A representative at ACC wrote the following on Nextdoor on August 30th [emphasis added]:

“The information getting passed around about our agency is misleading. Of course we accept cats….The confusion is about a change in our intake policies. People were bringing cats to us that they picked up outdoors. Many of these cats were pets who are allowed to roam...We ask that people do not bring us healthy, friendly cats that they encounter outside….We will always take in sick and/or injured cats, and cats in dangerous situations.”

Who Is “Misleading” and “Confused” Here?

About the only cats ACC admits without question are owner-surrendered cats and those brought in by ACC’s own animal control officers – but definitely NOT most cats brought in by the public, though it sometimes depends on what shelter rep you get and how closely they are following ACC’s published guidelines.

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https://www.sfanimalcare.org/lost-found-pets/report-a-found-pet/ [condensed for space and emphasis added]:

Found a Cat Outside? How to Help!

Most cats you see outdoors are not in need of intervention and should be left where they are unless they require assistance.

Step 1. If the cat is sick or injured, contact SFACC Dispatch for further assistance. [That is NOT the same as bringing the sick or injured cat to ACC.]

Step 2. If the cat is lost or abandoned [“Abandoned” means the guardian dumped the cat and DOES NOT WANT HER BACK.]:

• Is the cat wearing a collar? If the cat appears healthy and content, leave her alone.
• If the cat has any tags with owner information, call the owner.
• If the cat is wearing a collar and appears dirty, sick or injured, call our front desk. If the cat is definitely sick or injured [as opposed to “appears” dirty, sick or injured?], bring the cat to our shelter or call SFACC Dispatch if you require assistance bringing the cat into our shelter. [However, many who have done this, but have called first to make a required appointment, have been told NOT to bring the cat in – or, if anything, to take the cat to a private vet. Again, it depends on what ACC representative they get.]
• If the cat has a tipped or notched ear she is a spayed feral. Leave her alone. [Many outdoor cats with tipped ears are owned indoor cats whose guardians adopted them from rescue groups or ACC after they went through a Community Cats spay/neuter program, but the friendly cats then escaped from their homes and got lost.]
• Take a photo of the cat to compare for lost cats on Nextdoor, Pawboost, and other sites to see if someone lost this cat.
• Report a found pet with ACC to cross-match with any lost reports if you believe this is a lost or abandoned cat.
• If the cat is in danger (such as in busy intersection, or coyotes are nearby) confine the cat if it is safe to do so, or call SFACC Dispatch for assistance. [Again, ACC has refused such cats.]
• If the cat is not in danger or sick/injured, do not bring the cat indoors. Leave him in place. You may provide food/water support.
• Post a found cat alert on Nextdoor.com, PetHarbor.com, PetFBI.org, Pawboost.com, petcolove.org, and Craigslist in the Pets category and the Lost and Found Community section. Share the information with your neighbors via social media, email lists, community message boards or however you typically communicate with those who live closest to you and where the cat was found.
• If you find a cat outdoors without a tipped ear and without proof of ownership, contact SF SPCA to schedule a spay/neuter appointment rather than bring it into ACC. [The SF SPCA does NOT accept friendly strays for its Community Cats “feral fix” clinic.]

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The ACC online guidelines continue:

“Another change in our policies is to leave mother feral cats with young kittens in place — if it's safe — until they are a little older and not nursing. Once the kittens can eat on their own, they can come back [?] and go into a foster home, go up for adoption, or to another shelter or rescue group. Moms can go through Community Cats at the SPCA and be spayed and returned to where they lived. We've found that ferals become extremely stressed in the shelter environment, and moms with nursing kittens don’t do well. Going from freedom outdoors to a cage inside a building terrifies most ferals.”

Left unsaid, ACC considers most kittens weaned (eating on their own) at four weeks old and rejects kittens as too feral to adopt out at seven weeks old (they say “eight weeks” online but actually reject such kittens as too old). Thus, if you misjudge the kittens’ age and release them outside of this three-week window, you would have to attempt to trap them again and hope their mother hasn’t moved them, as they often do.

Although the excerpt above says “if it’s safe,” the outdoors is almost NEVER safe. Many kittens are too frail to survive the many (sometimes not apparent) outdoor dangers, such as frosty temperatures, mom cats who abandon them, mom cats who refuse to nurse or whose milk dries up prematurely, raccoons and coyotes, common diseases and parasites, and accidents.

The ”extreme stress” of a “shelter environment” is both highly exaggerated, especially in comparison to the stress of being left outdoors, and misleading, since experienced foster volunteers are available to nurture the mom cat and her kittens in a quiet, warm, comfortable and safe environment in their homes, with plenty of food and water, including kitten milk replacement formula if the mom cat is uncooperative. All ACC would have to do is accept such cats and litters from the public and immediately reroute them to these loving foster volunteers.