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ADOPTION
Click here to print our Adoption Assistance Form!
Thank you for considering adoption of your next best friend from the Humane Society of Berks County. We have many wonderful pets who can't wait to join your family. When you adopt a pet from the Humane Society of Berks County, you are giving an animal a second chance at love. We hope you will encourage other people to consider adopting from their local animal shelter.
We think the animals available at the HSBC are the very best you can find anywhere. But we sweeten the deal with our 30 Day Adoption Health Guarantee. This original and unique program provides a complimentary first vet exam and 100% health care coverage for a wide variety of common illnesses in the first 30 days! Click here to read more about the program.
Please take a look at some of the wonderful animals we have for adoption. More come in every day, so please stop by and visit. Don't forget to consider less traditional friends, too. We regularly have a wide variety of small mammals, birds, reptiles, farm animals, and others available for adoption! Click here to print our Adoption Assistance Form!
Willing to adopt an older pet? The HSBC has an incentive for you! Cats 11 years or older and dogs 8 years or older may now be adopted under our award-winning Free To A Great Home Program! The adoption is free and includes all of the same benefits as a regular adoption. All normal adoption requirements and screening also apply. Click here for details on the award-winning Free To A Great Home program.
To see photos of adoptable animals, choose a button below:
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| DOGS | CATS | CRITTERS | EQUINE |
Adoption Procedures & Prices
Dog Adoption Fees:
- Under one year of age: $125
- One year to seven years: $90
- Eight years and over: Free (Free To A Great Home program policies apply)
Cat Adoption Fees:
- Under one year of age: $75
- One year to ten years: $50.00
- Eleven years and over: Free (Free To A Great Home program policies apply)
Cat and Dog Adoption fees include:
- HSBC's Thirty Day Adoption Health Guarantee
- Spaying or Neutering (prior to adoption)
- Vaccinations (including current rabies vaccination) and de-worming medication
- Microchipping and chip registration
- Free 4 lb Bag of Science Diet Pet Food. Science Diet partners with HSBC to provide great nutrition for all the cats and dogs while at the shelter and to continue that great nutrition when the pet goes home with you!
Adopt-a-Critter
- Pot Bellied Pigs - $30
- Ferrets - $30
- Lizards/Snakes - by species
- Hamsters/Gerbils - $5
- Domestic Rats - $5
- Horse/Livestock - by species
- Chinchillas - $25
- Rabbits - $30 (sterilized)
- Guinea Pigs - $5
- Parakeets - $10
- Cockatiels - $15
- Other birds - by breed
HSBC 30 Day Adoption Health Guarantee
Every cat and dog adopted at the Humane Society of Berks County's two adoption centers or at any satellite adoption center receives our exclusive 30 Day Adoption Health Guarantee. This provides your pet complete coverage for a wide variety of common canine and feline illnesses. Our goal is to provide you and your pet with the best possible health care and to avoid adoption returns due to rare but simple and treatable illnesses.
Read more about the HSBC health guarantee by clicking here.
Free To A Great Home Adoption Program
The Free To A Great Home emergency adoption program was introduced in the summer 2005 to provide an incentive to adopt adult cats facing euthanasia due to a lack of space during the crowded summer months. The program was a runaway success, completely eliminating euthanasia among cats for space (resulting in hundreds fewer cats being put to sleep each year). It also led to record adoptions among both cats and dogs thanks to the press coverage and public attention the program received, as well as the first decrease in the rate of euthanasia in our shelter's history. It also received a Best Industry Practice for Adoption Programs Award from the American Humane Association in 2006.
The program's success in getting harder to adopt older animals into new homes has led the HSBC to apply the program to older cats and dogs year round! After two years of seasonal application of the program, we have found that adoptions through this program are by far our most successful with the fewest post adoption problems reported and the fewest adoption returns.
How the program works:
- Interested adopters go through the normal adoption screening process.
- If approved for adoption, any dog eight years and over and any cat eleven years and over are adopted at no charge. Also, any cat or dog which has been up for adoption for eight weeks or more may be adopted at no charge through the FTAGH program!
- Adopters receive all the same benefits and responsibilities as regular adopters.
The HSBC hopes that this expanded program will help even more older pets get the homes that they need and make room in our shelter for even more younger animals! Consider an older pooch or kitty (maybe get a puppy or kitten while you are at it!).
View CURRENT REQUESTS our "Wish List"
Click and hold forward or back arrows to scroll through our much-needed products. Hover on any item to view a details, and click "buy" to purchase directly from Amazon for HSBC!

Help animals get adopted!
Click here to download and print an adoptable pets flyer!
ADOPTION REQUIREMENTS
You must provide proof of identity and address.
You may be required to provide proof of home ownership or provide us with the means of contacting a landlord in the case of a rental property.
All dogs, cats and rabbits are spayed/neutered before leaving our facility.
In the case of a dog adoption, you must purchase a current Berks County license. If you live out of Berks County you must license the dog in your county within five days of adoption and provide us with proof.
In the case of a dog adoption, you may be required to bring all current family members and all current dogs in the household.
If these requirements cannot be provided or completed by our staff, (i.e., we cannot reach your Veterinarian or landlord) your adoption may not be completed.
We will make every effort to complete the procedure in a timely fashion, however, no pet will be held. Adoptions are on a first come, first served basis.
Please count on at least one hour for the entire adoption process.




