Geographic areas served: Contra Costa and Alameda Counties
Programs: The east bay spca operates two shelters and adoption centers for homeless dogs and cats. These pets are transferred from overcrowded municipal shelters, surrendered by owners who can no longer care for them, or brought into the shelter as strays by good samaritans. All incoming animals receive medical and behavioral evaluations; we provide comprehensive medical support (spay/neuter, vaccinations, short and long term treatments, soft tissue and orthopedic surgeries) and basic "good manners" training. Our skilled adoption counselors work with the public to best match families with pets. Animals that arrive at our shelters too young, too weak or too sick go into our foster care program for individual care prior to adoption. In 2017, 4,323 animals were sheltered by the east bay spca. 3,775 animals were adopted. Of the animals sheltered, 2,765 needed medical care before they could be adopted. More than 1,000 animals benefitted from foster care; our foster volunteers provided more than 28,000 hours of foster care.
the theodore b. Travers family veterinary clinic offers full-service, high-quality veterinary care to pet owners, shelter animals and other local rescues and shelters as well as low-cost and free vaccinations and spay and neuter surgeries. In 2014, we received certification from the american association of veterinary hospitals placing us among the top 12% of veterinary clinics nationwide. We also offer a low income assistance program, free spay/neuter for any pit bull or pit mix in alameda and contra costa counties, discounted spay/neuter for any chihuahua or chihuahua mix, and free veterinary outreach clinics in under-served neighborhoods throughout the year. In 2017: 8,830 spay/neuter surgeries including 342 free surgeries through the pit fix program; 249 discounted chihuahua fix surgeries through our chih fix program; and 342 dental exams were performed. More than 24,000 animals were vaccinated. Our veterinarians performed surgeries (non spay/neuter) on 514 owned dogs and cats and 141 from our shelters.
the east bay spca humane education program employs humane educators to lead mostly youth programs in alameda and contra costa counties. Services include after-school programs, youth volunteer clubs, behind-the-scenes shelter tours, community service programs, in-classroom visits, scout projects, community outreach events, adult workshops and special events. The largest and most popular program, animal camp, offers k-12th grade students activities focused on all animals including service-learning projects, hands-on veterinary practices, animal-related career activities and socializing with shelter and a wide variety of other animals. Curricula are tailored to specific age and grade levels, state content standards, and scout, school or community groups' needs. In 2017, the humane education department continued to grow, offering new camp programs and more classes and were able to conduct two teaching learning and compassion (tlc) programs, a six-week long, intensive after-school violence prevention program for teens and pre-teens. Humane educators deliver the multi-session care program (compassion, awareness, respect, education) program to k-8 classrooms in mostly title i or low-income schools. The program targets youth with barriers and is designed to decrease violence towards animals and people in their community. The interactive lessons include weekly animal visits and cover animal welfare, social justice and urban environmental challenges. Themes align with california content standards and focus on character education teaching skills for positive decision making and building empathy. In 2017, over 8,000 people were touched by east bay spca humane education programs. Humane educators led 133 care lessons reaching over 1,600 students. More than 480 participants in summer, winter and holiday animal camps. 296 youth volunteers through youth volunteer club and community service saturday programs. More than 700 participants of all ages toured our shelter facilities.
we believe that preventing cruelty to animals requires preventive strategies that change behaviors of pets and their owners as well as our community so we offer a variety of education and outreach programs. Humane advocate: the first program of its kind in the us, our humane advocate program matches qualifying families and their companion animals with local services including monthly pet food pantry, subsidized veterinary care at our clinic and offsite veterinary wellness clinics. The goal is to keep pets and their people together in healthy, happy homes. We provided more than 285 discounted spay/neuter surgeries, 3,600 free vaccinations, and more than $25,000 in financial assistance to 135 families in need and more than 11,000 pounds of food. Behavior and training: behavior issues are a primary reason that families surrender a pet to shelters. Many if not most behavioral issues can be resolved with proper training. Helping behaviorally challenged dogs is a top priority at the east bay spca. Our skilled behavior and training staff work with shelter animals to assure they are comfortable in their shelter home and on their best behavior when they join their new family. We provide a wealth of behavior and training resources for our community: a hotline to speak with trained staff and volunteers; an online library of links, information sheets and videos; and a full range of group and one-on-one training classes. In 2017, 295 dogs trained through our public dog training classes. 330 shelter dogs and cats were enrolled in behavior modification programs to help them get adopted. Volunteers: in 2017, volunteers gave over 36,000 hours of support - feeding shelter animals, cleaning kennels, photography, walking dogs, socializing cats and fostering neonate kittens to name just a few. We are very grateful to our community for this vital support. More than 750 people volunteered at the east bay spca in 2017. They contributed over 65,000 hours which is equal to 31 full-time employees.
