About

The ARL considers itself a “No-Kill” shelter, yet we acknowledge that this label can be misleading or confusing in the conversation of animal welfare. While we are proud to be nationally recognized as a No-Kill Shelter, we also recognize that every animal welfare organization operates under different circumstances and we deeply respect the work of organizations across the country that are committed to improving outcomes for animals.

The term “no-kill” can give the impression that an organization will never euthanize an animal, ever. Unfortunately, that is not reality.

Here at the ARL, we make extremely thoughtful, difficult, painful, and socially-conscious decisions about euthanizing animals who we consider to be too unsafe to place back out into the public, or who are too sick, too injured or too costly for us to treat. Please know that we go to extreme lengths to evaluate and treat each and every animal in our care to give them all a chance, and we only make these decisions when we deem the animal’s behavior or medical care to be so extreme that we have no other choice.

Conversely, we also do not put animals up for adoption who we know have long-term, expensive, and unmanageable health conditions or behavior problems just to inflate our live-release or adoption rates. Our priority continues to be the health and safety of not only our animals, but our community as well. Above all else, we believe in transparency, and we disclose any known health or behavior issues to our clients at the time of adoption.

It’s important to note that since the ARL started following a “no-kill” model in 2018, we have not euthanized a single animal for space, and we have worked tirelessly to find housing for overflow animals during peak times of the year when the shelter is full through our foster and rescue partner programs.

For people in the community who are looking to help the ARL succeed in its “no-kill” mission, we encourage you to consider becoming a foster to help us alleviate crowding during peak times of the year when the shelter is bursting beyond capacity or to donate to help us care for the animals in our care.

Resources:
NPR
Best Friends
Socially Conscious Animal Community

Simply put, research shows that these checks do not work, are not predictive of responsible pet ownership or bonding between people and their pets, and encourage lying by potential adopters. Far too often, people who feel that they will be judged (rightly or wrongly) as “unworthy” of adopting a pet from shelter through a rigorous and invasive process often will bypass shelters altogether and go directly to backyard breeders or pet stores where they know it will be an easy process to take home an animal. These checks also bottleneck the adoption process keeping pets in the shelter longer and making them more susceptible to both physical and mental illness.

While we–nor any other shelter or rescue that conducts extensive background checks–can guarantee the success of our methodology and adoption processes, each day, we try our absolute best to make sure that animals are going to good homes and are appropriately placed. We offer extensive and personalized one-on-one adoption counseling with each adopter, which begins with a conversation and a brief questionnaire to help our adopters and our counselors determine the personality traits of a pet that best fit their lifestyle. We ask thoughtful and thorough questions to help us uncover facets of an adopter’s profile that would likely never be on a simple “yes/no” type of application. It’s our goal not only to find pets homes but to find lifelong and successful placements.

Our counseling also has a strong emphasis on post-adoption happiness and satisfaction. We offer continued support and guidance to all of our adopters well beyond their “gotcha days” through a series of calls, as well as a “happiness guarantee” where adopters know they can return their animal anytime for any reason if the adoption isn’t working out.

While the ARL does not conduct home, vet, or landlord checks, please know that we do maintain and continuously update a “do not adopt” database of known violent or sex offenders, animal abusers, or people who have demonstrated irresponsible pet ownership.

Resources:
ASPCA
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Psychology Today
Animal Sheltering

While we would love to charge an adoption fee at least equal to the amount of money we’ve invested into each of our pets, the reality is that we’re a non-profit and we are continuously operating from a need to find homes for animals to open space in the shelter so we can help more pets in need. The easiest and most effective way for us to do this is through reduced-price adoptions or free adoption events, like Clear the Shelters. Further, research shows that the price an adopter pays for their pet is in no way linked to their attachment to that pet, their ability to care for their pet, or the long-term success of their ownership of that pet.

