English French German Italian Portuguese Spanish

FACT CHECK

Welcome to the Humane Society of Berks County’s Fact Check page.  We have created this Fact Checker, modeled on the well known Snopes.com, in order to rapidly answer statements forwarded to us may which contain confusing, misleading or even outright false information about animal welfare or HSBC.  All statements will be rated with a TRUE, FALSE, SORT OF, or IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY rating and a complete explanation given.  On this page we will answer any statement made which is specifically directed at our organization or about animal welfare issues generally.  We will not fact check any statements made about any other specific organization or its services.

We are encouraging everyone to send us any article, email, or printed statement which makes you scratch your head and ask yourself, “Is that true?”  We’ll do our best to help you figure it out.  Email your questions (or questionable claim) to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

10/22/2011: I saw an article (http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=340827) which referred to the Humane Society of Berks County as a “no kill” shelter.  Is that true?

While HSBC is fortunate that it has not had to euthanize any healthy and happy animals in over three years, we still face the euthanasia of animals which are sick, injured, aggressive, or have behavioral problems which can’t be solved in our shelters.  Therefore, this statement is FALSE.

Read more...

9/2/2011: Do you know that the XXX is the only shelter in Berks County accepting stray animals?  FALSE.
Variation: XXX and the XXX are the only “open access” shelters in Southeastern Pennsylvania accepting strays. SORT OF.

For several months we have been forwarded variations on these claims being made in print in our region.

Read more...

9/1/2011: When will PA and Berks County do the right thing like California, encouraging people to bring their pets with them to shelters when there is an emergency?  FALSE .

We have received variations on this misconception over the years, including this one yesterday, and can happily say that this misconception, once very much true, is now overwhelmingly FALSE.

Read more...