We are a not-for-profit animal foster/rescue organization, founded in 2001, located in Franklin, Pennsylvania.

We believe in quality homes for our pets over quantity of adoptions and we work very hard to ensure a perfect match for our animals. Precious Paws Animal Rescue operates on a full disclosure on our pets history and we will never try to encourage you to take an animal that is not right for you. Because we take pride in our low return rate and high success rate of permanent matches, our adoption criteria is very specific. Adopters must complete an adoption application process which includes veterinary and reference checks and a home visit as well as pay an adoption fee (we charge actual veterinary fees incurred for the pet and provide receipts for all services rendered). All of our animals are neutered before adoption, given basic viral vaccinations, dewormed, and tested for infectious diseases (FeLK, FIP in cats).

Adopters will be asked to provide verifiable veterinary and personal references. All other animals in the adopter's homes (present and all animals owned in the past 5 years) must be current on vaccinations, altered, and on heartworm preventative (dogs). We require a fenced yard for most dogs (especially puppies and large breed dogs with high exercise requirements) and all cats are adopted to indoor homes only. Because of the growth rate of large breed dogs and the frailty of kittens and puppies, we are hesitant to adopt kittens and puppies to homes with children under the age of 5 years of age. Adoption decisions are based on veterinary references, home environment, foster home recommendation, and adoption counselor evaluation.

Due to the difficulty of performing home inspections and transporting, it is not possible for us to adopt animals out of our area - we operate on a 100 mile radius from Franklin, Pennsylvania (Venango County), except in special instances as noted on the individual animal. In some instances, when we can arrange a home visit by another organization, we will consider a farther radius if we can find another rescue to perform a home visit in your area.

We do not euthanize animals unless the animal is very ill or dangerous to others and, if euthanasia is required, we use sodium phenobarbital injections. We, along with the American Humane Association and HSUS, are opposed to gas chamber euthanasia. Feral Cats: Feral cats are the forgotten population; often throw away kittens or cats that are simply left behind to fend for themselves when owners move away. Eventually they become wild, and opportunistic, surviving on the kindness of strangers who feed them, or dumpsters near restaurants. Some become hunters of birds and small mammals. Lives of feral cats are not happy ones - the average lifespan of a feral cat is 2 years. They often die of starvation, disease, or accident. Those who survive inbreed and the populations grow so large that eventually food sources become an issue. We believe the best thing you can do for a feral cat is to Trap, Neuter, and Release it (TNR). Ferals do not make good pets, but need to be fixed so they cannot reproduce. If you have a feral cat problem, please contact us and talk with us about trapping, testing (if positive for feline leukemia or FIV, the cats are humanely euthanized), neutering and release. We work with several groups that offer low cost services for ferals. We do not have a public shelter facility; we are open only by appointment. Animals seen on our website are in foster homes or still in the home of their owner seeking to place them (owner referral animals are not owned by Precious Paws). If you would like to learn more about one of the animals available for adoption, please contact us to arrange a visit at your home or the foster home. You must have an approved adoption application on file in order to meet the animals - we do not want to waste your time or ours so pre-qualification is required.