Our Adoption Counselors take great care to explain what adopters can expect from the pet they are interested in and match needs and energy levels of animals with the adopter’s lifestyle. The process is an educational opportunity, not an interview, and our goal is to make as many matches as possible.

Dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, mice, birds, exotic animals and an occasional farm animal. Every day new animals are available. Visit in person, call 650-340-7022, or check out our website here.

Dogs and cats receive health and temperament screening, initial vaccinations, a microchip, spay/neuter surgery and a free vet visit with a participating veterinarian.   Rabbits receive all of the above except a microchip.  Small animals and exotic pets also receive health and temperament screening and a free vet visit.  Adopters may schedule an appointment with our veterinarian for specific medical concerns that arise within 14 days of adoption.

Visit us between 11 am and 7 pm (6 pm on weekends) at the San Mateo shelter located at 12 Airport Blvd.  Complete a Lost Animal Report, check records of incoming animals, and walk through the shelter with a staff member to look for your animal. Come back every day, post flyers where allowed and don’t give up! Click here for more information.

When a pet comes finds his/her way to our shelter either by being stray or by being relinquished by his/her owner, we provide care for every single one. Reunification is always the goal when possible — if an animal arrives with any identification, we do our best to trace it back to its owner. Every animal goes through a series of medical and behavioral evaluations, and if they’re happy and healthy, they’ll be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped, then moved up for adoption. Sometimes an animal needs a little extra support, whether behavioral or medical, and in those cases, we develop and carry out the best treatment plan for that animal. In situations where an animal is too ill to be made well or too dangerous to safely be placed in a home, we will humanely euthanize them. We’re proud to say that we find homes for 100% of our healthy and adoptable dogs and cats each year!

While in the field, our animal rescue and control team members will call the shelter with the ID information in an attempt to get the owner’s address or phone number. If no one is home or available, the animal is brought to PHS/SPCA and the owner is contacted daily for 4 days.

Our spay/neuter clinic offers low-cost surgeries for dogs, cats and rabbits. Scheduling is done online and books up to one month in advance. There is a non-refundable deposit when scheduling appointments. Click here for more information.

If your property is within San Mateo County, yes, you may bring the stray cats on your property to us. Cats are held for at least four days to give owners a chance to claim them.  If unclaimed, they are given a health check and a temperament evaluation to see if they can go up for adoption.

PHS/SPCA investigates all cruelty or neglect complaints. If we find a complaint to be valid, we submit findings to the District Attorney’s Office. The DA’s Office – and not PHS/SPCA – assigns charges and penalties. Call 650-340-7022 ext. 601 or send an e-mail to reportcruelty@PHS-SPCA.org to report animal cruelty or neglect.

PHS/SPCA is a local, private nonprofit organization dedicated to animal welfare, and we rely on donations to fund our wide range of programs and services. These include adoption, low-cost spay and neuter, cruelty investigations, education programs, behavior and training, pet-assisted therapy, a pet food bank, and extensive veterinary care for shelter animals in need. Our Wildlife Care Center — including wildlife rehabilitation and imperiled species programs — is funded through the generous support of a private foundation. We are contracted with San Mateo County to provide animal rescue and control services. PHS/SPCA is not affiliated with and receives no funding from any national sounding organizations — donations made to us stay here, helping local animals in our community.

Yes, yes and yes! You can purchase a license or microchip form of ID at either shelter in Burlingame or San Mateo any day, except for major holidays, no appointment needed. If your animal needs vaccinations, you can make an appointment at our low-cost clinic. Click here for more information.

Yes, much more. They initiate animal cruelty investigations, help injured domestic animals and wildlife, perform heroic rescues and uphold animal laws. Their mission is to keep animals and people safe while educating the public.

We do not deny adoption chances to any breed. However, all dogs receive a thorough temperament evaluation before being placed for adoption. We also take great care when placing pets, ensuring they go to adopters who can demonstrate a thorough understanding of the breed.

Our mission is to build healthy relationships between people and animals.  While one goal is to care for stray and unwanted animals, another is to address roots of problems: cruelty, neglect and overpopulation. We provide education for schoolchildren, a free Pet Loss Grief Support group, various obedience classes and a free Behavior Helpline at 340-7022 ext. 783 or, en Español ext. 786. These are some of the programs and services that make us a humane society and much more than a pound. For more information about these programs, see the “Our Services” section of our website.

