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PHS/SPCA, a private non-profit organization guided by the humane ethic, builds healthy relationships between people and animals. Each year thousands of animals pass through our doors. We provide a warm bed, nutritious food, veterinary care and a gentle touch for the lost, stray, unwanted and injured domestic and wild animals in our community.

As an ethical choice to provide safe sanctuary for every animal in need and since we are contracted with all cities in San Mateo County, we have no control over the number of incoming animals. Last year, we received more than 8,500 dogs, cats and other pet animals as well as thousands of sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. We accept all animals, and often provide a second chance to the neediest – those who would otherwise be turned away at so-called “no kill” agencies that accept only highly adoptable animals. Our record is outstanding. Since 2003, we have adopted 100% of healthy dogs and cats. Our definition of “healthy” is based on the State’s definition: dogs and cats without medical or behavioral issues, fully weaned and social. It excludes obviously unhealthy animals (those with injuries and illnesses or those behaviorally scarred from past treatment and mistreatment) as well as unweaned kittens and feral cats. Sadly, in some cases like the ones mentioned above, all we can provide is a painless ending when resources have been exhausted. While we cannot save every treatable animal, we place every healthy animal into a new home. Staff, volunteers and supporters are equally proud of the fact that we make well, then adopt, between 100-150 treatable animals every month.

Educational programs, outreach clinics, and partnerships with other organizations bring our services to the many animals who never set paw in our shelter. We hold a monthly support group for those grieving the loss of a loved companion, assist county residents who face the daunting task of finding pet-friendly rental housing, offer multiple levels of obedience classes, offer a speakers bureau, and investigate hundreds of cruelty calls. PHS/SPCA is much more than a shelter. It's a place where dedicated professionals and volunteers share their passion, talent and commitment in service to the animals and people in the diverse communities that make up San Mateo County. We invite you to learn more about us.

Our Challenge Decades ago, The Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA’s biggest challenge was animal overpopulation. The number of incoming unwanted animals was staggering. In the mid 1970s, we took in 45,000 dogs and cats annually. Due to our work educating people (including schoolchildren) about the importance of spaying and neutering their pets and, equally important, making spay/neuter affordable, we now see far fewer incoming animals; around 10,000 dogs and cats each of the last few years. To further drive down this number, we added a mobile spay/neuter program; we bring our “surgery suite on wheels” into targeted neighborhoods and offer spay/neuter surgeries for free! We’re addressing other challenges as well.

Animal cruelty – We’ve established a Humane Investigations Dept. We intervene when animals are mistreated and present cases to our District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

Specialty care for animals -- Many animals arrive perfectly healthy. Others, however, require extensive medical care or one-on-one work with our Behavior Department staff before they can be placed in a new home. Donations to our Hope Program fund this life-saving work.

Visibility – since we choose to have donations directly benefit animals, we need to be creative in terms of getting our word out. Staff columns in local papers, an active mobile adoption program, several levels of obedience classes, this terrific website, school visits and summer camp, a Speakers Bureau, and an award-winning PSA airing on all network affiliates are among the many ways we expand our community profile.
Fifty Years of Innovation For more than 50 years, PHS/SPCA has been a progressive, often-modeled leader. Our roots trace to a small association of animal advocates who found deplorable conditions at the local pounds and established the Society. Soon thereafter, this new organization contracted with San Mateo County to provide animal control services -- the first such relationship of its kind. In the 1970s, PHS/SPCA became the first California humane society to have an on-site Spay/Neuter Clinic, a wildlife rehabilitation center and "get acquainted" rooms for the public to meet and play with shelter animals as part of the adoption process. By the late 1970s, the Society began teaching the humane treatment of animals to schoolchildren. In the 1980s, the Society began a mobile adoption program, and in the early 1990s, PHS/SPCA was among the first shelters to offer sheltering services for pets belonging to domestic abuse victims and a free animal behavior helpline for local pet owners. More recent innovations include a pet assisted therapy program which brings our volunteers and their pets to patients and residents in hospitals and other health care facilities, a department devoted to addressing animal cruelty and a mobile spay/neuter program which provides free surgeries for residents in targeted neighborhoods.