Home for the Holidays
Oh, there’s no place like Home for the Holidays!
This year, brighten the holiday season by hosting a sleepover for a homeless shelter pet who’d love to enjoy the tidings of the season with you! Interested families can apply to take home with them an adoptable pet on December 23rd and host them through January 2. Each pet will go home with a “suitcase” filled with all of the supplies they’ll need during their stay, as well as help and support from the ARL team to ensure your foster pet and your family have a holly, jolly time together!
To apply, please complete the application below from December 7, 2025 until December 19th, or email adoption@berksarl.org if you’d like more details. Happy Holidays!
Q: What pets can I foster?
A: Our pet placement team will choose a pet that better fits your family and interests from the available adoptable pets. You may see our current adoptable pets on our website HERE. Please know that these pets will be available for adoption between now and pick-up on December 23rd, so none of these pets are guaranteed to be available for the pick-up date.
Q: What if the pet isn’t a good match for my home?
A: No worries! Just like traditional fostering, you can bring the pet back anytime. Please be aware that we will have limited hours on Christmas and New Year’s Day, so any returns need to be scheduled before noon on these days.
Q: Are these pets spayed/neutered and up to date on vaccines?
A. Yes.
Q. Will there be certain hours for me to pick up or drop off my foster pet?
A: Pick-up will be on December 23rd from 11 AM – 6:00 PM and December 24th from 10:30 AM – 2:00 PM. Drop-off times will be scheduled with you at the time of pick-up for January 2, 2024. If you would like to have your houseguest for an extended stay, please let us know, and we will be happy to accommodate!
Q: Will the pet go home with me with food and supplies?
A: All pets will have their suitcases packed with all the supplies they need for their holiday vacation, but of course, they always are up for new toys and treats!
Q: Do I need to do anything special to sign up?
A: Simply complete the form on this page and our team will reach out to you beginning the week of December 18th to get more information and give you further instructions.
Thank you!
Q. Do I need to prepare my house for the pet?
A. We encourage you to prepare a small area to accommodate the pet. Families participating in the Homes for the Holidays promotion are subject to the Foster Program policies and procedures. Our staff will discuss these with you if you are accepted into the program.
Q. When you will be contacting me?
A. Our staff will be contacting accepted applicants along the week of December 18th.
Q. If I fill the application, I’m guaranteed to receive a pet for the holidays?
Due to the popularity of this promotion, we often have more applicants than pets available. Once families are qualified, they will be accepted into the program on a first-come-first-serve basis. If our team doesn’t reach out to you by the end of December 22nd, that means that we already placed all the available animals with families for the holidays.