Founded in 1929, the Brandywine Valley SPCA is the first open-admission, no-kill shelter in Pennsylvania and Delaware. In 2023, the BVSPCA cared for more than 17,000 lost, stray, owner-surrendered, and abused and neglected animals while achieving a 93% live release rate. The BVSPCA provides animal protective services for Chester County and much of Delaware County in Pennsylvania, and it holds a five-year contract with the Delaware Office of Animal Welfare to provide state-wide animal services. The BVSPCA animals are placed through adoption centers in Dover, Georgetown, and New Castle, Delaware, and West Chester and Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. In addition, the BVSPCA provides families with safety net and low-cost veterinary services at its four Animal Health Centers in Malvern, New Castle, Dover, and Georgetown. The BVSPCA also operates the Animal Rescue Center (ARC), a facility dedicated to act as a bridge for animals with additional needs prior to adoption, such as cruelty cases, disaster victims, infants, and those with medical needs. Animals from the ARC are also adopted from that location. 

At the beginning of 2024, the BVSPCA entered into an affiliation agreement with the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area (HSHA), extending its life saving footprint into Central PA. Since joining the BVSPCA, HSHA has seen the lifesaving impact with increases in adoptions, spay/neuter surgeries, wellness visits, and programs for the community. HSHA has even achieved the no-kill benchmark, with save rates over 90% since February. 

Adam Lamb focuses his career on marrying open-access sheltering with no-kill standards. Lamb first came to Pennsylvania from Tampa, Florida where he worked at the SPCA Florida, Humane Society of Tampa Bay, and Hillsborough Animal Services.  

In 2014, Lamb was named executive director of the then-Chester County SPCA. His work led to the rebranding of the struggling County Shelter with a live release rate of 65%, as the Brandywine Valley SPCA and to the BVSPCA becoming the Commonwealth’s first open-admission no-kill shelter. His leadership as CEO of the BVSPCA has brought expansion and growth to the now largest animal welfare organization in Pennsylvania, operating and serving in Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties. He has also led BVSPCA’s expansion into Delaware where, in 2018, the BVSPCA helped lead Delaware to become the first no-kill state in the nation.

Just this year, Lamb has led BVSPCA’s life saving growth and no-kill expansion into Central PA with an affiliation agreement with the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area (HSHA). In less than a year, with his leadership, HSHA has improved operations, embraced new adoption practices, and increased life saving programs, leading to achieving no-kill save rates above 90%.

Lamb recognizes the role Animal Welfare Organizations play in helping keep owned pets in their homes and cutting down on the number of homeless animals, and launched programs for pet retention, not only to serve the BVSPCA adopters but the entire community. Free vaccine clinics, pet food pantry, low-cost spay and neuter surgeries, community cat programs, partnerships with rescue organizations and humane education programs are just some of the ways Lamb has helped lead the BVSPCA to become a national leader in Animal Welfare and progressive programs. Lamb has served as the president of the Federated Humane Societies of Pennsylvania, and on the Best Friends committee to Save Them All 2025 and the Petco Foundation Leadership Forum. He has also become a nationally recognized leader in Animal Welfare.

Together, the Animal Adoption Center (AAC) and the Brandywine Valley SPCA (BVSPCA) will expand life-saving initiatives in a unified effort, and create positive change for animals in need across the tri-state area. The partnership will extend comprehensive services to a total of six Pennsylvania counties (Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Dauphin, Cumberland, and Perry), the entire state of Delaware, and into Camden County, New Jersey to amplify lifesaving resources for the combined 20,000+ animals cared for annually and the community.

An affiliation agreement, with operational terms, was voted on and unanimously passed by both the AAC and the BVSPCA Executive Boards at the beginning of September. The agreement allows for operational measures, shared resources, programs, management, and governing oversight to begin immediately under Adam Lamb’s leadership as CEO for both the AAC and the BVSPCA. Over the next year, we hope to finalize arrangements of the two organizations, allowing for one overarching governing executive board. 

The partnership will bring financial strength and sustainability to the work of making a difference for animals and the people who love them in South Jersey. No organization can fully serve animals and families in need if it is struggling with financial instability. By increasing financial stability and reducing overhead costs, donor dollars can be used more efficiently, making every gift even more impactful.

