Intake Policy

IMPORTANT! It is illegal to abandon an animal! This includes dumping it outside of animal shelters. If you cannot keep your pet, please do not just disregard it. Contact us if you need help and we will be happy to provide advice or take the animal in, depending on space availability.

Abandonment of animals is unlawful and you will face fines. And most importantly, it is inhumane and cruel. Animals are relying on you to take care of them. Please do the right thing!

Action For Animals Humane Society receives hundreds of requests every month to take in dogs and cats. Unfortunately, we cannot safely, legally or humanely accommodate more than 150 animals in our shelter on any given day. Arrangements must be made before bringing an animal to the shelter – please call 724-539-2544.

There are only two ways for ANY shelter to make room for new animals when full: either adopt out a current shelter resident or euthanize a current resident to make room for a new one. AFA has a strict no-kill policy; which means that we will never euthanize one animal to make room for another.

AFA’s intake policy is prioritized as follows:

  • Medical emergency of a stray animal
  • Abuse/neglect of a stray or owned animal
  • Animal deprived of food, water, shelter, or veterinary care
  • Stray animal found running or roaming
  • All owned animals

AFA’s policy is to help an animal in the most dire need first. We sincerely regret not being able to take an animal. However, when the shelter is full, we have no choice but to offer other options such as referral to another shelter, assistance with screening potential homes by placing the animal yourself or possibly assisting you with shelter placement. Remember that some animals take longer than others to place and space is limited. Our longest resident at AFA was with us for five years!

We try our very best to take in as many animals as we possibly can every month but we ask for your understanding when we are full and have nowhere to house any more animals. Overcrowding creates stress on the animals, the staff and causes spread of disease. In addition, overcrowding is illegal and inhumane.

We successfully rescue and place over 1,000 animals every year with an all-volunteer board and limited staff. Please help us promote spaying and neutering and responsible pet ownership. Without community support and understanding of what we do at AFA, our doors would close. Thank you to all who support our shelter!