ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE OF BERKS COUNTY, INC.

For more than a decade, the ARL has been the sole provider of animal cruelty and humane investigation services to companion and farm animals and residents throughout Berks County. Our humane officers are on call 24/7, 365 days a year, and respond to nearly 2,000 calls per year to enforce Pennsylvania’s Cruelty to Animals law and to protect the welfare of animals in our community.

In general, our officers look for the following factors when investigating a case:

Does the animal have access to an appropriate shelter? A dog shelter should have four walls, a roof, floor and be sized proportionately to the dog so that body heat can be retained.
Does the animal have access to adequate food?
Does the animal have access to clean water?
Does the animal have access to veterinary care?
Our officers also enforce Code Blue and Code Red laws during the winter and summer months. Code Blue is called when the National Weather Service predicts a wind chill of 20⁰ or less, or ice/snow events with temperatures below 32⁰. Code Red is called when the National Weather Service predicts temperatures with a heat index of at least 95⁰ or higher. Code Blue or Red is announced at least 8 hours before taking effect, and is announced on our website and social media channels, as well as local news stations. Once the Code has been declared, dogs may not be left unattended outdoors except for brief walks and periods of exercise. Any dog left unattended outdoors for more than 15-20 minutes will be impounded and the owner fined. Fines range from $350 to $1,000 plus impoundment and court costs per violation.

Although we recommend that all pet owners in Berks County bring their pets indoors during extreme weather, Code Blue and Code Red is only enforceable in the City of Reading, and the law only pertains to dogs regardless of breed or tolerance of extreme weather conditions. For a full description of animal regulations in the City of Reading, please click here.

While no one knows better than we do how heartbreaking it is to see animals cared for in an unloving way, please understand that we’re limited by what the 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. Should you ever feel a pet is in danger, is being treated abusively or is being neglected, please report it to us with as much information as you can provide. The following is helpful:

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.
To report a suspected case of animal abuse or negligence to our humane officer team, please call 610-373-8830.

As the county’s largest and busiest shelter with a dedicated animal control team on call 24/7 365 days a year, the ARL is one of the only shelters in Berks County uniquely positioned to handle the management of stray domesticated animals found within contracted municipalities, as well as enforce dog law and handle animal emergencies, including hoarding cases or natural disasters affecting domesticated animals. We’re pleased to offer each municipality in Berks County the opportunity to contract with us on a yearly basis to offer animal control services to its residents.

Residents in contracted municipalities are able to drop off strays at the ARL for no charge, and to receive other animal control services, such as assistance with controlling outdoor-living community cats, access to low-cost microchip and vaccine clinics, and investigation of non-cruelty complaints, such as nuisance dogs.

Residents who drop off stray animals at the ARL are asked to first call the Admissions department at 610-373-8830. Please know that you may be asked to provide proof of residency, such as a driver’s license or utility bill so that we can ensure participating municipalities are billed accurately. Thank you!

Even the most dedicated pet owners sometimes find themselves in unexpected situations where they cannot keep their pets. At the ARL, we not only offer you a warm and caring place to surrender your pet, but we also offer you resources to help you through difficult situations so that you can keep your beloved companion.

In case you have exhausted all options and find yourself in a situation where you cannot keep your pet, our counselors will offer you an appointment in a supportive environment to surrender your pet. Because we want to set your pet up for success in the shelter and offer him/her every opportunity to find the best home, please know that your appointment time may be a few weeks from the time you contact us depending on available space at the shelter. We ask you to set aside at least half an hour for this appointment so we can do a thorough interview with you to learn as much as we can to ensure we place your pet in the best home. Please remember to bring all veterinary/medical records, any medications your pet takes, at least a few servings of the food they’re used to eating at home, and anything else that may make your pet’s transfer to the shelter as smooth and comforting as possible.

Because your pet will stay with us for at least a few days or longer and will need a medical exam and behavioral assessment, there is a $50 fee to surrender your cat or dog, and a $25 fee to surrender small animals (hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, etc.).

Proven to be safe, effective and–most of all–humane, the Animal Rescue League of Berks County supports trap-neuter-return (TNR) services to Berks County residents interested in controlling and reducing the number of free-roaming, outdoor community (feral) cats and kittens in their neighborhoods. Because these cats were not handled by humans or lived with humans, they have independent spirits and are used to outdoor, free-roaming living, which makes them unsuitable to be adopted as indoor house pets. Cats who are TNR’ed are humanely trapped, neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped and returned to the area where they were found.

Here at the ARL, we know one of the toughest and most difficult times for families is making the decision to say goodbye to a beloved pet. Our humane and compassionate euthanasia services offer families the opportunity to say goodbye to their pets in a loving and supportive environment. We also offer low-cost cremation services along with a variety of memorial items to remember your loved one.

We schedule euthanasia appointments most mornings dependent on staff availability. Please call our Admissions office at 610-373-8830 to speak to a counselor to learn more about our compassionate care and to receive further information about the options available to you.

The ARL offers affordable spay/neuter services to owned pets as part of our mission to reduce the number of unwanted pets in the community. Spay/neuter surgery can be performed on healthy kittens or puppies as young as 8-12 weeks old who have reached a certain weight. Please know that appointment availability varies based upon shelter needs and veterinarian availability. If we cannot accommodate your pet in our busy surgery schedule before your pet reaches reaches sexual maturity typically around 6 months old, we encourage you to contact your veterinarian or another area clinic to have your pet spayed/neutered as soon as possible.

At the ARL, we consider ourselves to be great matchmakers! Your adoption process starts by gathering information about the type of pet of you’re looking for to help you think through your desired personality traits of pet you’re hoping to adopt. Then, our adoption counselors work one on one with you to introduce you to pets at the shelter who they think would be best suited to you and your family. After you have spent some time with your selected pets, your adoption counselor will go over everything we know about your pet’s medical, personality and behavior history (including any notes that his/her previous owner may have made). If your adoption counselor and your family think a pet is a great fit for you and your family, unless otherwise noted, you will be able to take your pet home that day.

Using treats, clickers and lots of positive reinforcement, staff members at the Animal Rescue League of Berks County teach cats to “sit,” “stay,” “look” and give high fives as part of the Jackson Galaxy Foundation’s Cat Pawsitive program. In 2020, the ARL was selected as just as one of 55 shelters shelters nationwide to implement Cat Pawsitive, which is a life-saving initiative designed to keep adoptable cats mentally and physically active while providing them with fun training sessions that go beyond playtime as usual to help cats maintain their mojo. And in 2021, the ARL was again selected to take part in the Cat Pawsitive PRO program, furthering our team’s savvy clicker-training skills with shelter cats! These specially-designed training sessions, developed by Jackson Galaxy, star of Animal Planet’s “My Cat From Hell,” as well as a team of feline behavior experts, also help cats reduce their stress levels while at the shelter and build connections and confidence with staff, volunteers and potential adopters, allowing them to find homes faster than ever before! In fact, since 2016, more than 1,200 cats have been adopted during Cat Pawsitive semesters nationwide, with hundreds more cats benefitting from being in the program.

At the ARL, you’ll see once-shy and shut-down cats now greet visitors by coming to their front of their kennels; feisty cats learning how to play nicely; and, once in a while, an especially outgoing cat will learn how to give a potential adopter a “high five,” endearing him or her to all he or she meets! Through this revolutionary program, adopters learn that shelter cats are pretty cool and can be trained to perform some basic commands in a short period of time, increasing their adoptability and enriching their day-to-day life while in our care.