PET SURRENDER & RELINQUISHMENT
The Humane Society of Berks County is an open door shelter. We will accept any domestic animal at any time. If you have found a stray animal, please click on our Animal Control/Strays link for more information.
If you wish to surrender your pet, you may do so seven days a week during normal business hours (10 am to 4:30 pm, T, W, Th, S & S; 10 am to 7:00 pm, M & F). You will be required to provide a photo ID and you must agree to and sign the HSBC's Surrender Policy. All animals surrendered to the HSBC become the immediate property of the HSBC and will not be returned. While every effort is made to find every animal a permanent adoptive home, that cannot be guaranteed. The HSBC offers many programs and services that may help you to keep your pet where it belongs- with you.
- To guarantee your pet the best chance of being adopted into a new home, we will ask you a series of detailed questions.
- The fee to surrender an animal at the HSBC is:
- Cats, Dogs, and other large animals: $25 for one animal and $50 for litters or multiple animals.
- Medium sized pets (rabbits, ferrets, chinchillas, large parrots, large reptiles): $10 for one animal and $20 for litters or multiple animals.
- Small pets (small rodents, birds, reptiles): $5 for one animal and $10 for litters or multiple animals.
- If you are surrendering a litter you may apply the $50 charge to a low-cost spay for the litter's mother.
- If you cannot pay the fee at the time of the surrender, you may still surrender your pet(s) and have 30 days to pay.
- If you are unable to afford the fee at all, you may choose to provide three hours of community service to the HSBC or any other organized public, private or religious service program.
- Failure to pay the surrender fee or perform the require three hours of community service within 30 days will result in your debt being turned over to a collection agency.
The cost of caring for one animal at the HSBC is nearly $100. The HSBC houses thousands ofanimals a year, with about 90% surrendered by their owners. The direct cost to care for those animals alone is about $350,000, with an additional $250,000 in medical care provided. The required fee helps to offset the expense of caring for your surrendered animal.
