Author: Lisa Stanziano

Here at the shelter, 2021 is off to a great start!

The new shelter has received its official temporary occupancy permit and we’re putting the finishing touches on the building. From the freeway you can see our name in lights on the brick façade. We’re eagerly looking forward to the day when we can show you all around our new digs and welcome our volunteers back!

One of the first things you’ll notice is that we’ll have three entrances: a beautiful adoption lobby that will allow families to begin exploring pets they can bring home, a secure lobby for pet surrenders and lost pet searches, and a separate entrance for Bernie’s grooming customers. Being able to spread out a bit should result in a better experience for all of our clients.

Central to the first floor is a large outdoor play space, an ideal location to meet the dog of your dreams. Every dog will have much more space than they have in our current building.  The new veterinary suite is at least twice as big as the current space. We’ll have room for surgical and dental procedures, and separate recovery spaces. Behind the veterinary suite are isolation rooms to keep our contagious animals separate from the rest of the population.

To see more photos of the new building, click HERE.

The second floor is home to all of our other species. From the top of the stairs you’ll be able to see cats, birds, turtles and bunnies all in their separate rooms, ready to greet you.

As I write this, furniture installation has begun. We’re scheduled to move in the first week of March and will keep you updated on our progress. Hope to see you all soon!

Virginia Donohue
Executive Director

One silver lining from the shelter restrictions has been a transition of SFACC volunteers from working with animals in the building to fostering adoptable animals in their homes, which is hugely beneficial for both the animals and shelter staff. To continue reaping the benefits of this shift, the Behavior & Training team at SFACC has developed a custom online program to train volunteers for a new foster program called CHAMP (Caregivers Helping Animals Make Progress).

First, volunteers review an Introductory module, “Caring for Shelter Animals in Your Home,” that covers basic shelter policies and procedures for fostering and will be required of all new CHAMP foster caregivers. Second, volunteers complete a species-specific module on either dog or cat fostering before they become an official CHAMP. The dog and cat modules give an in-depth look at species-specific behavior, SFACC-approved training approaches, and fostering expectations.

The Behavior & Training team has been hard at work developing these modules to prepare new foster families to be successful and kudos to SFACC staff Lauren (LT) Taylor and Ariana Luchsinger. Special thanks to Daniel Quagliozzi of Go Cat Go SF for offering invaluable insight on the behavior of our feline friends and contributing a great deal of the cat-specific knowledge for foster volunteers.

According to Lauren Taylor, Behavior & Training Supervisor, SFACC currently has between 64-70 individuals signed up for emergency/COVID fostering–some have fostered multiple times, some fostered once and fell in love/decided to adopt their foster (‘foster wins’), some are still waiting in the wings for the right match. These individuals have supported us through the most difficult months of COVID and sprang to action when we needed them most.

Right now, 80 individuals have expressed interest in training for the new CHAMP program, and are in the middle of varying levels of onboarding/training. Of those, 27 have completed the Intro. module and either need to retake the quiz before proceeding or have passed the quiz and are awaiting the species-specific modules. New foster applications are coming in almost daily.

You do not need to be a current SFACC volunteer to join CHAMP! You just fill out an application online and wait for us to get back to you about next steps. Response time might be anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks depending on shelter staffing.

Fosters working in the CHAMP program will have access to Maddie’s Pet Assistant app, which is available for free and is a great resource for shelters and rescue organizations. The app gives advice on care, reminders on vaccinations, weight-tracking, and other tools to share photos and stories to help animals get adopted.

SFACC’s CHAMP program is a proud recipient of funding from Maddie’s Fund, helping to achieve a no-kill nation. The grant was used to cover foster supplies such as bowls, crates, Kongs, food bins, and enrichment for cats.