SPCA Of Northern Nevada

‘Great place to find a dog or a cat who is homeless and needs a «forever home». Pets come to you spayed or neutered prior to adoption with vaccinations given up to the date that the pet goes to its new home. A Veterinarian checks each pet for many common diseases and minor colds before the pet is able to be adopted. Adoptions are on a «first come, first served» basis and subject to filling out the paperwork and answering a questionnaire and a «meet and greet» with you and your family and other dogs at home (if you’re getting a dog). Most of the pets have a behavioral analysis done on them so you know what you’re getting into. It’s a little more expensive than the humane society but you get a great deal of veterinary care and behavioral tests for it. The SPCA is very conscious about spaying and neutering, so don’t expect to find an unaltered pet there. Very nice facility but they are smaller than the humane society. A «no kill» shelter.
This is not the place to come to if you’re looking to give-​up a stray pet as they will tell you to go to the humane society on Longley Lane.
The SPCA also hosts low-​cost vaccination clinics (only a vet can give a Rabies vaccine as you can’t buy it at the feed store) with microchipping and deworming available. Each vaccine costs $ 15 and microchipping costs $ 15 each pet. Worming costs $ 5 regardless of the size.
Volunteers are widely used and needed to play with the pets, groom, walk the dogs, help with the telephones and help-​out with special events. Volunteers must commit to working at least 6 to 8(?) months for at least 8 hours per month.
Off highway ⁵⁸⁰⁄₃₉₅ north. Take the Parr and Dandini Exit. Turn towards the right (the round-​about) and take the 2^nd right in the round-​about down Spectrum Blvd. it’s on the right in the light yellow building with the silver roof. Open 11am to 6pm all week except the first Sunday of the month when they do deep cleaning.

After losing two of our three cats within a year or so we decided it was time to open our hearts to a new family member.
I looked online on and off until, shortly before Thanksgiving 2015, I stumbled upon a handsome orange kitten house in the Spectrum Blvd. location of the SPCA.
The next morning my wife called to get some information about him. The staff was extremely informative over the phone and discussed a hold process with her. One of us could come down and meet him. If we liked him we could put him on hold until we were able to come visit together. This initially seemed quite weird to me. Placing an animal on hold like a cute sweater or shirt at a store?
I went in that afternoon alone, as my wife was working, to meet little Albus. The facility was easy to get to and clean. I was greeted as soon as I walked in. The employee remembered my wife calling as soon as I mentioned wanting to see Albus. Albus was in a small kitten room only housing him and one other kitten. The other kitten was already adopted and waiting on his new family to pick him up.
I appreciated that the staff member introduced me to the kitten and hung out for a few minutes. Once we were set up she left us to visit.
Needless to say, I loved him immediately. After spending a bit of time with him I went out to the reception area and said I would like to place Albus on hold. Felt weird to say but I knew we could come back the next day together and see if he was a good fit for our family.
My wife and I went back the next day. She arrived a bit before I did and was already comfortably seated in the room visiting with Albus. Once we had decided he was right for us, we went and filled out all the paperwork and paid the adoption fee. I appreciated the depth of the questions on the application as it made it clear they were looking for forever homes for the animals they were placing.
We adopted him and took him straight to our vet for a check up. We took him home and within a few days had all his testing results. All his blood work, FeLV/​FIV and stool tests came back clear.
I am grateful to the staff at the SPCA for caring for, housing, and introducing me to our newest family member… now named Brinkley. He has been a wonderful, yet chaotic, addition to the house and has helped us heal our broken hearts.
Please consider the SPCA when looking to add to your furry family.

