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Photos: Saturday's Hearing Dog Program Protest

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 $ ... More >>

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, objecte ... More >>

Dogs also losing their homes in foreclosure

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, objecte ... More >>

How Much for That Kitty in the Window?

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, objecte ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

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, objecte ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

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, objecte ... More >>

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The SPCA is struggling to finance a new hospital, and one way to save money is to speed up euthanasia.

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Shouldn't We Just Kill This Dog?

Does San Francisco's pit-bull testing program put good dogs in good homes -- or put lethal land sharks back on the street?

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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 S ... More >>

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 holdo ... More >>

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 -- ... More >>

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 b ... More >>

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 ... More >>

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 instruc ... More >>

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'r ... More >>

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-rela ... More >>

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 w ... More >>

Pssst, Buddy -- Wanna Buy a Used Cat? SPCA's $10 Kitty Ploy Divides S.F. Animal Activists.

​An automotive-themed SPCA promotion promising "certified pre-owned cats" -- no money down, zero percent APR, you can meow it away today -- has split the city's animal activist community. But, then, this may be progress -- when SPCA policies are brought up, the city's kitty and puppy people usuall ... More >>

10 Things to Do This Weekend For Under $10

​Finally! The decade from hell is officially over and now, with the world out of its childish '00s on to its '10-plus tweens, we have so many growing pains to look forward to. So what's your New Year's resolution? If it's to party like a charmed indie pop star on a meager roadie budget, why no ... More >>

You Can Haz Free Cat Food: Pet Food Giveaway at Potrero Hill SPCA Today

Eating. Always eating.​If you have a baby or a pet then you know that, annoyingly, they like to eat. Sometimes more than once a day. And if you don't feed them, you won't hear the end of it. And on top of it all, you have to pay for the food you feed them. It's a rotten deal, and one we don't envy ... More >>

Never Mind Those Pit Bull Maulings: 'Bun Bun,' 'Piglet' Need Good Homes

Leave Pit Bulls Alone!!!!!​Last week, a herd of pit bulls mauled a 2-year-old boy to death in Concord, and  an Oakland dog bit a girl's face over the weekend. They killed a 12-year-old boy in the Richmond District back in 2005, prompting a city law mandating all pits be spayed or neutered. Th ... More >>

'Jack Daniels,' Blind Kitten Stolen From S.F. SPCA, Turns Up -- In New York

Jack Daniels, found in NYC​Don't you just love it when you find your lost Jack Daniels? A partially blind three-month-old kitten named after the Tennessee bourbon, who was stolen in July of last year from the San Francisco SPCA, has turned up -- safe, sound, and 11 pounds -- in New York City.

'Jack Daniels,' SPCA's Stolen Kitten, Arriving from New York Today

Jack Daniels, like his namesake, has matured well with age​No one knows how "Jack Daniels," the partially blind kitten stolen last year from the San Francisco SPCA, made it all the way to New York. But we do know how he's coming back: On a big ol' jet airliner. The cat, now 13-months-old, is arriv ... More >>

SPCA Triumphs in Legal Dogfight, Wins $500,000 Inheritance

Ring, ring! Bad news, Hearing Dog Program...​After a lengthy legal dogfight, an appeals court judge has handed the San Francisco SPCA a half-million dollar inheritance. The battle was sparked last year when the Hearing Dog Program -- a nonprofit formed two years ago when the SPCA gutted its 29-yea ... More >>

Want to Adopt One of These Adorable Kittens? Name Your Price.

Jack Daniels the wonderkitty​The miraculous return of Jack Daniels, the bi-coastal, visually impaired kitty has brought plenty of press attention to the San Francisco's SPCA. Adoption applications for Jack Daniels -- who was abducted from San Francisco last year, then identified by a microchip in ... More >>

Cattle Stampede Planned for San Francisco Streets Tonight

Stop! You're violating the city charter! ​Here's the difference between Daly City and San Francisco: In the former, they'll have cows on the streets. Here we have people who think they're cows. Actually, tonight San Francisco will have cows trotting through its city streets as well. In order to co ... More >>

Puppies! Kitties! Macy's Pet Adoption Display Is Here.

