Providence Animal Center was established in 1911 with the original purpose of providing watering troughs for workhorses around Delaware County. In the 1930s, our existing facility, in Media, Pennsylvania, opened to serve all animals in the community.

After serving many years as an open-intake facility, in 2012, we made the courageous change to become a lifesaving organization, which means no adoptable animal is put down. 

In 2016, we changed our name from Delaware County SPCA to Providence Animal Center, which better portrays the important lifesaving work that happens every day: we care for and adopt out pets we rescue from overcrowded shelters, pets who are relinquished by their owners as well as rescue and rehabilitate animals who have suffered cruelty and neglect. We are not breed-specific and have a special loyalty to “bully” breeds. In addition to placing orphaned pets in forever homes, we prevent future pet overpopulation through community programs including low-cost public veterinary and behavioral services, humane law enforcement and education and pet food pantries.

In 2022, we celebrated 10 years as a lifesaving organization, and we also entered into a collaboration with Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals.