The HSBC Cat Adoption Center

Another way the HSBC is a very different Humane Society

For years, animal shelters have built cat adoption and holding room that were neither happy or healthy for cats or a pleasant experience for adopters.  Cold stainless steel, clinical plastic, poor ventilation and lighting, and drab beige walls have been the standard for cat rooms because animals shelters thought they were the only affordable and sanitary way to create them.  The result: stressed out cats, uncomfortable adopters, and the continuation of the image of animal shelters being sad, unpleasant places.

The Humane Society of Berks County is working to change that image and to show that it is possible to make an animal shelter safe and healthy for animals, as well as warm and inviting for adopters-- all for the same cost as those dreary old facilities.  The Cat Adoption Center was our first step.  With roomy, well lit individual and group habitats for cats, private "get-to-know-you" adoption rooms, a comfortable and inviting "human side", hospital grade ventilation to keep the cats healthy, and all the important technical needs to allow staff and volunteers to care for the cats properly, the Cat Adoption Center provides the best of every world.

Best of all, the Center cost no more than a traditional, stainless steel cage adoption center.  At the Humane Society of Berks County, we're working hard to find new ways to address and old problem.  The Cat Adoption Center is just one way.  We look forward to the completion of the LaVigna Dog Adoption Center, which will be a canine version of the Cat Center, in Spring, 2008.

Please take a photo tour below of the Cat Center, our grand opening, and the construction process, and please visit the HSBC to see it for yourself!

Private adoption rooms.	Family friendly adoption center	Comfy, too.	Inviting view!
Every donor, large and small, is acknowledged in art created by Adrienne Trafford.	Well lit habitats get the cats up close and personal with adopters.	Checking out the view.	Plenty of vertical climbing space for the cats to keep busy.
"Kid Height" windows give the little ones a great view...	...And give the little kittens a great view, too!	Meet and Greet Adoption Room, inside...	...And out!
Windows...	...to the world!	No window? No problem!	CatDVD helped create a window for us!
It's all about comfort-- for cats and people.  Happy cats and happy people make for great adoptions!			It's in the air:  This mega-HVAC unit helps ensure healthy cats by changing and renewing the air at hospital rates.

Cattery Renovations Are Nearing Completion!

Grand Opening Set for Saturday, March 31, Noon

At long last, the Cat Adoption Center grand opening is nearly here.  We are inviting every donor and volunteer who helped make the room this state-of-the-art, one-of-a-kind adoption facility a reality.  You are invited, too!

Join us for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at noon on the 31st.  Several of the people most responsible for the project's success will be helping cut the ribbon.  A special dedication will be made to recognize every single person who made a financial or volunteer contribution toward the Cat Adoption Center!  If you made a gift, come see your name!  Everyone in attendance will be able to sign a special "guest card" that will be on display permanently.  There will be hot dogs and soda, drinks by our friends at Legacy Brewing Company and Barefoot Wine, and pre-opening music by Beverly McDevitt featuring music from her new cd, "Purrfect Love".  After the ribbon cutting the action will kick up a notch with post-opening music by New Fusion Assembly!  Grab a beer, get a tour, eat a dog (hot), and spend some time with the animals!  This will be a jumpin' indoor/outdoor event with some of the festivities under the little big top outside.  Bring a friend!  See what a real 21st century animal shelter should look like!  RSVP's are not required but they are appreciated at ebranch@berkshumane.org or 610-921-2348, ext. 25.

This project is not your run of the mill shelter project.  It is a cutting edge facility that is as good as or better than any of the best facilities at the nation's largest shelters.  It was designed by Robert Darlington, the architect responsible for Reading's Sovereign Center, as a volunteer endeavor.  Pamela Thornton Bush of Scout in West Reading provided the color palette direction for the project and HSBC's "official artist", Adrienne Trafford, supplied the featured art and graphic design elements. 

The project was facilitated and overseen by volunteer contracting supervisors and subsidized through the generosity of local contractors and suppliers.  The hard costs were largely borne by hundreds of small donors who helped pay for the project in individual donations ranging from $1 to $1,000.  The Commonwealth once again did its part to help improve services for Berks County residents by providing significant funds through a pending State grant made possible by Representative Dante Santoni.  This facility is the first phase in a multi-part project that will re-envision how a "small" shelter can provide services that are ideal for both the animals and the people we serve.  

The Cat Adoption Center features a veterinary grade ventilation system to ensure feline health and spacious, well lit cat cages (including group cat rooms) to make the cats comfortable and to make them "show well" to potential adopters.  There are also adoption get-to-know-you rooms so that people and cats can spend some time together to make the right match.  The human side is targeted at providing a people-oriented space that is inviting and comfortable while offering a uniquely high-end feel.  This room will not only be good for cats and people, it will very definitely be unlike anything anyone has seen before.

Download a PDF of the invitation by clicking here!  

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Thanks to the generosity of hundreds of donors, as well as volunteers, the desperately needed Cattery and Kennel renovations are finally started!  The upgrades include veterinary grade HVAC to keep our cats healthy; roomier, brighter cages; cat get-to-know-you adoption rooms; large group cat cages; dedicated small animal space; a sick isolation ward; and much more.  Based on the designs of volunteer architect Robert Darlington and with construction supervision by HSBC Board Member John Herman and construction guru Bill Gerth, this project will be both spectacular and functional.

The project, which will cost approximately $100,000 altogether, is expected to be completed by March, 2007.  Nearly half the cost of the project has been donated by HSBC supporters so far but more help is needed.  Donations of any amount are appreciated.  You can also go to the HSBC's Lowes.com Gift Registry to buy specific items or tools for the project.  For the more adventurous donor, naming opportunities begin at $1,000.  Wouldn't naming an adoption room in honor of your spouse or friend be better than some silly gift?  For further information about making a financial contribution to the shelter upgrades, please contact Executive Director Karel Minor at 610-921-2348, ext. 10 or at kminor@berkshumane.org.

Tours are available of the renovations by appointment or by attending a Furry Friday, a Welcome Waggin' Tour, or the Holiday Open House this December 8, 9, and 10.