{"id":110718,"date":"2025-10-23T09:54:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T16:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sfspca.org\/?p=110718"},"modified":"2025-11-12T15:02:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T23:02:52","slug":"shelter-pals-featured-in-humanepro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sfspca.org\/advocacy\/shelter-pals-featured-in-humanepro\/","title":{"rendered":"Shelter PALS Featured in HumanePro"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">What happens when animal shelters face confusing laws and regulations, outdated ordinances, or legal barriers that stand in the way of saving lives? In California, they can turn to our Shelter Policy and Legal Services (Shelter PALS) program for help.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 aria-level=\"2\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Advancing animal welfare in California<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:160,&quot;335559739&quot;:80,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Launched in 2020, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfspca.org\/about\/advocacy\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Shelter PALS<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> provides free legal services to shelters and rescues across California. Animal law attorney Bruce Wagman, who leads Shelter PALS, and San Francisco SPCA CEO Dr. Jennifer Scarlett saw firsthand how a lack of clarity about animal law hinders shelters\u2019 ability to provide care.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Without legal guidance, shelters can face complex challenges that delay lifesaving work\u2014from unclear holding periods and cruelty case procedures to outdated ordinances governing adoption fees and shelter operations. Questions about proper documentation, the legality of medications, and who can provide veterinary care often create confusion or unnecessary risk. These issues are compounded by the nationwide <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfspca.org\/access-to-veterinary-care-survey-2023\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">veterinary shortage<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, which impacts organizations\u2019 abilities to meet current best practices in animal sheltering.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">As a solution to these legal challenges, Bruce and Dr. Scarlett helped bring Shelter PALS to life. Today, this advocacy initiative supports the day-to-day work of shelters and rescues while also tackling animal rights issues statewide.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Recently, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/humanepro.org\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">HumanePro<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> sat down with Bruce and Dr. Scarlett to talk about the evolution of Shelter PALS, its statewide impact, and how understanding the law can improve the well-being of all animals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/humanepro.org\/magazine\/articles\/helping-animal-shelters-navigate-and-change-laws\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Read the full interview on HumanePro\u2019s website<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559739&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What happens when animal shelters face confusing laws and regulations, outdated ordinances, or legal barriers that stand in the way of saving lives? In California, they can turn to our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":113207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"categories":[12,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advocacy","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - 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