-us/shelter-faqs/), "The SFSPCA is a partner of SFACC but the organizations are separate. The SPCA takes some dogs and cats from SFACC for their adoption center, and SFACC pays the SPCA to spay and neuter many of its animals."
The SFSPCA may direct you to surrender to SFACC and tell you that they will then adopt from SFACC, but there is no guarantee that the animal that you are surrendering will make it back to SFSPCA and it could be euthanized at SFACC, although SFACC maintains that they have a "very low euthanasia rate compared with other shelters" in their FAQs.
Thank you to our community for highlighting this situation - we want to provide as much transparency on this topic as possible before following their direction without consideration for other options that you might have. You may look for other local no-kill organizations, work your own personal network to look for adoption possibilities, or trying rehoming via our free direct adoption posting. Try all of these things before surrendering a pet in need of adoption to the SFACC if you want to ensure that euthanasia is not an option.
----------------------
ABOUT SFSPCA:
----------------------
In 1994, under the direction of Richard Avanzino, the San Francisco SPCA launched the no-kill revolution by ending the killing of healthy dogs and cats in the city. This SPCA is one of the pioneers responsible for the original no-kill philosophy and continues to be forward-thinking about issues that affect animals today. Without the efforts of this organization and Richard Avanzino, many no-kill shelters throughout the nation would not exist. Our sincere thanks to Mr. Avanzino and the San Francisco SPCA for all the work they have done to save and protect animals.
----------------------
Our Mission
The mission of The San Francisco SPCA is to save and protect animals, to provide care and treatment, to advocate for their welfare and to enhance the human-animal bond.
-----------------------------
The no-kill movement is firmly rooted in the history of The San Francisco SPCA. In the last decade, we have moved well beyond our original goal of guaranteeing homes for all adoptable animals to providing care for thousands of treatable animals that need medical care, training, and patience until a loving home is found. We continue to operate as a no-kill facility and The SF/SPCA celebrates a 97% Live Release Rate.
Do you need to find a loving home for your pet?
No-kill shelters do wonderful work, but as a result, are often inundated with pet surrenders. In the unfortunate scenario that you have to find a new home for your pet, please read through the rehoming solution and articles on this page before contacting the shelter.
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