Sacramento County Bradshaw Animal Shelter
Bradshaw Animal Shelter provides Sacramento County animal care services, including pet adoption, lost-and-found assistance, licensing, vaccination clinics, and animal-related reporting. This article explains how to choose the right service, plan a shelter visit, search for a missing pet, prepare for adoption, and handle licensing paperwork. It also explains service boundaries, intake restrictions, and scheduling details that can affect your visit.
The county’s Bradshaw Animal Shelter website is the official starting point for shelter services and program updates. Adoption, animal intake, licensing, and field services have different procedures. Choosing the service that matches your situation can prevent an unnecessary trip or a call to the wrong office.
Service Areas and Shelter Jurisdiction
A Sacramento mailing address does not, by itself, establish which agency handles an animal issue. Sacramento County Animal Care Services and city animal services are separate providers. Before taking a found animal to Bradshaw or requesting field assistance, confirm which agency serves the location involved.
The county’s animal care service-area page identifies communities and cities receiving basic service and spay/neuter service. These include Antelope, Arden Arcade, Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Delta, Elverta, Fair Oaks, Florin Town, Galt, Gold River, Herald, Isleton, Mather Airport, Independence at Mather, North Highlands, Orangevale, Rio Linda, Rosemont, Vineyard, and Wilton. The page also identifies North Natomas outside the City of Sacramento.
Service boundaries should be checked for the particular task. For example, the county’s licensing page specifies that Sacramento County Animal Care provides pet licensing for residents of unincorporated Sacramento County. The broader service-area list should not be treated as confirmation that every listed community follows the same licensing procedure.
For a found animal, the county directs residents to contact its live operator to confirm shelter jurisdiction before bringing the animal in. The contact numbers appear at the end of this article. Adoption eligibility is broader: Bradshaw adopts pets to residents anywhere in the United States.
Visiting Hours and Intake Times
Bradshaw Animal Shelter is closed on Mondays and holidays. Regular public hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with extended hours until 6 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Animal intake ends earlier than public visiting hours. Intake is available from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, except Wednesdays, when intake continues until 5:30 p.m. A visitor arriving near the public closing time may already have missed the intake window.
Adoption processing also has its own cutoff: it stops 30 minutes before closing. That means processing ends at 4:30 p.m. on regular operating days and 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Allow time to meet the animal, speak with staff, and complete the paperwork before that cutoff.
The shelter is on Bradshaw Road, one mile south of Highway 50 between Goethe and Kiefer. The official shelter contact page provides location details and service-specific contacts. The street address and main phone numbers are included in the final office list below.
Adoptable Pets and Online Listings
The county’s adoptable animal listings separate dogs, cats, and other animals. Review an animal’s size, temperament, and home requirements before visiting. Those details help you focus on pets whose needs fit your household.
Listings update every 30 minutes, but they may not reflect real-time availability. An animal appearing online is not a reservation. Bradshaw cannot hold animals by phone or email, and it does not ship pets. Shelter adoptions are completed in person on a first-come, first-served basis.
Staff may have limited background information because most animals arrive as strays. Do not assume a listing provides a complete account of a pet’s previous home, training, or behavior. Use the adoption counseling conversation to discuss the information staff have and the needs described in the animal’s listing.
Dog breeds are identified by shelter attendants or officers using their best judgment. Treat the listed breed as the shelter’s identification rather than a documented pedigree.
Preparing Your Household for Adoption
Adopters must be at least 18 years old. Before visiting, confirm that your landlord or homeowners association permits the pet you are considering. Resolving housing restrictions beforehand helps avoid completing an adoption that your housing rules do not allow.
The county’s pet adoption process recommends bringing children and other household members to meet the animal. Bring a leash and collar for a dog or a carrier for the pet you plan to take home.
During adoption counseling, staff meet with you, complete the paperwork, and collect adoption and licensing fees. Licensing requirements and charges vary by city or county, so the adoption fee should not be treated as the entire amount due in every case.