I adopted a kitten with a Neurological disorder in March 2015. While I was made aware of his neurological problem prior to meeting with him, it was made seem like it was a mild case and there would be no need for additional vet care, medications, or therapies. I was told «while this kitten does have a neurological problem, it will not affect him aside from balance and coordination». I brought the kitty home, he got along great with our two cats and was living a very happy and healthy lifestyle or so I thought. To make a long story short, in early October our baby starting having cluster seizures, so badly that not even anti-​seizure medication would work. We ended up having to put him down and are still heartbroken.
While I was fully aware I was adopting a Special Needs cat, I was led to believe that his condition was mild and would not affect his quality of life. Tell that to the 10 month old cat I put down… I am upset because I lost one of my fur babies and because I feel I was so grossly misled to the severity of his condition.
If you do not understand the severity of a condition, you have no right placing that cat for adoption. It just leads to broken hearts and empty homes… I urge the SPCA to have a VET talk to potential adopting families so they can get proper information from a DOCTOR before adoption… avoid the heartbreak.

I have many rescues and recently just rescued a puppy from people who wants to dump her at a local shelter. She wasn’t spayed, so I called to avail of the low cost spay and was prompted to register online. I then received a confirmation email stating that I will be contacted by a shelter personnel to schedule an appointment. That was a month ago. No call. So I called to schedule another appointment and again, I was prompted to sign up online to set an appointment. It’s been two weeks and I no calls still.

This matter was never really handled. We are stuck with an $ 800 vet bill, and we are not the only people this has happened to. They are in violation of NRS 574.510 Knowingly selling dog or cat with condition requiring immediate treatment prohibited; penalties.
1. A retailer or dealer who sells a dog or cat that the retailer or dealer knows has any illness, disease or other condition that is terminal or requires immediate hospitalization or immediate surgical intervention and fails to disclose such information at the time of sale is guilty of a misdemeanor. In addition to any other penalty that may be imposed, the court may prohibit a person convicted of a violation of this section from selling any dogs or cats for not more than 1 year.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2151)
AND
NRS 574.490 Duties upon determination that pet was sold with condition that requires immediate treatment. If a person purchases a pet from a retailer or dealer and, within 10 days after the sale, a veterinarian determines that the pet has an illness, disease or other condition that is terminal or requires immediate hospitalization or immediate surgical intervention and that was in existence on the date of the sale, the retailer or dealer shall, at the option of the purchaser, either:
1. Refund the purchase price of the pet if the pet is returned or provide the purchaser with another pet of equal value; or
2. Reimburse the purchaser, in an amount not to exceed the purchase price of the pet, for expenses incurred by the purchaser in obtaining a diagnosis and treatment for the pet from a veterinarian chosen by the retailer or dealer.
(Added to NRS by 1993, 2151)
DUE to NRS 574.490 (2), they should have had to pay for part of her treatment, no just try to refund or exchange the dog.
Consequently I am in my legal right to take them to court for the $ 150

I started last year taking my very big black lab to the vaccine clinics. I love them, they are so sweet and even though my lab is a 100+ creature with lots of energy, they are always so sweet to him and us. I usually visit the place when my dog is in need of his bordetella shot. Just Awesome!

Very clean and they rescue animals. What more can I say? I started volunteering there because I believe in their cause.

Spca has always had a special place in my heart. My husband and I were looking to add another addition to our family. We just moved into a new house with a huge yard and felt the need to share that with a new pup! We showed up here and we’re pleasantly greeted by the front desk staff. They asked us to sign in and to feel free to walk thru the shelter and meet the animals. We weren’t looking for a certain breed, we just wanted a healthy and friendly furbaby. The day we were there, they happened to have a litter of puppies who were heeler and border collie mix. We weren’t specifically looking for a puppy, but fell in love with all of them once we saw them. I stayed in contact over the next couple weeks, as the pups needed their vaccines and be spayed/​neutered before they were eligible for adoption. After much antisipation, we were able to go down to Petsmart and meet them in person to get to know them better. We fell in love with our pup and knew he would be a perfect fit. I’m proud that we were able to adopt and provide a caring home for a dog in need. This place strives to provide homes for all their animals and always has everyone’s best interest in mind.

