The York County SPCA plays a vital role, to a police or fire department, in ensuring public health and safety. We provide refuge for sick, injured, abandoned, and lost animals, rehabilitating them and finding them loving homes. Last year, we were confronted with a crisis. The number of stray canines we took in skyrocketed by 35%, pushing our kennel to its maximum capacity for almost a year. This strained our team and volunteers and put the animals in our care at risk. It was a stark reminder that our current resources are insufficient to handle such a high intake.
The YCSPCA will only accept stray dogs from an animal control officer (ACO), a York County police department officer, or a Pennsylvania state dog warden from municipalities with a service contract with the York County SPCA. This change is necessary to create a safer and more reliable animal intake process, aligning us with best practices in shelter animal intake across the United States. We will continue to accept stray canines and other domestic animals from YCSPCA contracted municipalities. The only change is how the animals arrive at our facility. We need a more professional intake process to meet the skyrocketing demand for our services. Find your borough/township’s Stray Dog Transport Provider.
For more information about this policy change, to view FAQs, and to see who provides animal field services in your municipality, please review below. If a community does not have the financial resources to contract with an animal control officer, we suggest partnering with neighboring municipalities to share costs and administrative burdens. The YCSPCA is happy to help support these important collaborative partnerships.
It takes a community to care for shelter pets. We thank you for your commitment to helping us serve people and pets in York County.
SPCA Stray Intake Policy
SPCA Stray Feline Intake Pathway
SPCA Shelter Admissions Policy
Dog Licenses
