Veterinary Care

Upon being admitted to the shelter, animals are given an assessment of their health status by staff animal health technicians and our veterinarian, if necessary. Through a contract agreement established with the Santa Cruz Veterinary Hospital, located at 2585 Soquel Dr. in Santa Cruz, our officers transport animals to their facility when the extent of their injuries is beyond the resources available to SCCAS or when a veterinarian is not at the shelter. During shelter non-business hours, Good Samaritans can also drop off lost and stray animals at the Santa Cruz Veterinary Hospital.

As part of the general disease preventive maintenance program, all dogs and cats that can be safely handled are given vaccines against the most common infectious agents and deworming medication for common internal parasites. Additionally, animals are scanned for microchip identification implants, and any other forms of identification are noted that may assist in the speedy recovery of a lost animal with his/her owner. As completion of admissions procedures, all animals entering the building are weighed and photographed.

Spay/Neuter

SCCAS has a full spay/neuter surgical suite that provides spay/neuter for: adopted animals; animals returned to their owners; animals transferred to our placement partners; and community animals through our public PLANNED PetHood low-cost spay/neuter program.

Going the Extra Mile

Our shelter veterinary staff performs many medical procedures for animals in our care such as fixing broken bones, removing foxtails, treating ear and skin infections, and dental procedures to name a few.

Many animals come to us with extraordinary needs that require funds beyond what our shelter budget permits. We created the Extra-Mile Fund to help us serve these neediest animals. This fund allows us to seek outside specialty veterinary care procedures such as ophthalmology, x-rays, orthopedics, severe dental procedures, equine medicine, etc. Click here to read some of our wonderful Extra Mile success stories.