I went with my wife to find s dog. We didn’t want to get a new puppy we wanted to rescue one from the pound. We have been three times in the last month or two. Today we found s nice one year old female to come home and meet our 3 year old boy. After playing with this girl for half an hour we decided to bring her home. She was a high energy girl but we have an acre of fenced yard and I have trained dogs before. I also know how to introduce and acclimate dogs to each other. They told me … Sorry you have to bring your other dog, your cat, and anyone else who lives in the house to meet her first. REALLY. I LIVE IN GARDNERVILLE AN HOUR AWAY!!! I will never come back to this place again. They should at least let you know before you sit and play with s dig first.

I have really mixed feelings about this place,
In November my family adopted a puppy from here, she was great the adoption agent went over everything with us, in the dog’s file she also told us what they had been feeding here and what her personal likes and dislikes were. we’ve had very good luck River, she was a perfect fit and we were easily able to make the small adjustments that needed to be made for living with a dog.
When Maddie’s adoption days came around in May, we decided that we wanted to add another dog to our family, so that River wasn’t alone, (She has separation anxiety due to abandonment, I generally take her everywhere with me but I can’t all the time)
We decided to go to the pet smart adoption on Saturday may 31, there were about three dogs left, one was out of the question because we are not a small dog family, one because she was not a kid friendly dog, and then there was Jack.
Jack was a beautiful 100 pound ball of energetic, gentle fluff, we were told he had recently been returned because «he was too big», being an animal lover that made me love him more, how could someone return someone due to size? Petsmart let us use their training area to let River and jack get to know each other, they seemed to get along very well, he also was great with my kids. My husband watched both dogs and kids while i went over the adoption paperwork, i noticed he had bitten a puppy at his previous home, i asked hoping for an honest answer, after all this lady worked with jack all the time, both time’s he’d been at the shelter. She told me that he was a gentle dog, it was probably just dog communication and the people over reacted, beside’s he’s doing great with river. I believed her. Then i noticed that the paper work said not to adopt to homes with kids under 10, my kids are both under 10, so i asked about that, i was told that it was a precaution do to his size and that she didn’t agree with it, not to worry about it, that we already have a big dog and our kids handle her fine and vice versa. Once again I believed her.
When we got jack home I noticed his personality change, he wasn’t bad and it wasn’t anything I couldn’t work with, I called the shelter and let them know right away that he had become very possessive of myself and didn’t even want the kids near me sometimes, especially my other dog. these were things that i thought I could work with I followed Jen, the behaviorist’s suggestions I bought a book on dog possessiveness «Mine!“and I scheduled a meeting with a trainer. Over the next few days I read the book and started to learn Jack’s little quirks, his relationship with River improved and I thought all would be fine as soon as we met with the trainer. Then my daughter dropped a bowl.
We were baking cookies she was mixing, being 5 this was serious work for her. the metal bowl slipped off the counter and hit the slate floor, both jack and river were in the kitchen with us, the noise startled them both, jack lost himself for a moment, I don’t know what that noise brought back in him but it caused him to bite my 5 year old on the leg, hard enough to scratch but not to cause a wound that need medical attention At this River jumped between Jack and my daughter, He latched onto her face, and did cause a vet visit, luckily no stitches, but quite a bit of bleeding, an ointment and gauze was involved. After river saw a vet and everyone calmed down, I called Jen and was told to bring him back.
Bringing Jack back broke my heart, I cried the whole drive out to the Spca and back, it was made worse because my daughter blamed herself, she still blames herself. I don’t feel that Jack is a bad dog or that my family is a bad family, I just think he was placed wrong, the adoption agent glossed over real problems, and let us take a dog, that we shouldn’t have taken in her haste to have all of the dogs in her care adopted. It was unfair to Jack and unfair to us. this caused me to lose a lot of respect for the spca. A month later i’m still heart broken over the whole situation.

