Policies
San Diego Humane Society has policies in place to ensure the well-being of our animals, employees and guests.
San Diego Humane Society’s mission to inspire compassion for people and animals is reflected in our adoption philosophy: Every pet has the right to a continuous and nurturing relationship with people who convey an enduring sense of love and care.
SDHS will care for more than 40,000 companion animals in the upcoming year; pets who come to us from the cities of Carlsbad, Del Mar, El Cajon, Encinitas, Escondido, La Mesa, Oceanside, Poway, San Diego, San Marcos, Santee, Solana Beach and Vista for a variety of reasons:
- Owners are no longer able to care for them.
- Other animal welfare partners needing assistance, transfer them.
- Pets are involved in cruelty cases.
- Pets are lost or abandoned.
Our adoption policy is designed to provide the best care for all animals in need of shelter, foster care, medical treatment and behavior rehabilitation.
The fundamental principles guiding this approach include:
We promote a respectful, conversation-based adoption program that strives to provide exceptional guest services, educate prospective adopters and assist in matching people with a pet who best suits their lifestyle expectations. Our trained adoption counselors are knowledgeable in animal behavior and offer their expertise in the matchmaking process — with the goal of assisting the adopter in choosing a pet who best fits their lifestyle, home environment and individual preferences. Ultimately, it is the adopter who will choose their new pet under the guidance of our counselors and in accordance with our adoption policy.
We ensure all pets receive special care and service. Each pet entering our shelter receives an examination by our professionally trained staff members. The exam may include:
- Vaccinations according to SDHS protocol.
- De-wormer.
- Flea treatment.
- Microchip identification – most pets are microchipped; not small animals such as hamsters.
- Spay or neuter surgery - All dogs, cats, rabbits and male chinchillas are spayed or neutered prior to adoption. Guinea pigs, rats, hamsters and female chinchillas are not surgically sterilized due to the heightened anesthetic risk.
- Diagnostic services such as X-rays, ultrasounds and various types of surgeries through our campus hospitals.
There may be instances when an adoptable pet requires a medical consultation prior to being adopted in order to inform adopters of any known medical conditions. When available, we will include seven days of medications or prescription diets. For those medical conditions not detected while in our care, we encourage adopters to take advantage of the complimentary wellness exam provided by many community veterinarians and the free quote from Fetch Pet Insurance.
Incoming pets are evaluated according to the Asilomar Conditions Definitions for the San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition as well as their known history, health and observed temperament.
Pets determined unhealthy and untreatable may also be placed up for adoption unless they are irremediably suffering or pose a safety risk to the community. Examples of unhealthy/untreatable pets who can be adopted by the community include hospice adoptions, pets with chronic health conditions or animals requiring complicated surgeries or behavior modification. There is no time limit for how long a healthy/treatable pet may remain available for adoption.
We collect adoption fees to assist in the daily care and on-going needs of each pet admitted to SDHS.
Adoption fees vary according to the type and age of the pet. Fees also are discounted or sometimes waived for special adoption events and military personnel. Based on research conducted by the ASPCA, fee-waived and conversation-based adoptions do not adversely impact pets. Their study showed that pet retention was 97 percent. Fees are also waived when pets are transferred from SDHS to one of our Rescue Partners.
“Love your new pet...or let us know. We're committed to finding adopters their best pet match.”
SDHS is proud to offer an Adoption Guarantee. If for any reason the adopter decides the adopted pet is not a successful addition to their home, we positively encourage the adopter to return their pet to any of our campuses without judgment or criticism.Debriefing with the adopter is critical as the information provided by the adopter at the time of return enables us to better understand the needs of the pet, determine a treatment plan and better anticipate expectations for successfully matching the pet with a future adopter. As a complimentary service, adopters are offered behavior assistance prior to returning the pet in hopes that we may help resolve issues.
San Diego Humane Society’s mission is to create a more humane world by inspiring compassion, providing hope and advancing the welfare of animals and people. In keeping with this mission, we are committed to serving a vegetarian menu at all San Diego Humane Society functions. This policy is a choice the organization has made to honor our commitment to passionately serve animals and the people who love them. San Diego Humane Society respects that these choices are personal and others may not make the same.
