Adoption Center

No. Our adoption center is walk-in only, so we operate on a first-come, first-served system. When you arrive, simply sign in at one of our self-service kiosks, and our team will walk you through the next steps. 

During our adoption process, we want to ensure that you have enough time to view as many animals as you’d like, get all your questions answered, and feel confident in your decision. The process takes about an hour, but can vary from person to person. We recommend visiting on a day when you’re not pressed for time.

Our adoption center has large and small dogs and a team of adoption counselors ready to help you find your perfect match. Our dogs are typically mixes of popular dog breeds like Australian Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, German Shepherds, Chihuahuas, Pit Bulls, and Terriers.

Yes. We refresh our website every 15 minutes to ensure that it reflects all our available animals. When an animal is available for adoption, we add their profile to our website. As soon as an animal is adopted, we remove their profile. When you visit our adoption center, you may see animals that aren’t listed on the website. This means that they’re not yet ready for adoption because they may be receiving health checks or recovering from surgery.

If you see that an animal is “free” or that their adoption fees have been waived, it means that our generous SF SPCA donors have sponsored their adoption. Sponsoring adoption fees help us get animals out of our shelter and into loving homes faster.

No, we do not reserve or place holds on animals. Your adoption is not complete until you submit your payment.

No. Although the SF SPCA rescued animals like pigs and horses when we were first founded in 1868, we currently only house cats and dogs.

Although our animals are cute, you can only physically interact with them if considering adoption. Our animals get plenty of love from our staff and volunteers during the day, and we don’t want to stress them out by introducing them to too many strangers.

Every animal on our adoption floor is medically and behaviorally assessed throughout their time at our shelter. Each animal is altered (spayed or neutered), microchipped, vaccinated, and given preventative flea, tick, and worm medications before they’re available for adoption. However, we recommend taking your new cat or dog to the veterinarian for a standard check-up after adoption. 

Yes. All of our adoptable animals receive a complimentary round of age-appropriate vaccines. However, your veterinarian may recommend additional vaccines and other preventive care.

We will only accept a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, state identification card, or U.S. passport. 

When you adopt from the SF SPCA, we send you and your new companion home with a few days’ worth of food, a collar, a leash (if you’re adopting a dog), a cardboard carrier (if you’re adopting a cat), and a 20% discount coupon to Pet Food Express. We also sell basic supplies like harnesses, slow feeders, cat toys, and more at our adoption center.

Yes. We completely understand if an adoption doesn’t work out. The SF SPCA will always accept animals previously adopted from us with no judgment and no time limit. If behavior is an issue, we recommend meeting with our veterinary behaviorists or reviewing our behavior resources for advice.