Animal Lifeline Pittsburgh
Our Mission
Animal Lifeline was established as a 501c3 non-profit in 2006 as a way to provide spay and neuter assistance to homeless dogs and cats as well as low income families in the Bucks County, PA area. In 2017, Animal Lifeline expanded the vision to Pittsburgh to develop a transport division that provides a lifesaving link between high kill shelters and a second chance for homeless pets across the eastern US. Our transport team of volunteers spend many days each month behind the wheel of our transport vehicles to provide free transport to shelters and rescues with space.
Animal Lifeline Pittsburgh continues to grow and expand our programs and we continue to be dedicated to developing solutions for at-risk pets through education, disaster mitigation, adoption and rescue support, transportation assistance, food and supply assistance and financial and in-kind support and adoptions.
Adoption Policy
1. You must live within 30 miles of Animal Lifeline’s Thrift Store in Homestead, PA.
Because we are an all-volunteer organization and we require a home check before approving an adoption, we limit our radius to 30 miles from our store in Homestead. We realize this will rule out some wonderful dog owners, but our valuable volunteers have families and full-time jobs and we need to set a limit.
2. You must own your home.
One of the top reasons dogs are surrendered or abandoned is due to a move. While your current landlord may allow pets, a future landlord may not. We realize this will rule out perfectly good applicants, but in rescue we’ve seen this situation far too many times to take that chance. We will require home ownership verification upon finalizing your adoption.
3. An applicant with a fenced in yard will be given priority to an applicant without.
For the safety and health of our dogs, we require an appropriately sized, secure space for them to roam and play and run. We do not consider an electric fence an adequately fenced yard.
4. We will verify employment and income.
A sudden illness or injury can incur hefty vet bills. Many people opt to euthanize or surrender an otherwise rehabilitative dog. Too many people gave so much love, sweat, tears, time, and money to get these dogs to you to have them surrendered or euthanized because they become financially burdensome.
5. We will not adopt to a home with very small children.
Our top priority is to find the perfect match for your family and our dogs. Far too often we are asked to take in a family pet because a child was injured, whether from an overly rambunctious dog or the child’s interaction with the dog. Your top priority will be to protect your child, ours is to keep your family safe and give our dogs the best chance for a lifelong loving family. We cannot with 100% certainty guarantee the safety of your very young children and we won’t take that risk.
6. You cannot have 5 dogs or cats or combination of dogs and cats in the home*.
As this is the guideline for many municipalities, we will not approve an applicant that already has reached this limit of 5. Though your municipality may allow more, we will give preference to another applicant. A home-check will be done before approving an adopter.
*If your municipality allows less than 5 we will adhere to the limit your municipality has set.
7. You must be at least 25 years old to apply.
A valid license with your current address must be submitted upon finalizing adoption.
8. Vet records must be made available and current and show your dogs and cats (past and present) have been spayed/neutered, are up to date on all their shots and preventative measures, and have regularly been seen for wellness visits.
An adoption contract will require continued wellness visits, preventative measures (flea/tick, heartworm, vaccines, etc.), heartworm testing, and a scheduled spay/neuter* before the age of 6 months.
*Animal Lifeline will cover the cost of spay/neuter at one of our partnering vets.
We know our application guidelines may be strict and you may not agree with them, but our number one priority is a successful lifetime placement of our dogs, many of whom have been wronged in the worst way by humans. We made a promise to find them the best home and life possible. Please respect our process. Thank you!
