San Diego Humane Society & Spca

Evil people who shipped hundreds of small animals to a reptile live feed and let most of them be murdered. They get 10’s of millions in funding and still can’t be bothered to do anything about this.

Obviously they knew what was happening, otherwise they would care enough to DO SOMETHING.

In August 2023, the San Diego Humane Society transferred 300+ small mammal pets (rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, & mice) to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona. They were to have then been transferred to local Arizona small pet rescues. They never made it. Instead, the HSSA gave them to a local reptile breeder. The majority are missing and presumed dead having been used as reptile food. Some of the animals were recovered by concerned citizens. There are suspicions that this is not the first time this has happened, but never on such a large scale. SDHS takes no responsibility whatsoever, denies wrongdoing of any sort. Meanwhile, their CEO makes over $400K in base salary and other compensation. Nice money, if you can find it, for a non-profit.

This charity claims on their website that they get no government funding yet they get $16.8 million from the contract with the city. They shipped 323 small animals to Arizona that ended up with a snake breeder. 260+ are unaccounted for yet they are doing nothing to locate them or press charges against the people responsible for this. They only care about money.

The San Diego Humane Society is an outstanding animal welfare agency and a well run organization. I have been involved with SDHS as a donor and volunteer for over 20 years. I have adopted 4 cats from the SDHS. As a current Board Member, I am proud to be associated with the organization. Our staff and volunteers are dedicated and passionate. We've made a difference in thousands of animal lives and the people who love them.

I love animals! In some instances, I think I love animals more than people. I've been involved with the San Diego Humane Society for the past 3 years and have been very impressed with all they do to help our furry friends find homes. The new initiative Getting to Zero which intends to eliminate the euthanasia of all treatable pets is brilliant. It addresses the problem on many fronts including even accepting animals from other, overcrowded shelters in the area to prevent unnecessary euthanasia of treatable pets. The new President, Dr. Gary Weitzman, is very forward thinking and is making positive changes that will improve both our community and overall animal welfare. I am proud to be involved with the San Diego Humane Society and look forward to doing all that I can do to help animals.

My wife and I became involved in the San Diego Humane Society (SDHS) as donors several years ago. At the time it was a well run organization that effectively served the needs of the community. With the addition of it's new president, Dr. Gary Weitzman, it has really become a star amongst organizations of its type. Gary and his team have been instrumental in pushing the organization forward to meet challenging and important goals, such as it's Treatable Pet Initiative and Spay and Neuter Initiative. These are both innovative, far reaching projects that have already made a major impact on animals in the San Diego community. I have been asked to sit on a number of boards in the past and have always declined. I was asked to join the board at the San Diego Humane Society and gladly accepted. You have to come and see the center itself to get a feel for how committed everyone there is to helping the lives of animals in need and making sure that adoptions are smooth and successful. My wife and I remain strong supporters of SDHS, as volunteers, donors and board members. We are both very proud to be part of this organization.

I have been privileged to serve as principal outside legal counsel for the San Diego Humane Society for more than 20 years. Much of my time has been pro bono. I have never regretted that time commitment. I have consistently found the staff and volunteers to be inspiring in their devotion to the mission of the Society, never more so than now. As an attorney working with senior staff and a participant at virtually every Board of Trustees meeting, I am continually impressed by the care taken to ensure that donations are spent in a manner so as to maximize the animal welfare benefits, with a minmum allocated to adminstrative expense.

I have supported this charity for about 15 years now and am impressed by the quality of care and attention provided to all animals that come in and the dedicated commitment of staff to insure that all animals that are adopted out go to loving, responsible families. In addition, I am impressed by the maintenance of quality services while increasing the number of animals adopted out each month.

For several years I have been supporting this organization financially. Three years ago I joined their board and found it to be a very rewarding experience. My only goal is to help as many animals as possible and the San Diego Humane Society is doing just this. I am very proud to be associated with such an organization. Everybody I meet at the San Diego Humane Society has the same goals and that is to save as many animals as possible and find them happy new homes.

