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Fee-Waived Cat Adoptions This Weekend

Looking to add a little extra sunshine to your summer? From Friday, July 10 – Monday, July 13, adoption fees are waived for all cats 6 months and older at our Old City Adoption Center! Matchmaking is our specialty: PAWS offers support, guidance, and training for adopters to ensure a great fit for you and your new family member. Whether you’re dreaming of a playful sidekick or a professional lap warmer, we have wonderful cats of all ages and personalities ready to meet you!

SUBMIT AN ADOPTION APPLICATION

Your summer mission: Become a foster hero!

Our biggest foster event of the year is back with a heroic twist! Our Everyday Heroes Foster Challenge is a citywide call to action to help place 300 pets into foster homes by July 31. Whether you’re a seasoned foster or thinking of just getting started, now’s your moment to swoop in and save the day. Fostering is one of the most direct ways to make an impact, and it just might be your new superpower!

JOIN THE FOSTER CHALLENGE

Affordable vet care: PAWS is here to support you!

PAWS’ two wellness clinics in Grays Ferry and Northeast Philadelphia are open to the public by appointment to provide accessible spay/neuter and veterinary care for pet owners, rescue organizations, and community cat caretakers. Whether your pet needs preventative care, treatment for an illness or injury, or spay/neuter surgery, PAWS is here to help!

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Fetch your Early Bird Mutt Strut tickets!

PAWS Mutt Strut 2026 returns to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on Saturday, October 3 for its 20th anniversary! Join us for Philly’s favorite dog walk and fall festival featuring a scenic walk, live music, food trucks, games, vendors, and costume contests, all while raising lifesaving funds for vulnerable pets. Early bird tickets are on sale now for a limited time for just $20 for adults, with kids 12 and under free.

BUY EARLY BIRD TICKETS

Shop our wishlist to support pets in PAWS' care

With our kennels at capacity, our most-needed items run out quickly. From nutritious wet food to keep pets of all ages nourished, to paper towels and cleaning supplies that help us maintain safe, comfortable spaces, every item makes a direct difference. Shop our most-needed items and make sure pets have the essentials they rely on every day.

SEND SHELTER SUPPLIES

PAWS is hiring: Join our team

Join PAWS for a meaningful career in animal welfare! Work alongside passionate animal lovers and help us fulfill our mission of saving lives and building a better future for Philadelphia’s pets and people.

VIEW JOBS

Meet your new best friend!

Meet the PAWS animals who are most in need of homes! Whether they have special needs or simply have been waiting longer than others, they need your help to find loving families. Every animal we adopt out creates room in our shelters to save another, so each adoption truly saves a life.

View all adoptable pets

VIEW ALL AVAILABLE CATS

All PAWS pets are spayed/neutered, given age-appropriate vaccines, microchipped, and examined by a veterinarian before adoption. Click the button below to browse cats currently available by location. Our thorough matchmaking process allows us to find the best fit for you and your family.

VIEW CATS

VIEW ALL AVAILABLE DOGS

All PAWS pets are spayed/neutered, given age-appropriate vaccines, microchipped, and examined by a veterinarian before adoption. Click the button below to browse dogs currently available by location. Our thorough matchmaking process allows us to find the best fit for you and your family.

VIEW DOGS

VIEW ALL AVAILABLE SMALL ANIMALS

All PAWS pets are spayed/neutered, given age-appropriate vaccines, microchipped, and examined by a veterinarian before adoption. Click the button below to browse small animals currently available by location. Our thorough matchmaking process allows us to find the best fit for you and your family.

VIEW SMALL ANIMALS

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.

Support Our Lifesaving Efforts

Donate Today

Make a one-time gift or commit to monthly support. Give in honor or memory of someone special.

Donate

Create a Fundraiser

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

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More ways to give

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.

Get Care

Recent News

06.30.26

Johnny Cash: adopted and adored!

In case you missed it: after 645 days in our care, Johnny Cash has a family to call his own! When this special pup arrived at PAWS, it was clear he needed to heal in more ways than one. He’d suffered traumatic injuries from another dog and was incredibly shut down and withdrawn. While his […]
Read More
06.30.26

Oliver’s second chance

When Abby and her husband were ready to adopt again after the loss of their beloved senior cat, Walter, they knew they wanted to open their home to another senior cat, especially knowing how often older pets are overlooked. While grieving and caring for their other senior cat, Freddy, Abby came across a photo of […]
Read More
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44,485 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.

419,656 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.

170,735 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 9

Open post by phillypaws with ID 17968580618928950
Your next summer fling could lead to a lifetime of love! From Friday, July 10 through Monday, July 13, adoption fees will be waived for all cats 6 months and older at our Old City Adoption Center! Matchmaking is our specialty, and PAWS offers support, guidance, and training for adopters to ensure a great fit for you and your new family member. Whether you’re dreaming of a playful sidekick or a professional lap warmer, we have wonderful cats of all ages and personalities ready to meet you. Every adoption gives one lucky cat a fresh start while creating space for another homeless animal in need. Stop by and meet your new best friend this weekend at: 😻 PAWS Old City Adoption Center 100 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia 🕰️ Friday: Noon - 6pm Saturday: 11am - 6pm Sunday: 11am - 5pm Monday: Noon - 6pm

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

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