We know of no human-animal bond that is cognizant of income. Low-income people who can afford the basic necessities of pet ownership are just as deserving of the love, companionship, and enrichment of a pet as those who face no financial challenges. And, quite frankly, we know that if people want a pet, they will do whatever it takes to acquire one. It is our hope that lower-income individuals would choose to adopt an already-spayed/neutered, vaccinated, healthy, and vetted low-cost or free pet from our shelter rather than pluck a free animal off of Craigslist who is not spayed/neutered, vaccinated, or vetted. Our mission is not to keep animals out of poor people’s hands, but to help them acquire pets who are in good health and cannot reproduce, and to help them keep their pets in their homes when unexpected and costly expenses would otherwise force them to give up their beloved companions.

Resources:
Best Friends
Salon

Besides research not supporting the myth that free adoptions attract animal abusers, most people who are intent on hurting animals will not go through a rigorous adoption counseling process, nor adopt an animal they intend to harm who has a microchip tied to their personal address and phone number. Because researchers have studied this topic so thoroughly and have concluded time after time that people do not value a paid pet any more than one they did not pay for, and because there is no evidence that links animal abuse to free adoption events at shelters, we will continue to use these events sparingly from time to time to help alleviate shelter overcrowding.

Resources:
Maddie’s Fund
No Kill Advocacy Center
Human Animal Support Services

While research does not support the notion that animals given as gifts are returned or valued any less than animals chosen by families during other times of the year, we adhere to a common-sense approach and do not adopt animals to people who are looking to surprise someone else who does not live in their home. Instead, our holiday promotions are geared towards in-family adoptions, such as parents giving their children a pet as a gift. In these cases, we know the person choosing the pet is ultimately responsible for his/her care and is aware of the responsibilities and costs associated with choosing to bring an animal home.

For many years, some shelters yanked their black animals off the adoption floor near Halloween for fear that people would adopt black animals with the intent to sacrifice or torture them. Simply put, this is a myth. There is no evidence to suggest that black cats (or dogs) are tortured or sacrificed during Halloween, and we do not believe in limiting any animal’s chance to find a responsible and loving home simply because myths are perpetuated about the dangers of adopting animals during certain holidays.

Resources:
ASPCA
Best Friends
Animal Sheltering

A diagnosis of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) or feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) (which are feline-only viruses and cannot be transmitted to humans) used to be an automatic death sentence for cats or kittens in the shelter environment. Today, more is known about these viruses, including the low incidence of these viruses in the Berks County area and the low transmission rates from cat to cat. More importantly, we know now that many asymptomatic cats who are infected with FeLV or FIV can lead as healthy and normal of a life as non-infected cats. Due to these reasons, at present, the ARL follows the advice of the updated 2020 guidelines issued by the American Association of Feline Practitioners, which was compiled by an international panel of experts, and no longer tests all cats who come into our care for FeLV/FIV since testing is very expensive, poor use of our resources, and often inaccurate. Today, we test cats whom we suspect may be infected with FeLV or FIV, and offer adopters the chance to have an untested cat tested before they adopt it for a $25 fee. All adopters are made aware of whether their cat was tested and is positive for FeLV/FIV so that they can make an informed decision at the time of adoption.

Resources:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
The American Association of Feline Practitioners
Maddie’s Fund
ASPCA

Our commitment to Berks County’s animals always comes first, and it always will. By far, the vast majority of animals we care for are from Berks County. However, sometimes we do find ourselves with a lower population of shelter animals typically during the colder, winter months when animals are more likely to stay safely indoors, or following a successful adoption event. On the rare occasion when we do have space, rather than keep a room full of kennels empty, we feel an obligation to see how we can help other Pennsylvania-based rescue partners with whom we have a “Pawsitive Partner” agreement. These rescues often help us during our “busy” times of year by pulling animals when we’re overcrowded. To us, it seems only fair to repay the favor when we have the ability to shelter and find homes for these animals. Mostly, these rescues deal with Pennsylvania-based animals, but sometimes these rescues may pull animals from other states in the south, which is a region that continues to struggle with massive shelter intake and high euthanasia rates. We feel that this help is in accordance with our mission and allows us to save even more animals from needless euthanasia. After all, we believe that saving animals takes more than a village–it takes a network.

