URGENT: The city shelter is full, and we need your help to make more room for at-risk cats and dogs!
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Perfectly Impurrfect adoption promotion: Happening now!

Perfect is boring…adopt a pet as unique as you are! From July 11-25, you can name your own adoption fee for any “Impurrfect” PAWS pet with an asterisk on their adoption profile. Visit our adoptions page to meet our perfectly impurrfect adult cats and dogs. A lifetime of love is only a few clicks away!

meet your match

Adopt Chaco Taco

Do you love a sweet treat? Here’s your chance to claim your own lifetime supply of Choco Taco! A social butterfly with good-boy tabby energy, Choco eagerly makes friends with everyone he meets. He has some special needs that are managed with daily meds, so he’s looking for an adopter who can continue to help him thrive and celebrate the incredible cat he is.

Meet Choco Taco

Adopt your new BFF at PAWS' Old City Adoption Center

Dozens of friendly cats and small animals are waiting to meet you at our boutique-style adoption center, open 7 days a week at 2nd and Arch. Our experienced adoption team is ready to help you make a great match, whether you’re a first-time adopter or a pet owner of many years. From playful youngsters to affectionate seniors, we have the perfect companion for you!

LEARN MORE

Adopt Icy

Heat got you down? Cool off with Icy! This 9-year-old sweetheart adores every person she meets and spreads cheer wherever she goes. She’s never known a stranger, and is always ready to make a love connection on her walks with one of her big happy smiles!

Meet Icy

Temporary home, permanent love: Sign up to foster!

Foster homes are at the heart of PAWS’ ability to save lives. With a brief commitment of just a few weeks, you can be a hero for dogs, cats, and small animals. We provide supplies and support; you provide the love and care!

start saving lives

Meet your new best friend!

Beauty Queen*
Foster Care
I'm an affectionate dream dog who loves to snuggle and has lived with kids and other pups!
Meet Me >
Shae*
Foster Care
I have some special needs, but what really sets me apart are my sweet lap snuggles and endless capacity for love!
Meet Me >
Cody*
Foster Care
I'm a friendly senior couch potato who'd love to spend my golden years snuggling with you!
Meet Me >
Kira*
Foster Care
I'm a mellow and friendly house panther who is equally happy enjoying affection or doing my own thing!
Meet Me >
Lisa*
Foster Care
I'm a sassy lovebug who is introverted with new friends, but a silly sweetheart once I get to know you!
Meet Me >
Flapjack*
Foster Care
I'm a gentle cuddlebug who loves napping on your chest and making biscuits to show you how happy I am!
Meet Me >
All Available Dogs
All Available Cats

PAWS is the city's largest rescue partner.

We are working to make Philadelphia a place where every healthy and treatable pet is guaranteed a home. We do so through rescue, foster care, adoption, and preventing pet homelessness in the first place by offering low-cost spay/neuter and basic vet care.

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Raise support from family and friends for your birthday, in honor of your pet, or for any occasion.

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Donate needed supplies, provide for the animals in your planned giving, plan an event, and more.

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Spay/Neuter and Wellness Clinics

Keeping pets and families together through low-cost basic veterinary services. Our clinics in Grays Ferry and the Northeast serve tens of thousands of pets every year whose caretakers may not afford care elsewhere.

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Recent News

07.11.24

Perfectly Impurrfect Adoption Promotion: ‘Name Your Own Adoption Fee’ for Longer-Stay Dogs and Cats

Our love for our pets is as unique as each animal we welcome into our lives, which is why PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society) is proud to announce its Perfectly Impurrfect adoption promotion, kicking off on Thursday, July 11 and running through Thursday, July 25. With shelter intake alarmingly high, loving adoptive homes create needed […]
Read More
06.26.24

Championing Philadelphia’s Community Cat Caretakers: Trap, Neuter, and Release (TNR) Efforts

There are an estimated 400,000 stray and feral cats living on the streets of Philadelphia. The barrier between life and death for these cats often hinges on the efforts of community cat caretakers and the availability of Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) programs. That’s why PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society), the city’s largest rescue partner and provider of […]
Read More
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40,120 animals saved

We rescue animals, primarily from the city shelter, almost daily with a focus on the most vulnerable: adult dogs, kittens, cats recovering from illnesses, and small animals. Once safe at PAWS, they receive everything they need to become ready for adoption, then are matched with loving homes.

178,607 volunteer hours served

PAWS’ dedicated and caring volunteers are essential in every aspect of our lifesaving efforts.

367,903 clinic patients served

Our low-cost Spay/Neuter and Wellness Clinics prevent pet homelessness and provide a needed resource in our community, enabling loving pet owners to care for and keep their dogs and cats as family.

148,971 spay/neuters performed

PAWS provides low-cost spay/neuter surgery for owned pets, rescues and community cats to prevent the birth of unwanted litters. Our efforts are working: since our clinics opened their doors, the number of homeless animals entering Philadelphia’s city shelter has declined year over year.