Sadly disappointing, we had to put our cat down today so I went to the SPCA with my children to find another, and first all no one helped us, I kept having to walk back to the front to ask questions. then once we found the perfect kitten we were told no because she had recently been spayed and i have 2 young children, which would have been fine IF THEY WOULD HAVE WARNED US 1ST!!! Instead my daughter who just had to have her cat put down was yet devastated AGAIN! we have had 3 kittens over time all whom have been spayed any my children have never ever hurt any of them! So a little more help and a warning about which cats you can and cannot have would have been nice next time…

I recently adopted two young cats from the SPCA of Northern Nevada. I haven’t adopted a shelter pet before, so I can’t compare the experience to other shelters, and I didn’t visit the dogs, so I can’t comment on the dogs.
The new shelter is clean and attractive and smell-​free; very nice! We arrived on a Saturday, and the cat staff was very busy handling kitten meet-​n-​greets; we were unable to find someone to help us meet cats in the condo area or answer our questions about cats in the colonies. It worked out okay for us; we just moved on from looking at the older adults and chose younger cats. You might consider the busy-​staff issue if you think you’ll need staff assistance in choosing a pet; perhaps the staff is less swamped on weekdays.
In any case, we found two young cuties and informed the lady at the desk that we wanted them. The paperwork took a bit, but the adoption process is quite smooth. I was pleased and relieved that our chosen kitties tested negative for FeLV and FIV; this is the ONLY area shelter I know of that screens for these horrible, fatal diseases; that is reason enough to select the SPCA for cat adoptions.
I was told to take the cats to the vet within two weeks, and based on my experience, I would take the cats to the vet within a WEEK. One of my new babies is quite sick; the vet thinks it is an intestinal parasite, so the other cats in her colony may have it as well. I am hoping that it is as simple as that, and the medications she’s now taking clear up the problem. The vet says this is not at all unusual in a pet adopted from a shelter.
There is a 30-​day insurance on the pets adopted from the SPCA, but I didn’t see the email message and so missed the 48-​hour window to sign my cats up. In any case, there’s a deductible and a limit, so it wouldn’t necessarily have covered all of the vet bill, and this certainly isn’t the largest vet bill I’ve ever paid.
I did call the SPCA about my sick kitty, and had a rather odd conversation with a staff member who surprised me by being not particularly concerned about the possibility of the other cats in the colony being infected with whatever my cat has. I was uncomfortable enough with the tone of the conversation that I didn’t pursue the issue further. Who knows; maybe they get calls about newly-​adopted sick cats all the time, or maybe I caught the staff member on a bad day or something.
So, in summary: you may want to chose the SPCA for cat adoptions because of the FeLV/​FIV screening; try visiting on a weekday to maximize the chance of staff being available to help you; take your new kitty babies to the vet within a week, and, as is always the case with pet ownership (and maybe especially for shelter pets), be prepared for vet bills.

I’ve been looking well over a month all over Reno (and an hour from Reno), for a dog (so far couldn’t find a dog that has «picked» me sadly). I prefer the Humane Society to the SPCA for a number of reasons…
1. I hate saying this, but most of the dogs at the SPCA did seem aggressive (the ones at the HS didn’t). A pit bull with 1 eye bit my finger hard. I admit though I should have paid attention to the sign about not putting your finger through the cage (I didn’t think a 1 eyed dog even a pit bull would bite me!). Anyway not a big deal being that it was my fault.
2. I offered to foster an old dog who is going blind and on medication, but they turned me down. It’s sad but I don’t think most people would adopt a dog who is old, going blind, and on medication (I would foster but not adopt it).
3. Not as many dogs as the HS and most are pit bulls.
4. Not as many promotions going as the HS
5. Price on purebred dogs is $ 200 (many rescues are cheaper)
6. I was PISSED that on the day that they let the dogs swim at the park that they didn’t mention on their website that the shelter would be closed! A staff member tried seeing if her coworker would let me just view the dogs but I was turned away after making a special trip. Many other cars were in and out of the parking lot due to their website not saying it would be closed that day.
That being said this place is still worthy of 4 stars…
1. Very clean kennels with a fair amount of space.
2. No kill of course (the HS is the same in that respect but they do put down sick animals or ones that they feel are too aggressive to «make it» which I understand even as a dog lover)
3. Although pricier than the HS
4. Pricing on medium/​large NON pure breed dogs are just $ 10 more than at the HS when the HS is not running a promotion.
5. Good prices on vaccines
I probably will end up at some point finding a dog at the HS just because they offer more dogs. Each time I have been to the SPCA it is usually the same dogs =(
Will happily continue to support the SPCA though however I can!

