Letter from Our Interim Co-Presidents

Dear Friends of the SFSPCA,

We'd like to start this month by telling you about a recent heartwarming story of one of our shelter animals, Wiggle Worm – a kitten. Wiggle Worm was surrendered to the SFSPCA when he was four weeks old and covered in ringworm lesions, a highly contagious condition which takes weeks to cure. Often animals like Wiggle Worm are euthanized. Because the SFSPCA's state of the art Leanne B. Roberts Shelter Medicine Program is the first stop for cats and dogs as part of the adoption process, we are able to rescue and rehabilitate animals like Wiggle Worm. We are thrilled to say that Wiggle Worm fully recovered and was recently adopted from Maddie's Adoption Center.

Despite signs of the economy slowly recovering, we are still experiencing the impact of hard financial times on shelter animals. Many shelters and rescues are at capacity with animals – particularly cats – and they are finding new homes at a slower rate than in previous years. We are also seeing more veterinary hospital clients needing financial aid, and many who unfortunately have delayed care for their cats and dogs because they feel they can't afford it. In response to these needs, the SFSPCA is extending our services to help animals and their guardians. We'd like to take the opportunity to update you on some of these efforts.

The SFSPCA is offering increased charity programs to alleviate the financial burden to guardians who might otherwise face the prospect of relinquishing their animals because of the economy. The Leanne B. Roberts Veterinary Hospital is one of the only safety nets in the community for guardians with demonstrated need who can qualify to receive discounted or free medical care for their animal companions.

And because some guardians can't come to us, we are reaching out to them. One way is through our monthly Mobile Vaccine Clinic, which provides FREE Distemper-Hepatitis-Parvovirus (DHP) vaccines in underserved communities where our research found high rates of serious canine diseases. Among other benefits, the DHP vaccine prevents dogs from contracting Parvovirus, which is highly contagious and costly to treat.

Now that we're in the throes of kitten season, our foster care staff and volunteers have stepped up to the challenge. We've strengthened our foster program to handle the increased numbers and are developing creative ways to encourage adopters to consider our wonderful older cats. During the first weekend in August, we hosted our 72-in-72 event, where our goal was to adopt out 72 animals (primarily cats) in 72 hours. We solidly beat that goal and found 89 animals loving new homes!

We're also proud of the support we've been able to offer the large community of amazing animal welfare and rescue organizations in the city. These organizations – foster programs, specialized rescues and others – provide critical services to animals and their owners. We are increasing our support for them by offering below-cost medical and spay/neuter services and building new partnerships to serve San Francisco.

Lastly, we've expanded our owner surrender capabilities and are on track this year to accept 150% more surrenders from human companions who are facing hardship and no longer able to care for their cat or dog. Our new policy will help ease the burden with San Francisco Animal Care and Control, our partner for nearly 30 years, to help save more animals like Wiggle Worm.

We're stepping up to meet the challenges of these difficult economic times, but we depend on our community for support. There are three ways to help: 1) Open your home to a shelter animal (or two); 2) Spend a few hours each week volunteering (San Francisco magazine named us as one of the top non-profits to volunteer) or 3) make a gift today to support our homeless animals. Thank you.

Sincerely,