This summer, you heard our plea for help: With an ongoing overpopulation crisis coming to a head alongside a shelter-wide disease outbreak and high volumes of animal protection cases, our resources were depleting by the day. But thanks to you, our animals, staff, and volunteers were supported through it all. Your steadfast generosity has made all the difference, and now, we’re pleased to share how we’re on the trajectory towards a steady end to 2023. 

Adoption events such as Clear The Shelters are opening up space in the shelter. 

Thanks to our incredible community and volunteers, we found 71 homes for pets in just one weekend at the end of August! Our past two sponsored adoption events hosted by Diamond Credit Union and Tom Schaeffer’s Camping and Travel Center also helped move an additional 30 animals into loving homes. While these adoption events rightfully invoke excitement around opening space in the shelter, it’s important to remember that every single adoption counts now more than ever. We simply could not get through this unprecedented time without our community of adopters who have made space in their homes for new furry companions! 

Our disease outbreak is finally on the mend. 

Our staff’s dedication to maintaining a clean facility while bravely fighting for the lives of our animals every day has created a steady trajectory towards remedying our disease outbreak. While treading cautiously, we are grateful to report that we have had no new cases in our canine population for over three weeks, and we have began reintroducing our dogs to each other through walks and play sessions for the first time since July. 

While we are still actively fighting calicivirus amongst our feline population, our cats are positively responding to our treatment, with many going on to make a full recovery within a few weeks of following medical protocol. In the meantime, we are continuing to sterilize our cat holding spaces, quarantine and treat symptomatic cats, and move more cats into foster care to reduce potential exposure to illness. 

Our community flooded us with unwavering support in our time of need. 

We can’t begin to individually thank every person, family, business, and volunteer group who stepped up during our time of crisis, but we want you to know that every donation made in this time has quite literally gotten us through each day. Whether you have donated monetary gifts, provided essential items such as linens, prepared homemade meals for our pets, provided our staff with kind words and gifts, or even shared our messaging with friends and family, our gratitude is endless for your incredible generosity. We wouldn’t be sharing this positive update if it weren’t for each and every one of you who embraced our crisis as an opportunity to show unconditional support for our team and the pets we serve, and for that, our gratitude knows no bounds.  

The battle isn’t over – Help us keep up the momentum by getting involved. 

While we are so excited to share these hopeful updates with our community, it’s important to remember this battle isn’t over yet. Our hardships may feel temporary, but our need for your support in the long run is imperative for the future of our mission. 

By fostering, sharing our content, hosting donation drives, or making a donation to the ARL, our community can continue to be the driving force bringing us closer to a brighter future for the remainder of 2023 and beyond.  Want to help but not sure how to get started? Contact Alison Kleinsmith at akleinsmith@berksarl.org or 610-621-4576 to learn more about how to join the movement! 

We want you to know your incredible efforts to support our animals, staff, and volunteers at ARL have not gone unnoticed, and we simply cannot thank our community enough for stepping up to the plate in our darkest hour. Together, we know we will pull through the remainder of 2023 stronger than ever, because when our community rallies together for the animals, we can make extraordinary waves of change.