HUGE FAN. The vaccination clinic is the only way to go. SPCA saves us money and was very nice and fast.

I have adopted two pets from here, now. Be place I have been to, that takes care of animals. They do not euthanize there. The staff is very professional. Very helpful in looking for a pet to adopt.

This is a brand new location, just opened up last year and it’s an amazing improvement over their old location. Everything is newly built, modern and designed just for the animals.
We like to go with the kids on occasion to look at the animals. Last summer we were in the market for a new kitten so we made frequent stops. The staff is friendly and very helpful and it’s apparent that they really do care about the animals.
The SPCA and the Humane Society are our first choice options when looking for a pet to add to our family and I would wish that more people would feel the same. There are so many wonderful pets out there, waiting for the right family to come along.
We did eventually settle on a kitten (a silver tabby we named Pippin) and he fit right in from day one. We can’t imagine not having him here with us now, he’s one of the family! I wouldn’t hesitate to return for another pet in the future (and we do still stop in from time to time to look at the animals) and tell others to do the same.

I recently gave the SPCA another chance, and went to their new facility. The new place is great. Very clean, and you can see a total difference from the old building, even in the employee’s moral. The woman who was showing me cats was great. She knew each cat by name, and their personalities. They make you spray a special solution on your shoes when going from one room to the next. Very clean. So glad they got this new building. Go out and adopt a pet!!! :)

SPCA is amazing! Beautiful buildings and the love of theses people and the animals is great. The cat rooms are AMAZING! 3 rooms where the cats run free and so many to love! They are a no kill shelter and rescue other animals from shelters/​homes that would dispose of them. $ 60 for a kitten is just fine by me. If the cat is over 5months-​you NAME your own price!!! Keep in mind… if your a true animal lover we NEED to keep places like this going. Thinking of just going there to spend time with the kitties and maybe volunteer to walk the dogs. You couldnt find a cleaner, friendlier, more comfortable place to look for a pet. True animal appreciation comes by love and this staff and organization is incrediable.

As user Rory was kind enough to point out, the SPCA has apparently moved. My experience was at the previous location so YMMV (your mileage may vary) on how useful my review below will be to you.
Nice little shelter. All cats socially quartered which looks and feels better than individual cages that one finds at the Humane Society.
There are way too many individually housed dogs, many very aggressive and super scared. Like other local shelters (the giant Nevada Humane Society) lots and lots of pit bulls.
Staff was friendly and did a good job explaining room visit orders for cats and kittens (first cats, then kittens, then quarantine kitten room which was oddly full of black cats with white markings, like Sylvester, making me wonder about that breed and actually avoiding it).
I’m not sure if this is a no kill facility.
It’s kind of a weird location on 4^th under the freeway at a dead end.
It’s a far smaller and modest operation than the Humane Society, but I like that there are no cages for the cats. You end up with less spoiled cats that learn to share.
When I visited there was a particularly dangerous outdoor area (fence barrier) with some really sketchy dogs. I suspect they’ll just run away from people, but in the wrong situation I could see these dogs attacking and hurting a naïve child that stuck it’s hand through the fence. Watch your children here. I suspect staff would have you do that if you visit these animals with your child, if they even allow you to take children in that back area.
There’s not a ton of pressure to adopt here. The staff know and will tell you fun stories about the animals’ unique personalities and what they know of them, just like at the Humane Society, full of happy animal lovers.
I’ve visited here just to unwind before and it was a good experience. Consider adopting too. I’m already at my limit, but there are a lot of animals that need homes.

If you have a problem with the shelter, or you don’t like how they do things, why don’t you volunteer some of your time to fix it?