Please consider this our S.O.S., our 5-alarm fire, our last-second buzzer shot of the big game. The animal welfare industry is in crisis, and here at the ARL, we are taking on water in an aging ship with half a crew and ominous storm clouds for as far as the eye can see.

Analogies aside, there is no sugar coating our current situation. To all our kind and loyal supporters that have ever said “if you ever need anything, let me know,” the time is now.  

If you’ve read our newsletters or visited our website or social media pages within the last several months, you’ve likely seen our population meter showing critically high levels of animals under our care. These shelter population spikes are not unique to the ARL or even to Berks County. Shelters and rescues across the country are inundated with animals that are not transitioning out to new placements at the rate they used to. We as an industry have sounded the alarm bells for months now, citing data trends nationwide from industry leaders on slowing adoption rates, staffing shortages, and increased euthanasia across the country. Data is the single best way for any industry to track what is happening. Data analysis connects the dots between what is happening on the ground in our own community and where specific attention is needed to create large-scale, national change. Folks, the data isn’t pretty.

• There were roughly 4% more dogs entering shelters last year (a total of 91,000) with no increase in adoptions to off-set that figure. Subsequently, the overall canine save rate fell from 86.9% in 2021 to 82.7% in 2022.

• Overall intake was up to 4.4 million versus 4.3 million in 2021, with dogs making up almost the entire increase. Unlike the spike in dog intake, however, intake for cats has stayed steady year-over-year since 2019 at 2.1 million (down from 2.5 million pre-pandemic). While that may sound like good news for the cats, that is only a positive if the adoptions keep pace, which they have not.

• Adoptions have stalled at just under one million nationwide and have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Last year also saw 15% fewer transfers out of shelters for all species—for dogs, that equals 6,137 per day, or 256 per hour. 

The strain on our shelter system has reached a breaking point and we are springing leaks in any weak spots. Here at the ARL, we are experiencing every national trend while also drowning under several key painful stressors.

Slow Adoption Rates Despite Promotions and Incentives

Pay What You Can and Sponsored Adoption Days where fees are waived are making headway, but not at the rate we need them to. This results in longer length of stays, leading to less available kennels for new animals, creating a backlog of animals on waitlists, leading to community frustration on our capacity for care. We want to help – but we simply cannot force animals through the system without large scale euthanasia, of which, our community asked us to move away from in 2017-2018.

Municipal Contract and Animal Protection Cases

Contractual and humane investigation obligations require ARL to intake stray or injured animals when they are presented to us, limiting our ability to manage the admission of animals at a rate that is sustainable. This leads to a bottleneck of animals in the admission process without a counterbalance of animals leaving at the same rate.

Animal cruelty, neglect, and hoarding investigations are at an all-time high, requiring the urgent and mandatory seizure of large amounts of animals at one time. Due to the nature of the law, this is particularly challenging as these animals must be held indefinitely as evidence until legal outcomes are reached. Again, holding kennel space that is desperately needed.

Right now, the ARL has two active cases putting significant strain on our financial and physical space resources. While we cannot share details at this time as they are active investigations, here are examples of other cases to give you a sense of what kind of effort these cases take.

How to help

Sponsor a Medical Treatment

Dozens of animals have broken with an upper respiratory disease within the last 30 days and one treatment cycle costs an average of $75. You can donate to our animal’s medical care here: https://berksarl.org/berksdonates/ or contact Ashley at amikulsky@berksarl.org. 

Prefer to buy items directly? You can keep our pets occupied while they undergo treatment by sending enrichment items from our wishlists: https://berksarl.org/wishlist-2/ .

Share Our Content

Thanks (hah!) to the changes in social media algorithms – far fewer people see our posts and those that do, are likely people who already follow us. We need exposure to new networks of people, and that comes from YOU. Share on your own pages, send an email at work. Not sure who or what to share? We can help with that. Email akleinsmith@berksarl.org to get started.  

Send Words/Gifts of Encouragement

The staff are suffering, the animals can feel it, and when you’re feeling particularly defeated – knowing someone else is in your corner makes all the difference. Like the nurses in the height of the pandemic or the firefighters battling wildfires in Canada – fatigue and the despair makes a mountain seem unclimbable. You can mail letters of encouragement, baskets of joy, or small acts of kindness for our staff to 58 Kennel Road Birdsboro, PA 19508. Have a special idea in mind? Contact Ashley at amikulsky@berksarl.org to discuss your idea.  

Have An Idea? We Want to Hear it!

It could be how about to spread the word, raise funds, increase adoptions, partner with unique businesses, etc. Not every idea may be appropriate for us – but every idea kept to ourselves is one more idea never explored.  Contact Ashley at amikulsky@berksarl.org to discuss your idea.