I continue to be so impressed every day by the inroads that the SDHS is making for animal welfare in this community. Under Dr. Weitzman's leadership, we have seen many new initiatives that have resulted in many more adoptions, spay and neuterings, and rescue of animals that are abused.
In addition, we now, thanks to the work of SDHS, have a law against selling puppies in stores which will help squash puppy mills. The work of this organization is vast and is changing the welfare of animals in our city.
I have been asked to serve on various boards and this one is the BEST!! I am honored to be a part of the organization.

Having been involved with the San Diego Humane Society for many years, I still continue to be amazed at the level of caring, professionalism and community service provided by the staff. This is an organization that really understands its mission - top to bottom - and lives animal welfare 24/7. I am proud to say that I give them my time, my small bit of expertise and my donations. I can't think of a more well-run non-profit.

As a donor, my involvement with the San Diego Humane Society has been eye opening and rewarding. Having gone through the acquisition of the Oceanside facility as a board member, I have seen the tremendously positive impact that SDHS has had in improving the quality of care for the animals, and the continued improvement in the facility. Neuter and spay programs have been instituted, and the commitment to re-home all animals is higher than ever. The campus on Gaines Street in San Diego, as well as the facility in Oceanside, offers many positive programs for the community and the staff is intent on providing the best possible services for the animals and the people who love them...

I have been volunteering with the San Diego Humane Society (SDHS) for about 3 years now and love the commitment that staff, management, and other volunteers have consistently made to help the animals. SDHS is a wonderful organization with such diverse programs to help the animals and educate the public regarding animal care. They perform animal adoptions, animal rescue, education sessions. One of my favorite projects is Project KEPPT (Keeping Every Person & Pet Together) which reaches out to the homeless folks with animals to provide necessary supplies and information so people can keep their animals. It is very well run under a new (actually 1 year now) president with lots of heart and great ideas. I LOVE volunteering with this organization that truly cares for the animals & people they serve, and appreciates its volunteers.

I looked at all of the organizations that focused on animal welfare and chose the SDHS as the organization that I wanted to work with in San Diego. I am a new board member and feel privileged to be a part of the team of dedicated people, all working for this wonderful organization and cause. The new CEO is fantastic, motivated and focused on exactly the right goals. The current initiatives are on target to help eliminate unnecessary euthanasia of adoptable and/or treatable pets. One of the best run nonprofits that I have been associated with.

I have been volunteering with the San Diego Humane Society for going on 6 years. I find that their commitment to the care and well-being of the animals is excellent surpassed only by the their commitment to have the animals adopted into wonderful homes. With the arrival of the new President, there are some wonderful new programs going into effect including low cost spay and neutering and new adoption programs. I adopted one of my cats from the Humane Society just 5 months ago and he has been a wonderful addition to our family. I highly recommend SDHS for a place to volunteer and to donate financially.

If the Board of Directors and upper management of the San Diego Humane Society continue their determined isolation from the San Diego animal community, their unreliable reporting of euthanasia statistics and refusal to follow Hayden's Law, they may expect to be the subject of yet another legal probe. Additionally, why is no portion of their current $17 million dollar budget spent on spay/neuter for the community--to prevent unwanted animal litters? And why is the marketing of adoptable shelter pets so very, very poor? Now that I see how my donation was spent: for salaries, for fundraising, for pet therapy--I am aghast.

Anyone considering a donation to the San Diego Humane Society should re-consider. The organization is poorly run by an individual who is more concerned with his own image than he is with the well-being of the animals whose lives he is responsible for. He has zero concern with keeping the promises he has made to the community to end the euthanasia of all treatable animals in the San Diegocommunity by increasing adoptions and implementing aggressive spay neuter programs. There are so many well deserving animal welfare organizations in San Diego...the SDHS is not one of them.

Beware of how the SDHS is using donor money. Excerpt from a recent letter from 11 former board members: In 2000, the SDHS distributed ¬Partners for Life¬ as part of a $21 million fundraising campaign for the new San Diego Animal Welfare Complex in which it promised to meet the goal of ending unnecessary euthanasia of pets by 2005. However in 2007, according to the only data made available to the public, approximately 2,500 animals were unnecessarily euthanized in San Diego County and by 2009 this number had doubled to more than 5,000. What the SDHS does best is to raise money by tugging at the heartstrings of the public. When one compares its promises to its success, it is clear that the SDHS is only interested in securing public donations; the necessary programs have not been implemented to achieve the goals promised.