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 Mon: 1:00pm-8:00pm Tue: 11:00am-6:00pm Wed: 11:00am-6:00pm Thu: Closed Fri: 11:00am-6:00pm Sat: 11:00am-6:00pm Sun: 1:00pm-5:00pm |
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 SPCA MAIN CONTACT: 919-772-2326 200 Petfinder Lane Raleigh, NC 27603 More contact info >  |
| Pet Intake Policy |
PLEASE NOTE: Effective July 1st, the Wake County Animal Center at 820 Beacon Lake Drive in Raleigh is the impoundment facility for all Wake County animals. If you have lost or found an animal, please visit the Wake County Animal Center beginning July 1st. If you need to make immediate arrangements for a stray or owned animal, you may call Animal Control for your area or go to the Wake County Animal Center. For hours and directions, call 919-212-7387, or visit their website at wakegov.com.
Beginning July 1, 2010, the SPCA Holding Center, formerly called the SPCA Lost & Found Center will accept animals by appointment only. If you would like more information about our intake policies, or if you need to return an animal adopted from the SPCA of Wake County, please contact the SPCA Holding Center at 919-772-3203.
For answers to questions about the SPCA’s animal intake process please visit our helpful online FAQ.
Giving Up Your Pet
First and foremost, please try every alternative available to you to keep your pet. Our pets are our lifetime responsibility. The SPCA will provide you, free of charge, phone consultation with a professional animal behaviorist to try to help you resolve problems that you may be having with your pet. Coming to a shelter, any shelter, will be traumatic for your pet and adds to our problem of having too many homeless animals in our community.
SPCA of Wake County’s Pet Intake Policy
The SPCA of Wake County accepts incoming animals from residents of Raleigh or animals found within Raleigh. This limited intake policy is to keep the SPCA animal shelter from overflowing (and thus putting more animals at risk) by sharing these duties with the government-run Wake County Animal Shelter. This is done to benefit the animals and to ensure that precious resources allocated by local government for animals are used. Click here to read the history behind this decision.
Animals not within Raleigh should be taken to the Wake County Animal Shelter (or to a shelter in your home county). We are doing this to share the sheltering burden and shelter resources available to pets in Wake County. Asking you to take the animal to the Wake County Animal Shelter, or another facility in your home county, is part of saving more lives. We appreciate your help on behalf of the animals.
Also, please note, the SPCA will not perform “on-demand” euthanasia. If you are here simply to have your elderly or sick pet euthanized, please take the animal to your veterinarian.
SPCA Pet Adoption Program
In order to be eligible for the SPCA's Adoption Program, an animal must be:
1- In reasonably good health
2- Of sound temperament
This also means the animal must possess a high level of adaptability to different situations (for example, a dog that is friendly and comfortable in familiar surroundings can become aggressive and/or defensive in the unfamiliar location.) Coming to a shelter any shelter will be traumatic for your pet.
3- The third criteria is there must be a slot available in the SPCA’s Adoption Program at the SPCA Curtis Dail Pet Adoption Center. The SPCA will NOT take a pet’s life that we have already accepted into the program to make room for additional animals, and the program has a finite amount of space.
For these reasons the SPCA will not guarantee that your pet will be accepted into the Adoption Program. This is why you will be informed by a staff member that we will not guarantee adoption. We appreciate your efforts on behalf of the animals. We are relying on your help, so we can all work together to save more lives.
Also, please note: The SPCA is a privately-operated pet rescue, shelter and adoption organization. The SPCA is not operated by the government.
History: The SPCA Limits Animal Intake
From 1971 through late 2003, the SPCA operated as an open-admission animal shelter and accepted incoming animals from all parts of the county or state, regardless of available shelter space. As of February 2003, there were two main providers of shelter and reclaim services: the Wake County Government and the SPCA of Wake County (operating the one shelter in Garner). Both shelters operated as “unlimited admission” facilities.
By 2003, the high profile of the SPCA led to an overwhelming influx of animals that taxed SPCA personnel and resources. In 2002, a total of 16,332 animals were impounded within the two shelters. The SPCA took in 8,782 animals 52% of the total impounds for 2002 despite having only 6,000 square feet and 150 kennels. The government-operated Wake County Animal Shelter took in only 7,763 animals 48% percent of the total impounds for 2002 with 18,000 square feet and 236 kennels. The SPCA was sheltering more than half of the animals impounded in Wake County, despite having half the holding space as the Wake County facility.
The few tax-funded resources allocated to pets were in danger of not being used, and moreover, being seen as unneccesary since they were not being used. In order to share the sheltering burden and limited shelter resources available to pets in Wake County, in November of 2003 the SPCA began limiting animal admissions to residents of, and animals found within, Raleigh, Cary and Garner - the municipalities that had impoundment contracts with the SPCA. As of July 2009, the SPCA maintained impoundment contracts with Raleigh.