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About Pima Animal Care Center

Location:

4000 N. Silverbell Rd., Tucson, AZ 85745, US

Mission Statement

Pima Animal Care Center is committed to providing timely service to residents and compassionate care to animals, while working to support public safety, find homes for homeless animals and educate the community about responsible pet ownership

Here are some of the ways we approach that mission:

• Protecting public health and safety by enforcing laws and ordinances;
• Responding and investigating complaints of animal abuse and cruelty;
• Providing shelter for abandoned pets, none of which are turned away;
• Working with more than five dozen rescue and animal welfare partners to find loving homes for homeless animals;
• Picking up stray dogs to increase safety for the animals and your neighborhood, while providing an opportunity for lost pets to be reunited with their owners;
• Promoting and supporting low-cost spay/neuter, vaccination and licensing services;
• Encouraging volunteers and donors to assist in our mission.

Pima Animal Care Center is a Division of the Pima County Health Department and is organized into four major sections: Enforcement, Animal Shelter, Licensing and Public Outreach/Education. The Pima Animal Care Center is located in Tucson, with a substation in Ajo.

The Silverbell facility is open from noon until 7 p.m. weekdays, and from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. weekends.

Description

Our mission at Pima Animal Care is to protect the health and safety of all Pima County residents - including those with four legs, cold noses and fur.

Unfortunately, there aren’t enough loving homes to care for the number of animals in our community. Sometimes, we end up with cats and dogs because owners are irresponsible or abusive. Sometimes, life circumstances change or owners believe they aren’t equipped to deal with an aging or sick pet.
And because Pima Animal Care accepts all animals, regardless of their condition, we take in roughly 25,000 animals a year.

That is a staggering number. If you imagine every seat filled at McKale Center at the University of Arizona, remember that capacity there is fewer than 15,000.

Some of the animals - those with behavioral problems or illnesses or aggression - can be hard to find homes for, but many, many of the animals we receive are healthy and well-socialized.

We feel deeply for the animals in our care and work diligently to make sure that every healthy, adoptable animal has a chance to go home with new families who will love them.

There is no "clock" ticking on healthy, adoptable animals. We will keep an animal for months, as long as health and behavior allows, as we work closely with community partners and rescue organizations to find a placement.

But we can’t outrun the need. Unfortunately, as fast as we can find animals homes, literally dozens are coming in every day. Sadly, some are at risk of being put down, including sick animals that don’t respond to treatment or those with behavioral issues that don’t respond to training and pose a risk to our public and our volunteers.
It would be wonderful to eliminate the need for euthanasia, but we aren’t there yet.

It is going to take all of us working together to fix this problem. How?

Spaying and neutering pets is the single biggest step people can take to control the animal population.
Making responsible choices when picking out pets so that families are well-equipped for the animals they take home
Ensuring animals are vaccinated so they stay healthy
Licensing animals so they can more readily be returned to their rightful homes
Volunteering time to help serve as shelter guides and connect families with available pets
Donating resources to help care for animals and expand public awareness

Pima Animal Care is committed to making progress on each of these elements, from low-cost vaccination clinics to discounted spay/neuter program in certain areas of the community. Licensing for altered animals has been held to a nominal fee. We welcome volunteers and donors who want to help us in our mission.

Thank you for your support.