The Hand2Paw Foundation

The Hand2Paw Foundation is a partner of Best Friends, working together to save the lives of dogs and cats in communities like yours across the country

The Best Friends Network is made up of thousands of public and private shelters, rescue groups, spay/neuter organizations, and other animal welfare groups — all working to save the lives of dogs and cats in communities like yours across the country.

From The Hand2Paw Foundation

Hand2Paw provides paid internships to at risk youth to work with shelter animals.The youth are aged 18-22 and homeless or aging out of the foster care system and they spend six months working with shelter animals providing care, cleaning and training and helping them find adoptive homes.We current operate the Fishtown Adoption center for the Pennsylvania SPCA (a Best Friends Network Partner) where we directly adopt out several hundred animals a year.

Philadelphia, PA 19106-0122
Locations icon

How is your community doing when it comes to lifesaving? 

Our partners support each other and inspire their own communities to increase lifesaving of dogs and cats across the country.

Every partner has one common goal: to save the lives of homeless pets.

How Is Your Community Doing?

Animals in Pennsylvania need your help

You can make a world of difference in the lives of cats and dogs in your community when you work with The Hand2Paw Foundation and Best Friends to support homeless pets and save more lives.

Lady in Yellow with Grey Terrier

Adopt a pet

When you adopt a homeless dog or cat you’re saving the life of a loving and loyal animal. You’re also making space for other pets to find families of their own.
Adopt a Pet
Kittens being held

Foster a pet

Fostering a pet is a short-term commitment with long-term impact. By opening your home to a dog or cat for even a few days, you can save lives.
Foster a Pet

Heartwarming stories from our partners

Just like The Hand2Paw Foundation, shelters and rescue groups around the country are saving the lives of homeless cats and dogs. Read more about their lifesaving work. 
Neo the dog with his head on the lap of a person in his new home

Faces of No-Kill: Dog survives abuse, lands new home

Neo was rescued from a cruelty case and held as evidence in a shelter for nearly 500 days. Today, he’s a much-loved part of his new family.
Now he's living the good life
Feature
Cheesecaek the dog smiling with tongue out

Grant helps save senior dog’s eyesight

A Lab mix named Cheesecake had a disease that threatened her eyesight, but a Rachael Ray Save Them All Grant helped her to see again.
Extra funds help save lives
Feature
Mama the dog with a smiling woman

A new life for dogs rescued from dogfighting

29 dogs put cruelty in the past and begin new lives after being saved in South Carolina.
Helping the underdogs
Feature

Who we are

Best Friends Animal Society  works alongside thousands of animal shelters, rescue groups, and other animal welfare organizations to save the lives of cats and dogs across the country and to make the entire country no-kill by 2025.

The Best Friends Network is comprised of thousands of animal welfare groups from every single state, all working to save the lives of pets in their own communities.

Ranging from animal shelters and rescue groups to spay/neuter and trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) organizations, they collaborate with Best Friends to save even more lives in every corner of the country.

Best Friends provides marketing help, fundraising events, webinars, grants, and other resources so that, together, we can Save Them All.

Interested in becoming a partner? Visit bestfriends.org/network »