What kind of cold-hearted bastard are you? Adopt him! ​People who love doggies and kitties -- and love adopting them, hint, hint -- can now fawn over the Macy's SPCA Adoption display. The pet-to-be display was unveiled on Friday at Union Square and will run until Jan. 2. A goal has been set to ado ... More >>

SPCA Macy's Window Has Slow Opening Weekend

You resisted his charms. Your loss. ​Vast throngs of shoppers cooed over the exorbitantly cute puppies and kitties romping within the SPCA Macy's pet adoption display. But a far smaller number of people took the plunge and took home a critter. Since the SPCA has set a goal of 320 adoptions by the ... More >>

Dog Day Afternoon

You resisted his charms. Your loss. ​Vast throngs of shoppers cooed over the exorbitantly cute puppies and kitties romping within the SPCA Macy's pet adoption display. But a far smaller number of people took the plunge and took home a critter. Since the SPCA has set a goal of 320 adoptions by the ... More >>

Bazaar Bizarre, Holiday Pups & Kitties, Mission Block Party, Silver Swans, and More

Photo by Holden PumphreySilver Swans play Milk this Friday​ This weekend you can scour cool handmade gift ideas, check out cute puppies and kitties in holiday-decorated windows, or dance in sweaty packs at a barrage of city clubs -- all for less than $10. Mission Holiday Block Party @ Mission Dis ... More >>

SPCA Adopts Out 200th Macy's Window Animal

Yours for the taking...​A kitty named Marmoset yesterday was adopted out of the SPCA's Union Square Macy's display window, marking the 200th creature to find a home since the display opened on Nov. 19. Sadly, however, the SPCA is off the pace required to meet its goal of adopting out 320 dogs or c ... More >>

SPCA Helps Find Homes For More Than 200 Cats and Dogs

Breaking Free​It's true that San Francisco is not considered a pet-friendly city. Still, it did a pretty good job over the holidays luring cat and dog lovers to Union Square, and then convincing them to adopt the homeless animals. In November, the SPCA launched its Macy's pet display, hoping to fi ... More >>

Help Stop Animal Hoarders, Spay and Neuter Your Dogs and Cats

So getting your dog and cat neutered probably won't cure society of animal hoarding, but you can be sure that if there are fewer pets procreating, then there are certainly fewer pets out there to hoard.Fix this problem ​With so many abandoned pets crowding the shelters, the San Francisco SPCA has ... More >>

'Pit Fix Month' Starts Now; Shelters Will Spay and Neuter Your Pup -- For Free

Still a man ​The San Francisco Animal Care & Control decided one way deal with dog overcrowding was to ship a bunch of Chihuahuas off to New York City. But even then, they admitted that won't make a blip in the pet overpopulation problem in San Francisco. "We will send 12 off tomorrow and we w ... More >>

S.F. Feral Cats Policy Good for Cats, Terrible for Birds

Still a man ​The San Francisco Animal Care & Control decided one way deal with dog overcrowding was to ship a bunch of Chihuahuas off to New York City. But even then, they admitted that won't make a blip in the pet overpopulation problem in San Francisco. "We will send 12 off tomorrow and we w ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

Still a man ​The San Francisco Animal Care & Control decided one way deal with dog overcrowding was to ship a bunch of Chihuahuas off to New York City. But even then, they admitted that won't make a blip in the pet overpopulation problem in San Francisco. "We will send 12 off tomorrow and we w ... More >>

Pilfered Pup Reunited with Family

Welcome home, buddy!​Amid the flurry of hard-hitting election news yesterday, we were also captivated by a tearjerker about a puppy stolen from the San Francisco SPCA just hours before it was to scheduled to be adopted by a family. Fortunately, we can report good news today: Bodhi, an adorable lig ... More >>

Busted: Puppy Thieves Caught on Video (Photos)

Earlier today, we gave readers a happy ending to the story of a adorable pit bull puppy that was brazenly snatched from the Mission District animal shelter just hours before he was scheduled to be adopted. Fortunately, a woman, who says she bought the dog outside a Safeway for $200, returned the pup ... More >>

Dog Tossed From Moving Car Is Missing

Frosty​Crimes against animals are just unforgivable. The Santa Cruz SPCA issued an alert for the public's help in finding Frosty, a 1-year-old cream-colored poodle-terrier mix who went missing this week from the local SPCA. The last sighting of Frosty was on Monday when someone witnessed Frosty be ... More >>

Pup Tossed from Moving Car Found Alive

Welcome home, Frosty!​We've been giving readers a lot of depressing news about dogs being shot and killed this week. So here's an uplifting story with a happy ending. Frosty, the cute 1-year-old poodle-terrier mix whose photo was plastered everywhere after being tossed from a moving car, has been ... More >>

SPCA Raising Money for Stolen Dog Found with Eye, Ear and Teeth Missing

This tragedy has the Wicked Witch of the West written all over it.​As if we needed any more reason to doubt the future of humanity, here's yet another horrifying tale. Yvette Acevedo's 12-year-old Yorkie, Toto, was stolen out of her backyard in Hayward early last year. After canvassing the neighbo ... More >>