Resources:

https://www.shelteranimalscount.org/data-dashboards

Once known for their friendly, protective and loyal temperament, Pitbulls were so embraced by families that they were called “nanny” dogs in 19th century England–where they are now banned from being owned or bred today. Even though these dogs are so beloved by those who own them and those who work with them, they face a multitude of misconceptions, causing them to be overlooked by potential adopters and surrendered to our shelter more than any other breed often due to a lack of socialization and the prevalence of poor backyard breeding practices. Underneath their muscular builds and intimidating looks, Pitbulls are often goofy pups who enjoy both active and lazy lifestyles and the companionship of humans.

Here are the most common myths we hear about this breed:

MYTH 1:Pitbulls are inherently mean dogs. 

Response: By the history of people forcing Pitbulls to fight one another, they’ve gained the reputation as being a mean or naturally “aggressive breed”. But, in fact, Pitbulls are naturally very easy-going dogs with a pleasant disposition and temperament. In fact, the American Temperament Test Society, which uses a uniform, scientific scale to rank the temperament of dog breeds, scores the American Pitbull’s temperament the same as a Golden Retriever, and ranked their temperament higher than commonly-loved dogs like Corgis or Beagles.

MYTH 2: Pitbulls have locking jaws, which makes their bite more dangerous than any other breed. 

Response: No dog–including the Pitbull–has a locking jaw. Pitbulls are inherently determined and strong dogs, and they naturally bite and shake, which, coupled with their strength can cause their bite to do more damage than other breeds. However, they do not have the strongest bite of all dogs, they are not the only dog that bites and shakes, and they have jaws that exert about the same amount of pressure during a bite as a Labrador Retriever. Top 23 Dogs with the strongest bite listed here

MYTH 3:Pitbulls at the shelter once had horrible and neglectful owners, and years of abuse and neglect cannot be undone. These dogs can never be trusted. 

Response: Yes, dogs of all breeds do arrive to us in very sad condition after years of abuse and neglect. But the majority of the dogs we care for come from families who took great care of them and loved them, but could not continue to keep them–oftentimes, due to housing restrictions. Forgiveness is not breed specific. Dogs are individuals, and they are also very forgiving creatures who are naturally wired to please people. Here is a follow-up to a highly covered news story that serves as proof of this: The Vicktory Dogs

Read more about what makes this breed so great:

Petfinder

ARL has worked hard to expand programming that can more effectively affect change on this problem.

• While we are only one organization, we are doing our part to model the solutions that we know have worked elsewhere throughout the country. We brought in specialist trainers from Best Friends to learn best practices for lifesaving outcomes for cats and are committed to advancing this goal.
• A commitment to move away from high euthanasia and into lifesaving outcomes so cats can survive the shelter system
• Efforts to expand our organization to be able to gain funding to start and maintain TNR programming in a consistent and high-volume capacity
• Instituting the SNVR/TNVR programs to intake and help as many cats as our capacity will allow and to push the number of annual spays/neuters higher
• Instituting low-cost TNR at $40
• Creating the donor-funded CatSnip grant program that provides access to $15 TNRs to the public and securing funding for it
• Supplying free TNR for people from contracted municipalities as our surgical capacity allows
• Added a Community Cats Coordinator staff position to focus on this issue with real resources
• Expanding the number of veterinarians on staff to do spay/neuter surgeries for the public
• Developing a volunteer program and coalition with county trappers/TNR enthusiasts to work collaboratively and reduce barriers to surgical access
• Working with other animal-welfare organizations to support and advance TNR efforts however possible

To learn more about the Community Cats Program, click here.

Like most charities, the ARL does not receive funding from federal, state, or county tax dollars. At present, we receive some municipal support from a handful of municipalities in Berks County who can choose to contract with the ARL for animal control. Because citizens from these municipalities support the ARL through their tax dollars, they receive benefits that non-contracted residents do not, such as the ability to drop off stray animals they find for no fee.

Since we receive no federal, state, or county funding and so little municipal support, we rely on grants and donors to fund nearly 90% of our budget, which is why we continuously need to fundraise. Additionally, our adoption fees only cover a fraction of an animal’s care, often leaving us with a budget gap that we must fill through donor dollars.

While we hate to continuously have our hand outstretched asking for your support, it’s a necessary and vital part of our need to stay open, keep our lights on, and to continue to serve both the animals and our community.

Resource:
PetMD