Subject: The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

• Hang On to Your Nuts: Spay/Neuter Pit Bulls For Free

  January 21, 2008

• S.F. Art Institute Yanks Exhibit Over Animal Cruelty Outrage

  March 27, 2008

• Photos: Saturday's Hearing Dog Program Protest

  June 3, 2008

• Every Dog Has His Day -- In Court: $500,000 Bequest Spurs Legal Dogfight

  Never fear, a probate judge is hereNot quite a year after it abruptly curtailed its 29-year-old hearing dog program and all but frog-marched several workers out of the building, the San Francisco SPCA is now claiming that, no, the hearing dog program never really ended -- and the SPCA should get a $500,000 bequest earmarked for the program. That's the basis of a literal legal dogfight scheduled for Tuesday in San Mateo County Probate Court when the SPCA does battle over that half-million dollars

  March 20, 2009

• Legal Dogfight Over $500K Bequest Remains Unresolved

  A legal battle over which hearing dog program is entitled to a half-million dollar bequest went into overtime yesterday. The Hearing Dog Program, a San Francisco nonprofit formed by the workers laid off by the San Francisco SPCA when it liquidated its 29-year-old hearing dog program in 2008, objected to the money going to the SPCA. Its directors claim the money is rightfully theirs -- while Canine Companions for Independence -- which took SPCA referrals last year -- says the money should go ther

  March 25, 2009

• Dog Bites

  May 29, 1996

• Dogs also losing their homes in foreclosure

  February 11, 2009

• How Much for That Kitty in the Window?

  December 10, 2008

• Point of (a Great) View

  December 17, 2008

• The Beer Whisperer

  December 3, 2008

• SF Weekly Letters

  June 25, 2008

• SF Weekly Letters

  June 18, 2008

• A Time to Kill

  June 11, 2008

• Psycho Dogs

  What makes canines go crazy? The answer is in their genes.

  March 7, 2007

• Hippie Puppy Chow

  July 12, 2006

• Undead Can Dance

  Dog Bites braves crime scenes and liquor lines to cover a dance-off between two zombie hordes

  November 9, 2005

• Swing and Scarf

  October 6, 2004

• A Graceful Exit

  September 15, 2004

• Not Daddy Warbucks

  Kids are bad people, too

  November 19, 2003

• Shops and Gifts

  November 19, 2003

• Diversity in the South

  October 29, 2003

• Heavy Petting

  Who Needs Friendster?

  August 6, 2003

• Saddle Up

  May 28, 2003

• Best Reason to Watch the San Francisco Government Access Channel

  SPCA Pet Adoption Programming

  May 14, 2003

• Night & Day

  June 2, 1999

• Side Dish

  February 24, 1999

• Night + Day

  July 22, 1998

• Night + Day

  June 3, 1998

• Dog Bites

  April 1, 1998

• The Grid

  October 15, 1997

• Letters

  July 2, 1997

• Shouldn't We Just Kill This Dog?

  June 11, 1997

• Night+Day

  June 4, 1997

• What's Best -- Pistol or Pit Bull?

  April 9, 1997

• Night+Day

  April 2, 1997

• Night+Day

  May 10, 1995

• Dog Day Afternoon: Battle Over $500K Bequest For Hearing Dog Program Continues Today

  Which organization will be top dog? Throw a pile of food on the ground, and all but the most beatific dogs will scramble for what's theirs. Turns out, if you do the same thing with a pile of money, hearing dog programs don't share well, either. When a $500,000 bequest was recently awarded to the San Francisco SPCA's hearing dog program -- despite the fact said program was very publicly curtailed last year -- the SPCA claimed that, yes, of course it still had a program. Meanwhile, the staff of

  April 28, 2009

• Urban Cat Hunting: Out Trapping Feral Felines For the SPCA

  Joe EskenaziThe trap is baited...The sun was starting to dip beneath the horizon when the call came in. It was supposed to be a relatively easy job -- we were to finish cleaning up a colony out by Ocean Beach. Four kitties had already been bagged and, tonight, our mission was to snare the lone holdout -- a stubborn little tortoiseshell who, so far, had proven trap savvy. On any given day, one to 10 volunteers are off trapping feral cats for San Francisco's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty t

  April 29, 2009

• Meow, Wow: San Francisco Named a Top-10 Place to Own a Cat

  Locals are overjoyed at San Francisco being named one of the nation's cat-friendliest citiesWhenever San Francisco cracks another Top-10 list, locals ought to have two reactions: 1. "That's great! I knew there was a reason I'm paying so much rent," and;2. "Who's putting this list out?" So when our city was named one of the 10 Cat-Friendliest late last week -- well, super! As far as explaining who the hell the CATalyst Council is to make such a designation, that's a whole other ball of yarn. Acco

  May 4, 2009

• Farewell to Oreo

  May 6, 2009

• Department of D'oh: Hearing Dog Program Releases Promotional Video -- Neglects to Add Captions For Benefit of Hard-of-Hearing

  Not long ago, we wrote about San Francisco's Hearing Dog Program, a recently formed nonprofit staffed by the folks who used to run the SPCA's program (until it was essentially disbanded last year). The Hearing Dog Program recently lost its legal dogfight with the SPCA to claim a $500,000 bequest -- but, last month, still managed to graduate its first class of meticulously trained hearing dogs. The above video demonstrates just what those dogs can do -- and is intended to raise the organization's

  June 10, 2009

• Gray Muzzle? No Problem! S.F. Nonprofit Finds Homes for Old Mutts.

