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For more than 50 years, PHS/SPCA has been a progressive, often-modeled leader. Our roots trace to a small association of animal advocates who found deplorable conditions at the local pounds and established the Society. Soon thereafter, this new organization contracted with San Mateo County to provide animal control services -- the first such relationship of its kind. In the 1970s, PHS/SPCA became the first California humane society to have an on-site Spay/Neuter Clinic, a wildlife rehabilitation center and "get acquainted" rooms for the public to meet and play with shelter animals as part of the adoption process. By the late 1970s, the Society began teaching the humane treatment of animals to schoolchildren. In the 1980s, the Society began a mobile adoption program, and in the early 1990s, PHS/SPCA was among the first shelters to offer sheltering services for pets belonging to domestic abuse victims and a free animal behavior helpline for local pet owners. More recent innovations include a pet assisted therapy program which brings our volunteers and their pets to patients and residents in hospitals and other health care facilities, a department devoted to addressing animal cruelty and a mobile spay/neuter program which provides free surgeries for residents in targeted neighborhoods. PHS/SPCA has been granted accreditation by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA); this recognizes the highest level of veterinary excellence following a rigorous review of protocols, medical equipment, facility and client service.