This decision impacts events such as fundraisers, community events, volunteer appreciation luncheons and others where the organization is setting the menu. Events where the organization does not set the menu may include those hosted by donors in their own homes, individual lunches with donors at restaurants and third-party fundraising events hosted by outside businesses who share a portion of their proceeds with San Diego Humane Society.
At San Diego Humane Society, we’re united by our mission: creating a more humane world by inspiring compassion, providing hope and advancing the welfare of animals and people. Our ability to make an impact for animals is directly tied to the contributions of people — those we work alongside and those we serve. Because our success depends on people, we’re best when every person — staff, volunteer and guest — feels seen, supported and able to contribute.
This is why diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are essential to our mission. Here are some of the ways we’re working to center equity and inclusion in our culture, policies and programs.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
Founded in 2019, the DEI Committee guides intentional efforts to embed equity into every part of our organization. The Committee meets regularly to advance strategic initiatives and identify opportunities to strengthen inclusion and belonging.
Inclusion as a Core Value
In 2020, we formally added Inclusion to our Core Values to reflect our belief that everyone should feel welcomed, respected and empowered to participate fully. As a core value, inclusion is seen when we: elevate our colleagues with recognition, welcome guests with empathy and without judgment, examine how our services are reaching communities and more.
Language Translation Services & Expanded Bilingual Compensation Benefits
Many San Diegans speak English as a second language and we aim to make our information accessible to all. Our website includes the Google Translate widget to allow guests to view content in over 100 languages.
To further support equity in communication, our bilingual compensation program offers hourly premiums for certain non-exempt "guest-facing" roles and per required need premiums for any non-exempt employees who uses their bilingual skills to assist guests.
Community Support Services
Our commitment to equity extends to the programs and services we offer. We recognize that barriers such as financial hardship, domestic violence and housing insecurity can limit access to pet ownership and care. That’s why we offer support programs designed to help people keep their pets through life’s challenges.
Check out some of the programs we offer to help prevent unnecessary pet surrender and to keep pets with their families through challenging times, including a Community Pet Pantry that provides free pet food and supplies, and a Community Veterinary Program that offers low-cost appointments and services.
Land Acknowledgement
San Diego Humane Society acknowledges that our campuses are located on the unceded ancestral homelands of the Kumeyaay (Diegueño) and Payómkawichum (Luiseño) peoples. We honor the rich history, ongoing presence and contributions of the diverse and vibrant indigenous communities who make their home here today. Through our work, we commit to honoring their sovereignty, celebrating their enduring relationship with this land, and being good stewards of the land and the animals who inhabit it.
Finalized in 2024 through a multi-year, employee-driven process, this acknowledgment reflects our commitment to relationship-building, land stewardship and meaningful allyship.
Equal Employment Opportunity
We’re proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and are committed to fostering a workplace grounded in mutual respect, fair treatment and opportunity for all. Employment decisions at SDHS are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, national origin or any other basis protected by law.
Ready to make a difference by advancing equity and wellbeing for all? Explore current job opportunities and help us build a more humane future for animals and people.
San Diego Humane Society has created this Privacy Policy to explain why we collect particular information and how we protect your personal privacy.
San Diego Humane Society does not sell, share, rent or trade our mailing or donor lists.
The only way your personal information could ever be used for a purpose other than what you intended is if you choose to opt in to a service by providing your explicit consent. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for the website located at the URL https://www.sdhumane.org.
To fully understand your rights, we encourage you to read this Privacy Policy as well as our Terms of Use. San Diego Humane Society reserves the right — at any time and without notice — to change this Privacy Policy simply by posting such changes on our Site. Any such change will be effective immediately upon posting.
Because we want to demonstrate our commitment to your privacy, this Privacy Policy notifies you of:
- What personally identifiable information of yours is collected through the Site
- Who collects such information
- How such information is used
- Who your information may be shared with
- What choices you have about the collection, use and distribution of your information
- What kind of security procedures are in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of information under our control
- How you can correct any inaccuracies in your information
Questions about this statement should be emailed to [email protected]. Please reference this Privacy Policy in your subject line.
