History
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San Diego Humane Society and SPCA was organized on March 10, 1880 by George W. Marston and George W. Hazzard, and is the oldest and largest humane society in San Diego County. 54 years later the organization signed a contract with the City of San Diego to run the shelter under the supervision of San Diego County Department of Health. In 1951, the first animals were moved to the original site, located on Sherman Street (formerly a milk plant). The lease was set to expire in 2000 and the city of San Diego asked San Diego Humane Society to consider building a new facility adjacent to the proposed County Animal Services facility on Gaines Street. The Humane Society accepted and opened the facility in 2002.
Fives years later and after the Asilomar Accords were adopted by several animal care agencies nationwide, the San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition was formed so that local animal welfare organizations could work together to reduce the euthanasia of healthy or treatable companion animals in San Diego County. San Diego Humane Society remains a part of the coalition to this day.
In 2009, San Diego Humane Society opened its Kitten Nursery, which delivers 24-hour care to infant kittens before they become eligible for adoption. The Kitten Nursery was the first program of its kind and has provided a model for other shelters ever since.
Through merger agreements, San Diego Humane Society absorbed the former North County Humane Society & SPCA in Oceanside, California in 2010, and the Escondido Humane Society in Escondido, California in 2014.
In 2014, San Diego Humane Society merged with PAWS San Diego, to expand programs to help more pet owners keep their pets, making this the largest pet safety net service in San Diego. PAWS San Diego provided essential pet services and support to low-income seniors, chronically ill and disabled individuals. After merging, this vital community service kept its name and became the official safety net program of San Diego Humane Society.
Later in 2014, San Diego Humane Society merged with Project Wildlife, the primary local resource for animal rehabilitation, conservation, and wildlife education. They opened the Pilar & Chuck Bahde Wildlife Center in 2019. [2]
In 2018, San Diego Humane Society began providing animal services to six additional cities in San Diego County, marking the biggest milestone in their 138-year history. They are now serving more than 2.2 million people across 620 square miles.
In winter of that year, San Diego Humane Society opened the Pilar & Chuck Bahde Center for Shelter Medicine – the first of its kind in California. The Bahde Center offers a comprehensive shelter medicine regime to homeless pets and serves as a teaching hospital to train the shelter veterinarians of tomorrow.
In September 2019, they opened a new Behavior Center facility where behavior experts work systematically to address complex challenges such as anxiety, fear, resource guarding, overstimulation, and other behavioral issues. Animals in the Behavior Center have individual rehabilitation plans to help them become adoptable. [3]
July 2020 The PAWS name was retired in July 2020 after six years of integrating the work of PAWS San Diego throughout San Diego Humane Society. The Society introduced a new model called Human Animal Support Services (HASS).
September 2020 San Diego Humane Society welcomed its Ramona Campus. The former Fund for Animals Wildlife Center in Ramona had been part of the Humane Society of the United States for more than two decades. With this new 13-acre Ramona Wildlife Center, the work of Project Wildlife expanded to protect and care for more injured and orphaned wildlife throughout Southern California, including native apex predators such as bears, coyotes and birds of prey.
October 2020 San Diego Humane Society opened the El Cajon Campus, taking over the management of the El Cajon Animal Shelter — marking the first time in our 140-year history to have a shelter presence in East County. At this fifth campus, SDHS shelters and cares for animals in El Cajon, La Mesa and Santee. Additionally, Humane Law Enforcement provides dispatch and field services for El Cajon seven days a week.
January 2021 California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Bella’s Act (Assembly Bill 2152) in September 2020 to go into law on Jan. 1 to prohibit the retail sales of dogs, cats and rabbits in California. This is the first bill San Diego Humane Society sponsored. AB 2152, written by California State Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego), puts an end to a supply of animals who have been bred and raised in unhealthy and inhumane conditions in out-of-state puppy mills.