  Bella, a lady in search of a homeThe King of Pop is dead, child predators roam the friendly skies, and California's economy is grinding to a halt while our Austrian-born governor unwinds in his jacuzzi. But it's not all bad news out there, folks. Once in a while we get wind of a project that does good in the world free from the taint of greed, pride, or ideological bias. The latest is Muttville.Muttville is a San Francisco-based nonprofit that finds homes for old dogs. Its founder, Sherri Frankl

  July 17, 2009

• Japanese Railway's Cat Mascot Brings in Millions. We've got Railways. We've Got Cats. Why Not Here?

  Tama the railway cat has boosted her employer's revenues by 10 percent. Care to come to San Francisco on your vacation, kitty?​By now, many of you will have read the made-for-the-Web story of Tama, the calico savior of Kishikawa station. When the owners of the Japanese Wakayama Railway got wind of the adorable, social cat hanging out at the station greeting passengers, they reacted the way basketball scouts did when they saw LeBron James dunking in junior high school. The rail line designated

  August 17, 2009

• What Do You Do When You Lose Out on $500,000 Inheritance? Hold $500 Garage Sale.

  Readers may recall a series of stories we wrote earlier this year about San Francisco's Hearing Dog Program. The non-profit, composed of former employees of the 30-year-old program abruptly discontinued by the SPCA in 2008, in April lost in a court case in which it claimed that it was the rightful beneficiary of a half-million dollar behest for the SPCA's hearing dog program, not the SPCA. So what do you do when you can't pick up $500,000 inheritances? You attempt to raise a cool $500 bucks with

  September 10, 2009

• San Francisco SPCA Offers to Train Deaf Woman's Dog Over the Phone

  'Sit!'​A woman who obtained her assistance dog from the San Francisco SPCA several years ago has told SF Weekly that she was shocked that an SPCA trainer e-mailed her asking if her scheduled in-person refresher training session could instead be conducted over the phone. While dog-training over the phone is a novel concept, the kicker here is that Patricia Frieze is deaf -- and the animal in question, Cragmont, is her hearing assistance dog. "It was suggested ... that I deal with her and Cragmo

  September 18, 2009

• More Shake-Ups at San Francisco SPCA

  ​ After being closed all day Thursday for a series of mandatory staff meetings, San Francisco's SPCA re-opened today -- but not, it seems, with all the services available previously. The SPCA has now posted on its Web site that its internationally renowned Academy for Dog Trainers -- which instructed animal trainers from around the nation and world -- will be shut down. Instructors Jean Donaldson and Janis Bradley will be working to "develop a new educational offering outside the SF SPCA."&nbs

  October 2, 2009

• SPCA Thanks Volunteers for Their Efforts, Reminds Them To Keep Mouths Shut

  ​The San Francisco SPCA is in the news for the wrong reasons of late: a scathing feature in Northside Magazine; layoffs of 15 percent of the workforce (which critics say will expedite the euthanization of animals in the name of economic savings); and a TV report in which SPCA brass admitted they're hemorrhaging money on their new, for-profit hospital. With that in mind, SPCA volunteers were sent a note earlier this month reminding them they're "an amazing group of volunteers," and their "suppo

  October 7, 2009

• Critics Slam SPCA's Hiring Priorities As Valuing Money Over Animal Welfare

  A neat trick​Less than a month after shedding 22 employees -- 15 percent of its workforce -- the San Francisco SPCA is hiring again. It is not, however, seeking trainers or other personnel who work directly with animals to replace the many who were shown the door in the latest round of budget-related cutbacks. But if you can make donors jump through a hoop -- send a resume. The SPCA is seeking a major gifts manager as well as a communications associate and development assistant to aid with PR

  October 27, 2009

• Detractors Rejoice After SPCA President Jan McHugh-Smith Announces Departure

  Jan McHugh-Smith​The brief and controversial reign of San Francisco SPCA President Jan McHugh-Smith will end in March of 2010. At that point she'll pack up and move back to Colorado and begin a job with Humane Society Pike's Peak Region, the largest animal shelter in southern and western Colorado.A sizable group of animal-loving San Franciscans couldn't be more delighted. "It's fantastic that her contract is not being renewed," said Hope Johnson, an SPCA volunteer-turned-outspo

  November 19, 2009

• It's Your Friday Morning News Quiz!

  He's frightfully busy...​Resignations! Condemnations! Tribulations! It's your Friday morning news quiz! 1. SF Weekly broke the story this week that former Supervisor and State Senator Carole Migden did what? A. Ran over more peopleB. Cursed a former staffer out on live televisionC. Opted not to run for supervisor againD. Failed to pay taxes between 1991 and 20062. Just how many SEIU workers are facing pending layoffs anyway? A. 546B. 500C. 45 to 100 D. Any of these3. What was found hidden bene

  November 20, 2009