What Information We Collect and How We Use That Information
Our registration forms require users to give us contact information that may include name, phone, email address, format preference (HTML vs. Text), address, interests and similar information. We do not request or store sensitive information from our visitors, such as credit card or social security numbers. Additionally, text messaging originator opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties unless required by law.
Information collected from third parties: We may receive information about you from third party services, for example if you interact with our social media accounts. The data we receive depends on your personal privacy settings with each social network, which we encourage you to review and adjust as needed. If you have any questions about reviewing, modifying or deleting your information, you can contact us at [email protected].
Internet Protocol Address
We collect an IP address from all visitors to our Site. An IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer when you use the Internet. We use IP addresses to help diagnose problems with our server, administer our Site, analyze trends, track users' movement, gather broad demographic information for aggregate use in order for us to improve the site and deliver customized, personalized content. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information.
Use of "Cookies"
Our Site may use cookies to enhance your experience while using our Site. Cookies are pieces of information that some Web sites transfer to the computer that is browsing that Web site and are used for record-keeping purposes at many Web sites. Use of cookies makes Web-surfing easier by performing certain functions such as saving your passwords, your personal preferences regarding your use of the particular Web site and to make sure you don't see the same ad repeatedly. Many consider the use of cookies to be an industry standard.
Your browser is probably set to accept cookies. However, if you would prefer not to receive cookies, you can alter the configuration of your browser to refuse cookies. If you choose to have your browser refuse cookies, it is possible that some areas of our Site will not function properly when you view them.
Disclosure
This site uses ClickTale web analytics service. ClickTale may record mouse clicks, mouse movements, scrolling activity as well as text you type in this website. This site does not use ClickTale to collect any personally identifiable information entered in this website. ClickTale does not track your browsing habits across web sites which do not use ClickTale services.
For more information see Privacy Policy for Information Collected by the ClickTale Web Analytics Service. We are using the information collected by ClickTale service to improve the effectiveness of our website to better serve our visitors. You can choose to disable the Service at clicktale.net/disable.
Security
All information provided to San Diego Humane Society is transmitted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption. SSL is a proven coding system that lets your browser automatically encrypt, or scramble, data before you send it to us. We also protect account information by placing it on a secure portion of our Site that is only accessible by certain qualified employees of San Diego Humane Society. Unfortunately, however, no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of such information.
Tell-A-Friend
If a user elects to use our referral service for informing a friend about our Site, we ask them for the friend's name and email address. San Diego Humane Society will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the Site. San Diego Humane Society stores this information for the sole purpose of sending this one-time email.
Other Web Sites
Our Site contains links to other Web sites. Please note that when you click on one of these links, you are entering another Web site for which San Diego Humane Society has no responsibility. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on all such sites as their policies may be different than ours.
Contacting the Web Site
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this Site, or your dealings with this Site, you can contact:
San Diego Humane Society
5500 Gaines Street
San Diego, CA 92110
You can also send an email to: [email protected].
We appreciate your support and interest in San Diego Humane Society. We encourage open discussions and invite you to share your comments, questions and feedback.
By participating in conversations on our social pages, you agree to our commenting policy, outlined below. We reserve the right to delete posts and comments containing any of the following elements:
- Hate speech (any speech, conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected individual or group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected individual or group)
- Profanity, inappropriate remarks or foul language
- Misinformation
- Spam, promotion or ads for other pages or websites
- Irrelevant topics
- Personal attacks, antagonizing or disparaging other commenters, staff or volunteers
- Threats, demands or promoting violence
- Promoting illegal activities
Accounts that violate this policy will be removed from our pages.
Our social pages are intended first and foremost for supporters. While we welcome open discussions and honest feedback, the harassment or provocation of other supporters will result in removal.
We appreciate your cooperation and support. If you have questions about our social media pages, please email us at [email protected]. All service-related questions or comments that require an immediate response should be directed to San Diego Humane Society's Resource Center at 619-299-7012 or [email protected].