[orgagsUpsepsy]

Also, most of the local rescues know each other and a lot of the volunteers/workers from ACCT and PAWS can vouch for the reputable organizations in the area. Most would be happy to refer good adopters to a rescue that has a dog you are looking for if one of the shelters doesn't already have a good fit for you.

This seems like the best advice. When we are ready we'd certainly look to the folks at PAWS to help direct us.

[h0ldem]

PAWS has dogs and cats displayed in windows at their adoption center at 2nd and Arch. And if that spurs people to come in and look around -- great!

And by the way, they also have a small but good selection of pet supplies, its worth stopping in for that too. We buy Science Diet there.

[SergeyLisin]

And by the way, they also have a small but good selection of pet supplies, its worth stopping in for that too. We buy Science Diet there.

I volunteer for PAWs, so I know what they sell :-)

However, I don't like Science Diet, so I buy my food at Walk it Like a Dog, on Moyamensing, which occasionally holds fundraisers and adoption events to support PAWS.

[Queuerriptota]

I volunteer for PAWs, so I know what they sell :-)

However, I don't like Science Diet, so I buy my food at Walk it Like a Dog, on Moyamensing, which occasionally holds fundraisers and adoption events to support PAWS.

I don't like Science Diet either, but my cat sure does : ) I didn't mean to quote your post in my reply, it was just a general observation.

[lLianneForbess]

I'm a foster home for several rescues in and around Philly. (If anyone's up to adopt a really nice, medium-small Corgi mix, let me know!) There are a LOT of dogs in all sizes and of all breeds looking for homes in Philly. Petfinder is a great resource.

However, despite (or because of?) being a big fan of pretty much anything that helps animals, I'm not fond of Operation Ava or Doggie Style. It's not about bringing dogs from the South up to Philly -- I think that's a laudable practice, and in fact my current foster dog came from rural Georgia. A needy dog is a needy dog. They all deserve good homes.

My reservation is more about the longstanding lack of care or concern that Doggie Style has shown to its store animals, which have literally died in the stores while being used as marketing tools. Operation Ava likewise seems really phony to me, from the calculated-cutesy "OpOration" misspelling it used to have, to the half-true origin story about the nine-year-old girl's crusade to help animals (which conveniently omits her relationship to Doggie Style's owner, or any financial interest that owner might have in selling people pets and then continuing to sell them supplies), to the claim that their charity fund helps people afford vet care for their animals (strangely, very few people seem to have benefited from this fund, even with the recession ongoing and people forced to give up their pets outright for lack of money. And several former DS employees have admitted that the contents of those "donation boxes" never made it to any actual charity, nor were they expected to). It all just seems like a cynical snow job perpetrated on well-meaning customers.

If OA actually does help needy pets, though, then... eh. That's ultimately what matters, even if some of their people and practices leave a bad taste in my mouth and I, personally, would not choose to work with them or shop at their affiliated stores.