Sacramento Shelter Pets Alive

Sacramento Shelter Pets Alive (SSPA) approaches every dog as an individual, with the understanding, backed by scientific research, that physical appearance does not determine behavior. SSPA is committed to providing innovative and comprehensive behavioral and rehabilitative programs, foster care and placement, adoption facilitation, and training and playgroups for dogs and their families in need in the Greater Sacramento area to improve outcomes and keep dogs out of shelters.

In 2024, we opened our Sacramento facility at 3350 Airport Road as an accessible playgroup and training facility to support our community’s dogs in need and their families - while continuing to be a safety net for shelter dogs. We need your help to maintain this key resource for our area!

Brief history of our organization:

In 2012, around the time we started at the Sacramento County Animal Care and Regulation as Pit Bull Socialization and Obedience Crew (PB SOC), the live outcome for dogs at the shelter was 65%. Originally, our focus was supporting block-headed dogs, the most euthanized and vulnerable at that time, but our program has evolved as we learned, grew, and expanded our mission and vision.

In 2016, we expanded our focus to better serve all shelter dogs in need, focusing primarily on those behaviorally deteriorating, which led to our current name: Sacramento Shelter Pets Alive (SSPA). In 2018, we implemented a full-time behavioral team and the live outcome for dogs at Sacramento County's open-admission municipal shelter was 93%, and 94/95% when we left at the close of 2020.

Then we started supporting Stockton Animal Shelter, a high-intake facility that is underfunded and under-resourced that desperately needed a support system for large-breed dogs. Our staff provided innovative, comprehensive behavioral and rehabilitative programs including critical playgroups, foster care and rescue support, communications support, and adoption retention, all of which proved to sustain a high live outcome alongside a dedicated and compassionate team of volunteers. 

Now at our Sacramento facility, we've returned to our community and our roots as we continue to be an organization our community's vulnerable dogs can rely on. Every dollar you donate supports our efforts to be a safety net and support system for dogs in need!