PAWS Partners

Our lifesaving work is possible with the meaningful support of business and community partners.

See our Partners

Current Partners

PAWS' impact grows as our services expand & progress continues

By rescuing, rehabilitating, and finding loving adopters for homeless animals with nowhere else to go, and providing affordable vet care and other services so pets can stay in their homes where they are loved, PAWS provides a vital and growing safety net for Philadelphia's most vulnerable cats and dogs. The pandemic has prompted a shift toward more intensive, individualized care for more complex needs.
2010
7154
2012
16160
2014
26188
2016
36510
2018
40455
2020
33840
2021
34528
2023
34801
Pets Served 100 100
More Shelter Statistics

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Jul 22

Open
Sorry, we don’t make the rules: if you share the same name, you have to adopt them! Don’t worry though, we strongly encourage adoption even if you don’t share a name 😉 Our team is ready to match you with your new bestie, so see who’s waiting to meet you now our adoptions page (link in bio)!

Sorry, we don’t make the rules: if you share the same name, you have to adopt them! Don’t worry though, we strongly encourage adoption even if you don’t share a name 😉 Our team is ready to match you with your new bestie, so see who’s waiting to meet you now our adoptions page (link in bio)! ...

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View

Jul 21

Open
A little Sunday ✨glow up✨ with Murphy! This poor guy was in pretty rough shape when he came to us. Our team got to work right away, and he’s now feeling much better after a shave down and wellness exam! If you’d like to foster this little man so we can save another dog who needs us, email foster@phillypaws.org!

A little Sunday ✨glow up✨ with Murphy! This poor guy was in pretty rough shape when he came to us. Our team got to work right away, and he’s now feeling much better after a shave down and wellness exam! If you’d like to foster this little man so we can save another dog who needs us, email foster@phillypaws.org! ...

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Jul 20

Open
Looking for kittens? Meet PAWS’ best kept secrets! Tucked away in our ringworm ward, these affectionate kittens are some of our friendliest residents, but they keep being overlooked due to their ringworm-positive status. They’re desperately hoping to leave the shelter, and would love to finish their treatment with a foster or adopter like you (yes, every one of them is available for adoption)! While ringworm is a simple fungal infection of the skin, animals who’ve tested positive are at high risk of euthanasia when the city shelter becomes full due to the time-intensive nature of their treatment. By fostering or adopting a cat or kitten from PAWS’ ringworm ward, you’ll be changing their lives AND opening a space for us to save those who are still at-risk! To foster or adopt one of our adorable fungal felines, email foster@phillypaws.org with the subject “ringworm kittens”!⁠⁠⁠⁠ Some ringworm fast facts:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠ 🔹 It’s not a worm — it’s a fungal infection of the skin that usually shows up as small patches of hair loss in pets⁠⁠. ⁠⁠ 🔹 It’s a mild infection, but contagious to people and pets, so a separate room for fosters is the best way to prevent it from spreading during treatment. 🔹 It usually takes 4-8 weeks to clear up (and many of these babies are already a few weeks into their treatment)! ⁠ 🔹 We have twice weekly “dip days” at our Grays Ferry clinics for ringworm fosters/adopters to drop their kitties off for medicated baths — no need to do it at home!

Looking for kittens? Meet PAWS’ best kept secrets! Tucked away in our ringworm ward, these affectionate kittens are some of our friendliest residents, but they keep being overlooked due to their ringworm-positive status. They’re desperately hoping to leave the shelter, and would love to finish their treatment with a foster or adopter like you (yes, every one of them is available for adoption)!

While ringworm is a simple fungal infection of the skin, animals who’ve tested positive are at high risk of euthanasia when the city shelter becomes full due to the time-intensive nature of their treatment. By fostering or adopting a cat or kitten from PAWS’ ringworm ward, you’ll be changing their lives AND opening a space for us to save those who are still at-risk!

To foster or adopt one of our adorable fungal felines, email foster@phillypaws.org with the subject “ringworm kittens”!⁠⁠⁠⁠

Some ringworm fast facts:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠
🔹 It’s not a worm — it’s a fungal infection of the skin that usually shows up as small patches of hair loss in pets⁠⁠. ⁠⁠
🔹 It’s a mild infection, but contagious to people and pets, so a separate room for fosters is the best way to prevent it from spreading during treatment.
🔹 It usually takes 4-8 weeks to clear up (and many of these babies are already a few weeks into their treatment)! ⁠
🔹 We have twice weekly “dip days” at our Grays Ferry clinics for ringworm fosters/adopters to drop their kitties off for medicated baths — no need to do it at home! ...

372 3

Together, we will make Philadelphia a no-kill city.

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Old City Adoption Center
100 N. 2nd Street (at Arch)
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-238-9901
adoptions@phillypaws.org
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1810 Grant Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19115
215-545-9600
neclinic@phillypaws.org
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2900 Grays Ferry Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19146
215-298-9680
gfclinic@phillypaws.org
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PAWS is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with tax ID number 26-3862631.
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