ANIMAL CONTROL
Acting as San Francisco's "Poundmaster"

In the late 19th century, San Francisco's city-run pound was a dismal place. Employees, known as "poundmen," were paid by the number of animals they impounded. They seized pet dogs from the arms of women and children, broke down fences to take horses and cattle, and treated the impounded animals brutally.

The San Francisco SPCA brought the abuses to light, and the citizens of San Francisco presented the Board of Supervisors with a petition demanding that the pound be placed under SF/SPCA control. Signed by 18,000 people, it was San Francisco's largest public petition to date. In 1891 SF/SPCA Trustee John Partridge was named City Poundmaster. However, political battles over control of the pound continued until 1905, when a court order gave The SF/SPCA full responsibility for animal control services in San Francisco.

Eighty-four years later, in 1989, The SF/SPCA turned over animal control functions to a new city department, San Francisco Animal Care and Control (SF/ACC). The move allowed The SF/SPCA to focus its resources on pioneering programs for the treatment and adoption of homeless cats and dogs. Meanwhile, SF/ACC built a city shelter and established itself as one the nation's leading municipal animal control agencies.

In 1994 The SF/SPCA and SF/ACC joined forces in a pact to guarantee a home for San Francisco's adoptable cats and dogs. Each year, more than 2,000 animals are transferred from SF/ACC to The SF/SPCA, where they stay until they find a home. Working together, The SF/SPCA and SF/ACC have made San Francisco the nation's safest city for homeless cats and dogs.