Uuuugh you grumble as you try to make your way up Stockton Street. Look at these rubes clogging the sidewalk in front of Macy's. It's like they never saw a cat or a dog before, you think grinchily. Then it happens. Oh my god, look at that one playing with his friend... and you, too, screech to a halt in Union Square pedestrian traffic, hypnotized by the cuteness of the Annual SF SPCA Holiday Windows.
This is the 28th year the SPCA has done the Union Square Macy's window thing. Friday's opening event (photos of which you can see above) featured, as you know, internet sensation Grumpy Cat, a feline made famous due to her dwarfism and underbite. But while the celeb guest was not adoptable, all the other animals you'll see in the windows are. Last year, the SPCA managed to find homes for 343 pets, and raised about $100,000 during its window run. You can bet that they're trying to beat those numbers this year.
The downtown Macy's will feature SF SPCA dogs and cats until January 4, and will be allowing adoptions throughout. But that's not the only place to find an adoptable pet during the holidays (or any other time): San Francisco's Animal Care and Control also had adoptable cats, dogs, and other creatures from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and via Petfinder.com you can search for homeless Bay Area rescue and shelter animals round the clock.
SFist reader Heather emails with a penny-pinching tip:
The animals at Macy's are adoptable for a fee. However, at the SFSPCA's Mission and Pacific Heights campuses, adoption fees are being waived from November 21st through January 4th. So free cats and dogs (except for the $21 dog license fee one has to pay to the city).
You can see the info on fees here, just scroll down. Thanks, Heather!