Surgery, Pickup, and Return Policy
Dogs and cats must be spayed or neutered before adoption. An animal that has already been altered can go home the same day. If surgery is still needed, the shelter schedules it before pickup. Meeting an animal and completing adoption arrangements therefore does not always mean taking the pet home that afternoon.
The adoption fee includes spay or neuter surgery, a microchip, and initial immunizations. Bradshaw also provides a 30-day return policy if the adoption does not work out. Discuss questions about the pet’s needs during counseling so you understand the available information before bringing the animal home.
Adoption Fees and Available Specials
The county’s Animal Care Services fee schedule lists standard adoption charges of $81 for a cat, $121 for a male dog, and $147 for a female dog. Rabbit adoption is $45, while rodents and fowl are $5. Exotic animals and livestock are priced at market value.
A Senior for Senior adoption involving a senior owner and senior dog or cat is listed at $25. The shelter also lists waived adoption fees for long-term pets that have been at the shelter for at least 30 days, and waived dog and cat adoption fees for veterans with eligible identification.
Specials can change without notice. Review the posted terms before your visit, and distinguish an adoption-fee waiver from licensing charges. The adoption process separately identifies licensing fees, so a waived adoption charge should not be assumed to eliminate every charge associated with taking a pet home.
Lost Pets and Found Animals
Searching for a Missing Pet
The county’s lost-and-found pet page directs owners to search Bradshaw’s lost-pet information online and in person. It separates found cats, dogs, and other animals, helping owners choose the appropriate group rather than searching only the adoption listings.
Lost-pet searches and adoption searches serve different purposes. An animal being held for an owner is not necessarily available for adoption. Likewise, a pet’s absence from the adoptable listings does not establish that it is absent from the shelter.
Bradshaw’s Lost & Found Assistance team can help with search tips and registration. The county also recommends contacting local shelters and veterinary offices and posting flyers or yard signs. These steps broaden the search beyond one shelter’s online records.
Licensed pets receive a minimum shelter hold of 10 business days. That protection makes current licensing useful, but owners should still search and contact the shelter when a pet disappears. It should not be treated as a reason to postpone looking.
Reporting an Animal You Found
The county directs people who find a pet to complete a Found Animal Form and notify local shelters and veterinary offices. If the animal needs to be brought to a shelter, first contact the county live operator to confirm jurisdiction.
Keep the location where the animal was found clear when asking which agency should handle it. The purpose of the jurisdiction check is to identify the appropriate shelter before transport. If you plan to bring the animal to Bradshaw, observe the intake cutoff rather than relying on the later public closing time.
For an injured found animal, the county directs the finder to a veterinarian or a 24-hour emergency hospital. This is a separate instruction from arranging routine shelter intake.
Pets Held After an Owner’s Death
Animals brought to Bradshaw because their owner has died are automatically held in protective custody for two weeks. During that period, they are not available for adoption and do not appear on the lost-and-found list. Family members looking for these pets should contact the shelter directly rather than relying on an online search.
Only the deceased owner’s next of kin or the conservator of the estate may claim the animals. The shelter determines acceptable proof and any applicable fees case by case. Contact staff to establish whether the animals are available and arrange a visit or pickup.
After the two-week period, unclaimed animals found to be in good health may become available for adoption or placement. The protective-custody period is therefore a specific opportunity for the eligible family member or estate representative to make arrangements.
Vaccination Clinics and Microchipping
The county’s vaccination and microchipping page provides separate dog and cat clinic schedules. Bradshaw’s low-cost vaccine clinic requires an appointment, and pets must arrive on a leash or in a carrier.
Appointments open 14 days in advance and are offered first come, first served. A “no appointments available” message can mean the selected date has not entered the booking window or that its appointments have already been taken. New appointments do not appear earlier than two weeks ahead.
The Bradshaw clinic lists rabies vaccination at $15, FVRCP at $10, DHPP at $10, and Bordetella at $15. Microchips are free through the listed Bradshaw clinic service. These charges belong to the clinic schedule and should be distinguished from adoption fees and license fees.
The county states that dogs and cats over four months old must be vaccinated against rabies and licensed in Sacramento County. Completing a vaccination appointment and obtaining a license are separate tasks; a vaccine appointment alone does not replace licensing.
