Name: Take a tour through S.F.’s new, $77 million animal shelter, complete with a dog toilet
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Take a tour through S.F.’s new, $77 million animal shelter, complete with a dog toilet

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe folks who look after San Francisco’s stray dogs and cats are terribly excited about the porcelain contraption on the roof of the city’s brand-new, $77 million animal shelter.“This,” said Virginia Donohue, executive director of San Francisco Animal Care and Control, “changes everything.”What it is, she explained, is not exactly a toilet for dogs, but it’s close. It’s a flushable porcelain unit for disposing of what dogs are well-known for producing. No other shelter in the Bay Area has one.Donohue stood on the sparkling new rooftop exercise yard, beside the gleaming white device with chrome handles. It’s state-of-the-art, she said, a touch of reverence in her voice.At the old shelter on 15th Street, staffers disposed of dog poop by picking it up in plastic bags and hauling it, in bigger plastic bags, to the dumpster in the parking lot. At the new shelter, a staffer picks the stuff up with a metal scoop and carries it a few short steps to the porcelain bowl.“Whoosh,” said Donohue, pulling the handle.Each year the city-run shelter takes in 7,600 animals, adopts out 1,100 of them and reunites about 1,000 animals with their frantic owners. It also sells pet licenses and offers free spay and neuter surgeries through the San Francisco SPCA, an experience no animal ever forgets.During the pandemic, the demand for pet adoptions has soared. Among the dogs and cats awaiting new homes are Caboose, Patty, Rooney and Clark, all of whom could all use a break. For now, all matches are made by video call. After the pairing is done, the rest of the human-pet relationship takes place in person.The new shelter, six years in the planning, includes roomier cages, a modern veterinary suite and a comfy lounge for off-duty animal control officers, once commonly known as dogcatchers.There’s also a separate exercise area for bunnies, who need no longer take turns using the dogs’ exercise area.No detail was overlooked. The rooftop dog run was designed so that the porous artificial grass drains directly into a catch basin underneath.“Otherwise,” Donohue said, “after about a month you would have a very intense odor of dog pee up here.”Perhaps the biggest breakthrough is a new layout that features kennels with windows to make it easier and less stressful for pet owners to search the shelter on their own for lost pets. And there’s a new lobby where staff now safely meets the public from behind 2-inch bulletproof windows. That’s because scenes at an animal shelter can be fraught with emotion, particularly after a pet has been taken into custody in a criminal case.Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.The new building has been opened gradually, as animals and equipment were brought over from the old shelter to the new one — an 1893 brick building that used to be the powerhouse for the city’s streetcar fleet. Much of the $77 million went for retrofitting and steel reinforcing beams to make it earthquake-safe.More for youThe new building is bright and sunny, with colorful wall hangings of happy critters by artist Favianna Rodriguez. Many animals have a great view of the Costco warehouse one block north, where much great pet food originates.Just about everyone was excited about the move to the new shelter, especially nine hamsters, who had the roomy small-animal compound all to themselves, and Mayor London Breed, who put out an official statement praising the place.“Today we have a modern, resilient new shelter to ensure animals in our care are housed in safe, sanitary and humane conditions,” the mayor said.Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe folks who look after San Francisco’s stray dogs and cats are terribly excited about the porcelain contraption on the roof of the city’s brand-new, $77 million animal shelter.“This,” said Virginia Donohue, executive director of San Francisco Animal Care and Control, “changes everything.”What it is, she explained, is not exactly a toilet for dogs, but it’s close. It’s a flushable porcelain unit for disposing of what dogs are well-known for producing. No other shelter in the Bay Area has one.Donohue stood on the sparkling new...

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Steve Rubenstein

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Take a tour through S.F.’s new, $77 million animal shelter, complete with a dog toilet

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