The City of Sacramento Animal Care Services is a city department that offers low cost animal services to Sacramento residents who have a low income. They hold many vaccination clinics throughout the year to make it as convenient as possible to those who would have trouble making it to a specific time. Other than offering low cost services to residents, the organization does anything they can to help the animals in need. They offer food to the pet owner and free name tags for their pets. This service is completely dependent on the donations from people. They request food, small supplies, and money to aid in their goal of helping animals. The money they do receive is used to make a higher level of care than a traditional shelter animal might receive. They cannot use the funds for labor cost, just animal care.

See also other local services & organizations.

What They Do

The City of Sacramento's Animal Care Services does far more than caring for lost and abandoned animals in our community. It provides a variety of services that protect both citizens and animals, including:

• Transporting stray animals that were injured to emergency vets.
• Rescuing animals from locked vehicles and from abusive, cruel, or negligent conditions.
• Impounding stray animals roaming the streets and picking up stray animals from a citizen's residence.
• Administering a rabies control program.
• Helping citizens resolve nuisance problems, such as dogs barking excessively and dogs defecating or urinating on other people's property.
• Investigating dog and cat bite complaints.
• Assisting other agencies such as the County of Sacramento Animal Care and Regulation, the Sacramento Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA), the police department, the fire department, and the California Highway Patrol.
• Educating pet owners on the importance of spaying or neutering their dogs and cats.
• Keeps lost pets safe and sound so that they can hopefully be reunited with their owner or adopted into a new family.

Low Cost Services Offered

Animal Care Services offers two low cost vaccinations clinics each month with vaccinations as low as $5.00. They also have a spay and neuter program that is for people with an average income of $35,000 or less per year. Some surgeries are offered at $20 or less, depending on a person's ability to pay. They have a Mercer spay/neuter clinic in which they do surgeries on the animals of the homeless offered on one Sunday in every month. They often do free licensing and microchipping during promotional events. Gina Knepp, Acting Animal Care Services Manager, explains "We also have a Pet Food Pantry in order to provide free pet food to pet owners that may be struggling financially in order to prevent them from having to surrender their animals. Each customer may pick up food once a month." Animal Care Services also offers free pet ID tags to any pet owner to reduce the amount of pets that are brought to the shelter as a result from being lost. These services are offered at the main office or any of the programs they have throughout the Sacramento area each month.

Who Qualifies for these services?

Any low income resident in the Sacramento Area. The obtain these services, the resident needs to provide proof of residency at the time of their visit for the service as well as income status. To know if a resident lives in the designated areas for these services is to look at the street signs. If it is green-colored then they are in the city limits. If it is a white-colored pole, then they are in the county limits. If a pet owner does indeed live within the city limits of Sacramento then they may bring in a stray or owned animal to the shelter's Reception Center during hours of operation. There will be fees if the owner decides to give up his/her pet. If they reside within the city limits of Sacramento, they can contact the center by dialing "311".

How Can You Help?

Gina Knepp says, "We do solicit donations for the pet food pantry, it is 100% supported by donations (both pet food and money). We accept donations from the general public that goes into a fund that allows us to provide a higher level of care than a traditional shelter animal might received. We cannot use the funds for labor cost, just creature care."

This organization does ask for donations for the Pet Food Pantry. The Pet Food Pantry is completely dependent on citizens by donations of pet food and money. Without them it would not be open for low-income residents to claim the benefits of it. They accept donations from the general public that is used towards a higher level of care than what the animal shelter would normally receive. Anyone can volunteer to help the organization, they just need to complete the orientation. The volunteer orientation is held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm and is located at the shelter at 2127 Front Street. They require that a volunteer application be submitted before attending the volunteer orientation.

Works Cited

Knepp, Gina. "Animal Care Services." 27 Oct. 2011. E-mail. "Animal Care Services." City of Sacramento, California, USA - Municipal Government. Web. 07 Nov. 2011. <http://www.cityofsacramento.org/generalservices/animal-care/>. "City of Sacramento Animal Care Services Citizens Advisory Committee | Facebook." Welcome to Facebook - Log In, Sign Up or Learn More. Web. 07 Nov. 2011. <http://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Sacramento-Animal-Care-Services-Citizens-Advisory-Committee/113248401253>. "Northern California Pet Adoptions: City of Sacramento Animal Care Services." Northern California Pet Adoptions: Open Your Heart Today! Web. 07 Nov. 2011. <http://norcalpetadoptions.com/organizations/detail/city-of-sacramento-animal-care-services/>. Citation added: "HALO DONATES 5,000 MEALS TO PET FOOD BANK IN SACRAMENTO | Halo Purely For Pets Blog." Natural Pet Care Products from Halo Provide Your Pet with Everything It Needs for Great, Glowing Health. Our Natural Pet Care Products Include Food, Treats, Supplements and Grooming Supplies, All Made with Ingredients Found in Nature. Web. 07 Nov. 2011. <http://blog.halopets.com/2010/08/20/halo-donates-5000-meals/>. Spay/Neuter Sacramento! Web. 07 Nov. 2011. <http://www.saccitypets.blogspot.com/>.

This report was written for Cynthia Linville’s English 20 class at CSU Sacramento Fall Semester 2011