×
  • Search

Raise a glass and save lives at Pours for PAWS!

Join the Young Friends of PAWS  for the fourth annual Pours for PAWS on April 23 at Positano Coast. Sip, savor, and celebrate alongside fellow animal lovers while supporting PAWS’ mission to make Philadelphia a safe place for pets and the people who love them. This 21+ event helps power PAWS’ lifesaving work across our city.

BUY TICKETS

Be their bridge to a brighter future: foster with PAWS

When you open your home to a PAWS foster, you’re giving a pet a safe place to land when they need it most. With more animals arriving every day, even a short foster stay can be truly life-changing — offering comfort, healing, and hope while making space for another pet in need. We’ll provide everything you need…all you have to bring is the love!

SIGN UP TO FOSTER

Shop our wishlist to help shelter pets today

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.

Get Started

More ways to give

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

Learn More

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

04.07.26

Fourth anniversary of PAWS’ Safety Net Foster Program

This week marks the fourth anniversary of PAWS’ Safety Net Foster Program. Created in 2022, this vital program provides temporary foster care for pets whose devoted owners are determined to keep them, but need a safe place for them to stay during a period of transition. Hope, shown above, is one of those pets. When […]
Read More
03.17.26

Goose, the dog we “never knew we needed”

The Cannon family’s favorite PAWS story doesn’t begin with a perfect meet and greet…it begins with a bulldog named Goose. Before coming into PAWS’ care, a dog named Business Bear had been left outside of the city shelter. Like so many animals who arrive at PAWS, his story was about to change thanks to the […]
Read More
View All

43,902 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.

413,449 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.

167,998 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

Join us on social media

View Instagram post by phillypaws

Apr 5

Open post by phillypaws with ID 17894962212437884
An important plea from our new pup Cutie! PAWS' pet pantry is low on supplies, and donations are urgently needed for kitty litter and unopened bags of cat and dog food. Food insecurity is a huge and growing problem in Philadelphia, and in households with pets, the need for support is even greater! If you'd like to help us keep pets home with their families where they belong, there are a few ways to donate: 🐾 Through our Chewy or Amazon wishlists (link in bio) 🐾 Drop off at any PAWS location during regular hours 🐾 Ship through the retailer of your choice to: PAWS 2900 Grays Ferry Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19146 Can't donate right now? You can still help us spread the word by sharing this post!

...

318 8
View Instagram post by phillypaws

Apr 5

Open post by phillypaws with ID 18099254575980231
Happy Easter, happy Passover, and happy spring from Fireball! All PAWS’ locations are closed today, but regular hours will resume tomorrow 🐰🐣🌷 Ps. This affectionate 6 year old would love to find a foster home where he can finish recovering from dental surgery — email foster@phillypaws.org to learn more!

...

246 0

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

Get Involved