Q: Why the Confusing Mix of Animal Agencies?

In this week's column I'd like to answer the question below about the different types of animal organizations.

Q:  What is the difference between an Animal Shelter and a Humane Society or Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)?  Why do we have so many in Sonoma County but there is only one in Marin County?

A:  This question comes up a lot with people who are looking for a lost pet or trying to find the right one to adopt. 

There are six facilities in Sonoma County, not to mention many rescue groups holding adoption events locally each week.  The two main distinctions between animal shelters and humane societies or SPCAs are the funding source and whether they are "open-door admission" or "limited admission." 

Animal shelters are municipally run, meaning they are funded either by a City or a County and therefore must have an open-door policy, taking in anything found stray within their jurisdiction, and owner surrendered animals from their residents.  Humane Societies or SPCAs on the other hand are private organizations, usually set up as 501(c)3 non-profit agencies. Many private organizations, in an effort to be "no kill," carefully screen the animals they accept into their adoption program so they can have a 100 percent adoption rate and turn away the rest.

When a group of animal-loving people come together to set up an organization they can pick any name they want — they can call themselves a rescue group, an Animal Welfare League, a Humane Society, etc.  There is no umbrella organization that they are part of, no set criteria about how they run (other than following the IRS guidelines to qualify as a 501(c)3 organization), or even rules about what they can or cannot do.  They are not franchises of any national organization.  There are Humane Societies that are shelter-less and focus instead on spay/neuter and education efforts, SPCAs that have been busted for poor animal conditions, and animal shelters that are as progressive as some of the non-profit agencies.

In Sonoma County, we have three municipally run shelters — in Petaluma, Rohnert Park and the County Shelter located in Windsor.  We also have four private shelters: Healdsburg, who has a contract with that city, Pets Lifeline in Sonoma, Forgotten Felines, which focuses on feral cats and has an adoption room inside the Rohnert Park Shelter and the Sonoma Humane Society on Highway 12. 

Marin County, on the other hand, has one Humane Society, located in Novato, that has contracts with all of the cities and the County of Marin to house their animals and provide animal control services.  There are pros and cons to each method of providing services.  Marin certainly streamlines and reduces duplication of services, but it is hardly convenient for the residents of Southern Marin and not very responsive to individual community differences.

This distinction is especially important during the holiday season when you will receive donation requests from various animal organizations asking for your support.  Please know that there is no sharing of funds! 

I can't tell you the number of times that someone has said "I support you, I sent a donation to the HSUS (Humane Society of the United States)."  They are a wonderful national organization and they do things for animals on the big scale: federal legislation, national promotions, etc.  But money does not trickle down to the local agencies.  Even our local Humane Society does not share any money —donations to them go only to their organization. 

If you want to support the animals in Rohnert Park and Cotati, please send your donation directly to us, or to our volunteer non-profit group, the Animal Shelter League of Rohnert Park (ASL).  Donations can be sent to their attention to the shelter address: 301 J. Rogers Ln., Rohnert Park 94928, or you can donate on-line here.  This way you are directly helping the animals in your community.

P.S.  Our wish list is also available at that website!

Remember that this is YOUR pet column, so please send in your questions and concerns!