Cruelty Investigations & Reporting

There is nothing more important than our anti-cruelty work and we appreciate that so many residents care about animals to report suspected animal cruelty and neglect to us. Our anti-cruelty work is limited to San Mateo County. If you observed a questionable incident in another county, please contact the animal welfare group located in that county.

Responding to reports of animal cruelty is vital work, performed at PHS/SPCA by two highly trained Humane Investigators. In cases involving unintentional neglect, we generally make education-only, welfare visits. However, we can and do remove animals from harm’s way when abuse is clear and intentional, then work with our District Attorney’s Office which prosecutes violators. Please understand that our Humane Investigators are required to work under existing, imperfect state laws. By law, people must provide their pets with food, water, shelter, sanitary living conditions, and any necessary veterinary care. This means that people can leave a dog in a yard all day without walks or socialization. Though inhumane in our view, it’s not illegal.

 

To begin an investigation PHS/SPCA needs people with firsthand knowledge to be the ones reporting the situation. Second and third hand reports do not rise to the level of probable cause as far as the 4th Amendment is concerned. The 4th Amendment in part says: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…” Animals are property and as such PHS/SPCA has no right to enter property to view animals or situations that aren’t in plain sight, unless some level of exigency is also involved.

PHS/SPCA does not handle barking dog complaints – please contact your City (or the County if you’re in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County) to find out the proper barking dog complaint reporting procedure. Often people call us with false or misleading information in order to get us to respond to what is actually a barking complaint or some other (often non-animal related) neighborhood dispute. Calling in false or misleading situations to get us to respond only prevents our two Humane Investigators from being able to quickly respond to situations of real animal cruelty or neglect.