In addition, BVSPCA will expand innovative approaches to ensure even more animals stay in their homes and out of the shelters, remove barriers to adoption, and provide resources for the community like vaccine clinics, pet food pantry, low-cost spay/neuter services, and humane education to enhance operations in the tri-state area.

The AAC and the BVSPCA will now operate under Adam Lamb, allowing the AAC to leverage the BVSPCA’s current resources and operational procedures. The AAC day-to-day operations will continue with support from a member of the BVSPCA leadership team assigned and relocated to provide services and leadership over the next year embedded at the AAC. 

The major changes will be seen as increased resources, financially, with staffing support, and programmatic expansion to the AAC and, over time, the goal is that the AAC will operate as a true unified campus similar to the current campuses within BVSPCA’s current organization.

Adam Lamb, long-serving and nationally recognized animal welfare leader, and CEO of BVSPCA, will oversee both operations starting immediately. Adam will remain the Chief Executive Officer for both AAC and BVSPCA throughout the affiliation process and once the planned official merger is complete. 

Leadership in the form of the Executive Governing Boards will share oversight and governance. As of now, both Executive Boards will operate independently with three members of each organization serving respectively on the other board to ensure continuity, and the expressed shared goal of future unification. Kathryn Lambert remains president of the AAC Board and Crystal Crawford will remain president of the BVSPCA Board. The ultimate goal will be a single, unified Governing Board after the affiliation period and once the planned merger is complete.

The BVSPCA’s no-kill work began in Chester County in Pennsylvania and has helped lead Delaware to become the first no-kill State in the nation. The BVSPCA has been a leader in the no-kill movement and prides itself on continued average live-release rates above the national 90% standard year after year. 

The first board of trustees at the AAC, designated the shelter a no-kill facility, and it remains so to this day. The decision predated the start of the modern no-kill movement in San Francisco by three years, and was rare in the field of animal welfare at the time.

To be considered no-kill, a shelter or rescue has to have at least a 90% placement rate for the animals in their care. A community is considered to be no-kill when every brick-and-mortar shelter located within the county has a save rate of 90% or higher. No-Kill means healing the animals who can be healed, treating behaviors that can be treated, and prioritizing the safety of both pets and people in our communities. When we value those objectives, humane euthanasia is used as a last resort in instances when an animal is deemed too ill or too dangerous for rehabilitation. The no-kill philosophy does also acknowledge that euthanasia may be an appropriate choice in rare cases of irremediable canine aggression in which (1) a veterinarian has eliminated medical treatment as a solution; (2) rehabilitation by a specialist in canine behavior has failed; and (3) staff and public safety cannot be reasonably assured, or other management protocols would seriously compromise the pet's quality of life.

Find more from Best Friends Animal Society at bestfriends.org/no-kill-2025.

At this time, no. As part of the continued affiliation agreement period, name changes and a complete rebrand for both organizations will be evaluated. It is paramount that community and supporter feedback be gathered prior to any decision to move forward with name changing.

At this time, AAC staff will be retained, with the goal of scaling lifesaving and evaluating potential opportunities for more consolidated roles to maximize efficiency and eliminate redundancies across both the AAC and the BVSPCA. This means both the BVSPCA and the AAC staff could be re-evaluated, re-allocated and tailored to accomplish this goal. There are no plans for any massive decrease in staffing. In fact, the BVSPCA is relocating and assigning a member of the BVSPCA leadership to the AAC shelter for the next year to act as a mentor to help work with the team on-site to align practices at the AAC with the BVSPCA standards and procedures. The BVSPCA will also be supporting medical staffing to ensure the animals in care receive the best possible medical care, and to increase capacity for spay/neuter surgeries.

Absolutely. Both the AAC and the BVSPCA work hard to ensure funds are utilized with maximum efficiency across the organization, and all campuses are truly part of one life-saving team. That being said, we know some donors prefer their gifts to be solely earmarked to one location, program, or initiative, and we will gladly honor donors’ wishes and intent.  Donations can continue to be made to the respective organizations. 

The BVSPCA and the AAC welcome adopters, donors, fosters, and volunteers to join this effort in expanding resources and care for the most vulnerable animals across the tri-state area. Find the nearest location to support at theaacnj.org  and bvspca.org. Register to volunteer, stop in to adopt or become a foster, drop off donations of supplies, make a financial contribution to this effort, start a social fundraiser on your social channels to support our work, and attend and support our upcoming events. Community support is vital to make this work possible.