This year, make it your New Year's resolution to be an animal advocate

Exercise more, read a new book, take up journaling, start a new hobby…

New Year’s Resolutions can be a lot, but not every resolution has to feel daunting. In fact, resolutions can be as simple as choosing to spread more kindness into the world. For us at ARL, spreading that kindness looks like being an advocate for the animals, educating ourselves about local animal welfare and sharing that knowledge with others. From resources on getting involved with the ARL to what to do if you find a stray animal, we have the basics covered in today’s blog.

What should I do if I find a lost animal?

This answer depends on many different factors as no situation involving a lost pet is black or white. What we can say is that while we realize that most people think that bringing a lost pet to a shelter is the best thing to do, in actuality, it may dramatically reduce the pet’s chances of finding his/her family again. According to Petco Love Foundation, out of the 3.3 million dogs and cats who enter shelters as strays, only about 20% are reunited with their families. If you find a lost cat or dog, your actions can provide a critical step in bringing pets and their parents back together again. If you cannot keep the pet in your home, please contact your police department to find out who your animal control provider is, or contact us or another local rescue. The team at ARL is ready to help by giving a call at 610-373-8830.

Here are some other pointers that can help you make the best decision for the animal:

If the cat you’ve found has a tipped ear and doesn’t look seriously injured or ill, please return the cat to the place where you found it. A tipped ear typically means that the cat is an outdoor community cat, has been spayed/neutered and has a person taking care of her/him.
Please use this form to report that you’ve found a pet. If you cannot complete this form, please call us at 610-373-8830 instead. We also recommend contacting other shelters in the area. They are:
Call your local police department.
If the pet does not have any identification tags, take him/her to a shelter, police department or local veterinarian to have him/her scanned for a microchip.
Make flyers and post them around the area where you found the pet. Knock on doors. Most of the time, lost pets are only a few blocks from home and can be reunited quickly.
Post the found pet on Finding Rover as well as the popular Facebook groups Berks Dog Search and Berks County Cat Search. Many people also use their local neighborhood Nextdoor site to find pets or report lost ones.

What do I do if I find a community cat?

Community cats are the feral and stray free-roaming felines in your neighborhood. Feral cats are typically born in the wild and often live with other community cats. Ferals are usually unable to be handled because they have had no exposure to human touch or contact. Kittens born in the wild begin to take on feral behaviors at a very young age; therefore, only very young feral cats can be easily domesticated.

The ARL offers Berks County residents support and help to trap-neuter-return (TNR) outdoor cats. TNR is the humane trapping of outdoor cats, spaying/neutering and vaccinating them, and then returning them to their original location. This program is promoted on a national level by the ASPCA and all major national animal-welfare organizations as the most effective way of controlling outdoor cat populations long-term. Due to our limited resources, the ARL does not come and pick up outdoor cats, but we do offer guidance and support to help you humanely deal with the cats, humanely keep the cats off of your property with the use of ultrasonic or other deterrents, and to help you decrease or eliminate their population over time.

What if I or someone I know needs help caring for a pet?

Even the most dedicated pet owners sometimes find themselves in unexpected situations where they need assistance caring for their pet. At the ARL, we can offer resources such as behavior consulting, food and supplies, and emergency boarding (on a case-by-case basis) to help you through difficult times and keep you and your beloved companion together.

We are also here to support families who need to re-home a beloved pet. While we are able to accept surrendered pets on a case-by-case basis at this time, we strongly recommend avoiding the shelter if possible to re-home your pet. You can learn more about effective re-homing tips and our surrender prevention services here.

What if I suspect animal cruelty or neglect in my community?

The ARL is so grateful that we have a community of dedicated animal lovers in Berks County. Should you ever feel a pet is in danger, is being treated abusively or is being neglected, we encourage you to contact our Animal Protection Department at 610-373-8830. The following information can be incredibly helpful when submitting a report:

An address of the location of the pet(s).
Timestamped pictures/video of the pet(s).
Your contact information and phone number. While we understand people may want to remain anonymous, it is much more helpful if we are able to gather relevant and important information with your cooperation.

While we know how heartbreaking it is to see animals cared for in an unloving way, please understand that we are limited by what Pennsylvania law allows us to do and not do when investigating complaints. Because animals are considered property, we cannot seize them without legal justification to do so. Animal cruelty and neglect is defined very differently legally than it is emotionally, and the law often requires us to respond to questionable situations by first educating pet owners and following up with welfare checks.

To learn more about what we look for when investigating animal cruelty complaints, visit our webpage about our animal protection services here.

How can I get involved with the lifesaving work at ARL?

We are glad you asked! No matter how much time you have, there are many incredible ways to involved with ARL! From fostering to volunteering to even simply sharing adoptable pets on social media, opportunities are abundant to help ARL save lives every day.

Becoming a foster

Fostering is a rewarding experience and one of the most important programs at ARL. Because of our foster caregivers, we can provide individualized care and love to the population of animals who need it the most and increase our capacity far beyond our walls.

Our Foster Program provides everything the foster family needs to take care of the animals: litter, food, crates, treats, and other articles to ease the process.

You can volunteer to foster current animals living in the shelter or be an emergency boarding foster, for our community members’ pets whose families are struggling with a temporary hardship.

Learn more about the foster program here.

Adopting

Every animal deserves a loving home, and adopting is the perfect way to give second chances in life to animals living in the shelter.

At the ARL, we have a variety of animals available for adoption at any given time. Dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, guinea pigs, rabbits, pigs, chicken, and more.

All the animals available for adoption are available to foster and to participate in the Trial Adoption Program. If you are not sure if you’re ready to make a lifelong commitment with a pet, you can trial the pet for a maximum of two weeks. At the end of the term, you can choose to complete the adoption or return the pet.

To learn about our adoption process and view the animals available for adoption, visit www.berksarl.org.

Sharing available pets on social media

This is the easiest and fastest way you can help the animals living at the shelter from the comfort of your home.

Just go to our website, choose an animal and share their information among your contacts. More exposure means more chances to find a forever home.

It takes a village to save the lives of the animals in our community. Take part and act now! The animals will greatly appreciate it.

Volunteer

There are also many volunteer opportunities at the ARL, from animal care to administrative support to transporting animals. No matter what your abilities or preferences are, there are always opportunities to get involved! Learn more about our volunteer program here.

We know animal advocacy is multifaceted beyond these basics, but understanding of how we can begin to support animals and families in our community is vital to everyday advocacy. If you have questions about supporting pets in your community that we haven’t answered, we would love to answer it in a future blog post. Please contact Alison Kleinsmith at akleinsmith@berksarl.org with your questions so we can help you gain confidence in being an empowered advocate for the animals.