What a Microchip Can Do
A microchip is a small RFID device placed under a pet’s skin. It contains a unique identification number associated with contact information in a searchable database. It does not transmit the animal’s location and is not a GPS tracker.
The identification number and the owner’s contact record work together. Microchipping should therefore be understood as identification that can help reunite a found pet with its owner, rather than a system for watching the pet’s movements.
Pet Licenses and Record Changes
Sacramento County Animal Care provides licensing for residents of unincorporated Sacramento County. The county’s pet licensing page explains purchasing, renewals, replacement tags, and account changes. Dogs and cats must be licensed, including indoor cats and cats that spend time outdoors.
A license tag is permanent; owners do not receive a new tag with every renewal. The license itself must still be renewed when it expires. Reminder bills are sent when renewal is due, and late renewals carry a penalty.
The fee schedule lists altered dog and cat licenses at $15 for one year, $30 for two years, and $40 for three years. Standard unaltered licenses are $50, $100, and $150 for those respective terms. Reduced altered-pet rates apply to owners age 62 and older. The schedule also has separate Galt and Isleton charges, reinforcing the need to select the fee that applies to the licensing jurisdiction.
Replacement Tags and Account Updates
For a replacement license tag, bring licensing paperwork, identification, proof of rabies vaccination, and proof of spay or neuter to the shelter. After verifying the information, staff can issue the replacement on the spot. The replacement fee is $5.
The same information may be submitted by mail. Replacement tags cannot be obtained through a veterinarian’s office. The county identifies Wednesdays and Thursdays as the shelter’s least busy days for this service.
Contact licensing staff when your address or phone number changes, when a license needs to be inactivated, or when a pet has died. Include the pet’s name and license information so staff can identify the correct record. Updating an owner’s contact information is a separate task from replacing a lost tag.
Owners licensing more than one animal may place the paperwork in one envelope and write one check for multiple pets. Unaltered licenses must be applied for and purchased at the shelter. Their one-, two-, or three-year term must match the number of years on the rabies certificate.
Clearing an Unlicensed-Animal Citation
A citation for an unlicensed animal must be cleared at the shelter within seven days. To clear it and purchase the license, provide a copy of the citation, a current rabies certificate valid for at least one year, and a spay or neuter certificate when applicable.
The minimum charge to clear the citation and purchase a license is $25. Citations that remain uncleared after seven days are sent to court. Other citation types, including animals at large, kennel or cattery matters, and cruelty cases, must be handled through the court rather than the shelter’s licensing procedure.
Owner Surrender and Intake Restrictions
Bradshaw does not accept routine owner surrenders. Requests are reviewed case by case according to available space and the circumstances. Contact the shelter about your situation before bringing an owned animal for surrender.
The county’s information about turning in a pet discusses surrender for Sacramento County residents outside the cities of Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, and Sacramento. Read that information alongside the fee schedule’s explicit restriction on routine surrenders. Residency and arrival during open hours do not establish that a surrender request has been accepted.
The fee schedule lists $50 for an owner surrender and $65 for a litter. A posted fee is not an intake reservation or approval. Confirm the shelter’s decision on the request before planning transport.
Animal Reports and Phone Options
The main shelter phone system routes bite reports and other animal issues differently. For a bite to a human, select Option 2. Operators for that reporting option are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
For stray animals, cruelty or neglect concerns, excessive numbers of animals, and barking complaints, select Option 3. Operators for those issues are available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
These operator schedules differ from shelter visiting and intake hours. For nonemergency inquiries, the county directs callers to its live operator service. Field Operations also handles vicious-animal filings and animal legal issues. Choose the reporting route that matches the issue instead of treating every concern as a request for shelter intake.
Department and Office Contacts
Sacramento County Animal Care Services — Bradshaw Animal Shelter
3839 Bradshaw Road, Sacramento, CA 95827
Phone: (916) 368-7387
Animal Care Services — Lost & Found Assistance
Phone: (916) 875-5678
Animal Care Services — Field Operations
Phone: 311 or (916) 875-4311