BY MARTA RYBCZYNSKI
Are you feeling ready to welcome a cuddly new family member? Dogs and cats make for the best of companions, and give a lifetime of memories for the family. With all this time spent at home, now is the perfect opportunity for adopting or fostering a pet. We’ve put together a list of some animal shelters around New York City that value rescues and give them the love and care they need before you can.
This shelter has rescued thousands of animals in New York City and taken care of four-legged friends like they’re family. Each rescue is taken to a veterinary clinic for proper medical treatment, where they are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped, and tested for heart worm before they’re available for adoption or fostering. The applications for adoption and fostering are all online. Adopters can see all the animals they have available listed online!
Contact: Email here
Address: 260 6th St, Verplanck, NY 10596
Adopt a dog or a cat completely online! Best Friends offers a virtual adoption process, where applicants are able to peruse a list of available pets, interviewed through videoconference, and meet their potential pet over Zoom. If you’re in the market for a more mature pet, adoption fees are waived for pets that are over the age of 8!
Contact: contactnyc@bestfriends.org
Address: 307 West Broadway New York City, NY 10013
The ASPCA adoption center in NYC is persevering through COVID, thanks to the kindness of their volunteer foster caregivers. These caregivers are conducting remote animal adoptions, with videoconference calls and minimal-contact meetups. ASPCA also works to give affordable medical care to animals, making it so that financially struggling families can give their pet the proper treatment it needs.
Contact: (212) 876-7700 ext. 4120.
Address: 424 E. 92nd St. Manhattan, New York City, 10128
This animal shelter houses not only dogs and cats, but bunnies too! Adopters can browse Animal Care Center’s website for cats, dogs, and bunnies, and contact this organization identifying which friend they’d like to adopt. Animal Care Centers of NYC is dedicated to serving the community by partnering with over 200 animal placement organizations. They act as a huge resource to the NYC animal community.
Contacts: adopt@nycacc.org; foster@nycacc.org
Address: 11 Park Place, Ste 805, New York, NY 10007
City Critters takes animal adoption very seriously, making sure their animals get the best home possible. They conduct several rounds of interviews with adopters, as well as requiring references from adopters’ friends/family/or coworkers before giving permission to adopt. Of course, due to COVID, this will be a fully virtual process done through videoconference, phone, and email.
Contact: Petco: 212-593-7213; Petsmart: 212-475-0893
Addresses: Petco, 991 Second Ave; PetSmart, 632 Broadway
Operating by appointment only, Animal Haven works their hardest to make sure that every animal is at its highest chance of being adopted. They take excellent care of their cats and dogs, spaying/neutering them, giving them core vaccines, and microchipping them. Animal Haven also provides behavior intervention to animals that need it, giving them the best chance at being adopted.
Contact: 212-274-8511
Address: 200 Centre Street New York NY 10013
Bideawee’s mission is to make sure that your new furry friend’s transition from shelter to home goes as smoothly as possible. First, they make sure the condition of the shelter is absolutely flawless so that the animals stay content and comfortable. Bideawee’s also sure to give these furry friends the necessary medical treatments to make sure their health is in tiptop shape. They also make sure to properly socialize the animal before placing it into a new home, keeping them engaged in socially-focused activities.
Contact: 212-271-2984
Address: 410 East 38th Street, New York, NY 10016
This animal rescue program doesn’t have a physical location but instead relies on foster families to take care of animals before they’re adopted. Even though there’s no “one shelter,” their program’s volunteers couldn’t be more close-knit. Badass Brooklyn Rescue makes sure that each animal is provided with vetting, boarding, spaying/neutering, and a collar and leash.
Contact: adopt@badassbk.com
This story first appeared on our sister publication newyorkfamily.com.
