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Where To Adopt A Dog Or Cat In Philadelphia, PA

Where to Adopt a Dog or Cat

 

Whether you want to adopt a dog or a cat, there are 12 animal rescues in Philadelphia where you can get your furry best friend.

Adoption fees vary from rescue to rescue. In general, dog adoption fees are more than cats, and puppy and kitten fees are higher than adult cats and dogs. And elderly \ senior dogs and cats have a very low adoption fee to make it easier for them to find a home.

Here are some of the reasons to adopt from a shelter and not buy from a breeder:

  • Saving a life: A rescued animal only has so much time in some shelters. Every adoption from these rescues and shelters frees up a spot for another animal.
  • Costs less: The adoption fees for both dogs and cats are far lower than the prices from a breeder or store.
  • Health issues: Shelters and rescues either have vet clinics or work with local veterinarians. They will not put a sick animal up for adoption without making the health issues known.
  • Not giving $ to puppy mills: Puppy mills are factory style breeders with poor conditions. No more needs to be said.
  • Saving a life: Yes, I’m repeating this one because you saved an animal who will, in turn, bring you much joy.

WARNING: If you go to these websites and start looking at photos of cats and dogs, you are likely to be highly motivated to adopt one. Or more than one pet because they are way too cute.

 

Where to Adopt a Cat

Here are 5 locations and websites that only have cats for adoption. One is a pet store, 2 are cat cafes and 2 are cat shelters \ rescues.

Where to adopt a cat

 

City Kitties

P.O. Box 30851
Philadelphia, PA 19104

City Kitties is a nonprofit, no-kill cat shelter. The link that should show you cats for adoption (Adopt > Adoptable Kitties) does not have any results. So I guess you should contact them. Not sure why they do not show ANY cats up for adoption. They also have links if you found a cat, lost a cat, need to surrender your cat, low-cost vet care and more useful information. They also have a cat foster option if you are interested.

Adoption fee is $85.

 

Green Street Rescue

Greet Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130

They have a foster option and various volunteer opportunities. To see the cats currently available for adoption go to the link Adoption > Cats for Adoption. I think they are also involved with Le Cat Cafe (see below).

 

Fairmount Pet Shoppe

2024 Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130
(215) 236-6080

This is a pet shop in the Art Museum area. They often have a few cats for adoption that you can see thru their front window. Check their homepage for adoption events where they may also have dogs and rabbits for adoption. Most of their cats come from Green Street Rescue.

Adoption fee is $100.

 

Le Cat Cafe

2713 Girard Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130

They have fostering and volunteer opportunities. The cafe is fully run by volunteers and donors. I don’t know if it is actually a cafe where you can get food and drink, but they have cats throughout the place.

Adoption fee is $125.

 

Kawaii Kitty Café

759 S. 4th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 372-7763

Check their about page for all the details on the lounge area where cats roam freely. Their cats come from PAWS (see below). Click the adoption information link at the top for more details and for an adoption application.

Adoption fees are $65 for cats, $109 for kittens.

 

Where to Adopt a Dog, Cat or Other Pet

Here are 7 shelters or rescues where you can go to adopt a dog, cat or other types of pet. One of these resues is a dog only rescue. The rest all offer dog and cat adoptions and two of them offer adoptions for other types of animals.

 

Where to adopt a puppy

 

Wet Nose Rescue

14425 Bustleton Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19116
(267) 684-6187

This is a dog only rescue. In their own words, they are “a totally foster based organization”, and  “an all-breed rescue”. They also offer dog training and have volunteer opportunities. And since they rely heavily on foster parents for their dogs, they want people who are interested in fostering dogs.

Adoption fees range from $200-250.

 

ACCT Philly

Main Adoption Center
111 W. Hunting Park Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19140
(267) 385-3800

There are way too many links to cover but here are some interesting topics: surrendering your pet, license your dog, lost pets, found pets, animal ordinance, extreme weather info, wildlife, donations, volunteering, and fostering. To see the pets available for adoption, click the 3 bars to the far right of the text “Select Page”. You will see right away Adopt > Adoptable Cats or Adoptable Dogs or go to the Adopt page.

Adoption Fees: $25-100 for cats, $25-250 for dogs.

 

Northeast Animal Rescue

P.O. Box 52395
Philadelphia, PA 19115

They have links for dogs and cats, but no photos of dogs are on the Dog page. It appears they use Petfinder to list their pets, so maybe that is where their dogs are listed. They do have volunteer and foster opportunities.

Adoption Fees: $60-100 for cats, $150-250 for dogs.

 

PAWS

Old City Adoption Center
100 N. 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 238-9901

Northeast Adoption Center
1810 Grant AAvenue
Philadelphia, PA 19115
(215) 545-9600

Click the Adopt button to see the dogs and cats available for adoption. They have foster and volunteer opportunities. And if you click on the Locations button at the top, you will see the Wellness Clinic address. The Wellness Clinic is a low-cost veterinary care center located in the Grays Ferry area of Philadelphia. I adopted my dog from them in 2010 for I believe $100 . It looks like they also list their pets on PetFinder.

Adoption Fees: $60-100 for cats, $150-250 for dogs.

 

Street Tails Animal Rescue

1030 N. 2nd Street, Suite 401
Philadelphia, PA 19123
(267) 761-9434

They have volunteer opportunities and both cats and dogs are available for adoption. However, the only links under Adopt are for applications or a page on adoption fees. There are no photos of cats or dogs. The cat adoption fee is the normal $75-100, but the dog adoption fees are $295-500. Those fees seem too high to have the word “rescue” in their name.

 

Morris Animal Refuge

1242 Lombard Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 735-9570

They have volunteer and foster opportunities and a low-cost spay \ neuter program. You can adopt dogs or cats from them, and they currently have a Guinea pig as well. They have links for other types of pets, but the Guinea pig was the only other type of pet.

Adoption Fees: $50-100 for cats, $150-250 for dogs and $500 for puppies (ouch).

 

Pennsylvania SPCA

Main Location
350 E. Erie Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19134
(215) 426-6300

Like ACCT, they also have a lot of links. Here are the most interesting: vet clinic, fostering, internships, volunteering, and reporting animal cruelty. They have dogs and cats for adoption and “other animals” as well. Currently, under other animals, they have a 19-year-old horse named Sandra Dee. I’d adopt her if I lived on a farm. Also, check out their location in Fishtown.

Adoption Fees: $50-100 for cats, $150-350 for dogs.

 

This article should help narrow down the choices of where to adopt a dog or cat. I sincerely wish that you are able to find a fantastic pet for your home. Let me know if you have any questions or adoption stories you would like to share.

Also, I have an article on the rates and cost for every type of pet service. The article is called Pet Services Rates but it also includes other subjects like Philly dog parks, pet-friendly hotels, 24-hour emergency vets, and adoption locations. Check it out if you are interested in other pet services located in the city.

Jim Kernicky

I have been a dog walker and pet sitter for my business Fairmount Pet Service in the Art Museum area of Philadelphia since 2008.

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Callum Palmer

    A friend of mine has been wanting to adopt a cat or a dog for a little bit now. It is good to see that there are many places by us that offer adoptions. Do you know if there are any prerequisites in order to be a candidate for adoption? Or would anyone be able to do so?

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