We offer behavior training classes to members of the public who are interested in training their puppy or adult dog. The classes range from beginner, intermediate to advanced training.  We offer consultations to address dog and cat behavior as well as have playgroup sessions for puppies. We also offer the specialized Canine Good Citizen Prep Class (CGC).  Passing the CGC Test is one of the first steps towards applying to our Pet Assisted Therapy program. For more information, please visit here.

Our Wildlife Care Center in Saratoga accepts sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife every day including holidays, from 9 am to 6 pm, serving Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties. Our mission is to rehabilitate animals and release them back into the wild.

Wildlife in need may be dropped off at any of our three intake locations:

• Burlingame Shelter — 1450 Rollins Road, Burlingame, 9 am to 6 pm daily including holidays (wildlife hours only)
• Wildlife Care Center — 24103 Congress Springs Road, Saratoga (off Route 9), 9 am to 6 pm daily including holidays
• South Bay Intake — 3027 Penitencia Creek Road, San Jose, 9 am to 6 pm daily including holidays

Animals are stabilized at the Burlingame and San Jose locations and then transported to the Wildlife Care Center in Saratoga

• Santa Clara County: VEG (Veterinary Emergency Group) — 725 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95131 | (408) 834-8180
• San Mateo County: PHS/SPCA Coyote Point Shelter — 12 Airport Blvd, San Mateo, CA 94401 | (650) 340-7022

We accept all native songbirds, waterbirds, owls, hawks, squirrels, opossums, raccoons, skunks, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, bats, reptiles and amphibians. 
We do not accept mountain lions, adult deer, and wild boar.

Animals are generally released within 1 to 5 miles of where they were found, unless they are larger mammals such as coyotes, bobcats and foxes in which we work with California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to determine an appropriate location.

In California, it is illegal to keep wildlife for longer than 24 hours.

Call PHS/SPCA at 650-340-7022 and listen for prompt or check out our website here for tips  on making your property less appealing to wildlife.  The most successful way to deal humanely with nuisance wildlife is through education, not removal. To keep nuisance wildlife away, people must eliminate that which is attracting wildlife; usually, an inadvertent source of food, water or shelter.

Adopt, donate, spread the word or volunteer. To donate call 650-340-7022 ext. 327 or visit us online here. To volunteer, click here.

Because we spend a great deal of time investing in volunteers and their training, we ask for a one-year commitment with a weekly contribution of 2 to 4 hours, depending on the department.  For more information on the volunteer program visit here.

Yes, interns learn about the care and feeding of wildlife, basic husbandry skills, and receive hands-on experiences.  Recruitment begins in January each year and is open until each term is filled. Click here for more information.

Our Pet Assisted Therapy program (PAT) involves local residents who partner with their pets — dogs, cats, or small animals — to visit healthcare facilities, schools, libraries, drug rehabilitation centers, and correctional facilities. Pets offer the unique kind of therapeutic interaction only an animal can provide. The PAT program is looking for confident, sociable, well-mannered, well-groomed, and healthy pets that would enjoy this type of work; and handlers who have great interpersonal skills, prioritize the safety, health and welfare of their pet, are flexible, reliable, and enjoy interacting with new people. For more information visit here.

Our education department offers a variety of programming for students in San Mateo County and Santa Clara County.  This includes classroom presentations, shelter tours, field trips, scout programs, shelter tales, vet shadow program, educational programs for the community, and animal and nature/wildlife-themed summer camps. We offer educational materials for teachers as well.  For more information on our pet and farm animal education programs visit here.  For more information on our wildlife education programs visit here.

Please refer them to our Pet Loss Support Group which meets the second Thursday evening of each month via Zoom.  It is led by a professional facilitator and designed to help those who need support beyond that which they are receiving from family and friends.  For meeting dates and for additional resources visit our website.

The pet food bank is a safety net for people and their pets in San Mateo County and helps pet owners feed their pets. This service is for low-income San Mateo County residents.  There is a short waiting list for the food bank. Please visit the food bank webpage for more information and to add your name on the waitlist.

If your service club, organization, or company would like to learn more about the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA, we’d be happy to visit. We attend local events, service club meetings, and community fairs throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, where we share information about our programs, services, and volunteer opportunities. To schedule a visit, please contact us through our Contact Us page here.