SF records detail ex-Supervisor Alcaraz's poop-strewn pet shop

• City records obtained by Axios offer more details about her private-sector track record and raise questions about how Mayor Daniel Lurie vetted the 29-year-old tapped to represent the district's 80,000 residents.

Lurie's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Alcaraz could not be reached for comment.

• Lurie said in a statement Thursday that Alcaraz resigned after recognizing that "the Sunset deserves a supervisor who is fully focused on serving the community."
• "We also agreed that the new information about her conduct while running her small business, which I learned today, would be a significant distraction from that work," Lurie said.
• "I believe that my community deserves someone who will work 24/7 to advocate for us," Alcaraz said in a statement Thursday. "And I understand that today's news stories would distract me from doing that."

Driving the news: Animal Care and Control officers visited Alcaraz's Outer Sunset store three times in 2024, records show.

• An inspection officer wrote in a March 2024 activity report that while the habitats appeared "relatively clean" and that animals seemed healthy, they found "some rat feces potentially from pests."
• Two months later, a second officer visited after a self-identified employee reported that the store was "completely infested with mice," with mice feces and urine "covering every surface."

Zoom in: The employee, whose email and other information were redacted in the records released to Axios via a Public Records Act request, said there weren't enough resources for workers to ensure the animals were properly taken care of.

• The shop had tried to use mouse poison, but it resulted in "dying, poisoned mice ... crawling into bird cages and enclosures daily," the employee wrote in an email contained in the inspection report.
• "People board their animals here but aren't allowed to see where," the employee added. "I get sick after spending a day there because of the ammonia in the air, and animals are way more sensitive."
• Other allegations included a lack of hot water for cleaning cages, an incident in which another employee clipped bird wings so short they bled, and "no action taken by the owner" when animals were in distress.

What they found: The May inspection officer's activity memo details "spilled seed/food all over the tables and floor with rat feces mixed in."

• The cages for parakeets also looked as if they hadn't been cleaned in at least a day or two, the officer noted.
• Alcaraz was issued a warning notice in violation of California's pet shop health and safety codes on May 21, 2024, and given seven days to "clean rodent droppings, seeds, food spill and cages upstairs and downstairs," per the notice.

Yes, but: A July inspection again found "rat feces everywhere" and unpleasant smells, even though the store's animals still appeared healthy.

• As a result, the matter was referred to the city's Department of Public Health.
• It remains unclear whether the public health department took any actions, and the department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Catch up quick: Alcaraz ran The Animal Connection from 2019 to May 2025, when she transferred ownership of the business. Lurie had said he appointed the 29-year-old because of her work ethic and experience running a small business, which he called "the neighborhood's most beloved pet shop."

• That framing was challenged after Julia Baran, the current owner of The Animal Collection, alleged that Alcaraz's mismanagement led to mice feces and nests infesting the store.
• Alcaraz was frequently behind on rent and did not turn a profit from 2020 to 2023, per financial records confirmed by the San Francisco Chronicle.
• Mission Local reported text messages Thursday that it said showed Alcaraz telling Baran she paid workers "under the table" — a practice that's illegal in California and often used to avoid tax liabilities — and wrote off dinners and drinks with friends as a business expense.

What we're watching: Multiple supervisors told the Chronicle that Alcaraz's pet store controversy, brought to light so soon after her appointment, doesn't reflect well on the city.

• Lurie has said his team is now working to find Alcaraz's replacement.