DANVILLE — A cat person, Amie Miller wanted a companion for a stray she took in, so she adopted a cat from the Danville Adoption Center of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The Middleburg woman found Teddy, an 8-year-old tiger already neutered and declawed, at PetSmart near Selinsgrove, where Danville Adoption Center cats are being adopted in addition to the adoption center near Danville.

“I wanted an adult cat to get along with Elliott,” she said. “Teddy’s doing well and gets along well with Elliott,” she said. “I have always had cats. I just enjoy them. They’re great companions,” she said. “What PetSmart is doing is a wonderful thing,” she said of the adoptions there.

Besides the additional location for adoptions, there have been many changes at the privately owned, nonprofit Danville Adoption Center at 2801 Bloom Road.

The center has become a no-kill facility.

“We will not kill healthy, adoptable animals,” team leader Roxanne Greiner said.

If an animal is suffering from injuries or is sick and euthanizing is requested by an owner, then the animal will be euthanized for a fee. Euthanizing is the same as is done at a veterinary hospital with a lethal injection.

For the past six months, the Danville center hasn’t been allowing people to discard their pets unless there is space for them. People are also charged a fee to bring them there. If the shelter is full, people are placed on a waiting list.

“We are always full,” Greiner said of animals in the shelter and cages reserved for cats and dogs to be brought in. “People have to wait their turn until we adopt some out,” she said.

Lisa Rodgers, chief operations officer for the PSPCA in Philadelphia, said the Danville center is one of the larger shelters in terms of activity. In 2007, the shelter took in 3,684 animals, adopted 1,537 and euthanized 1,518. In 2008, Danville took in 2,425, adopted 941 and euthanized 1,346.

The Philadelphia headquarters became a no-kill facility in September 2007. The other four adoption centers, including Danville, followed suit later “because we had to nail down the situation with feral cats and let people know we can no longer afford to be animal control for municipalities, that they have to figure a way or a place to use as animal control,” Rodgers said. “We encourage everyone to use the trap, neuter or spay and release program. There are many cat lovers out there who can come up with a place and with vets volunteering their time,” Rodgers said.

The Danville center recently started turning away wild trapped cats.

“We no longer do animal control,” Greiner said of the center which serves seven counties including Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Union, Columbia and parts of Luzerne and Lycoming counties.

People with wild cats have to call their boroughs or townships for help. “County dog wardens take care of stray dogs,” she said. “Some boroughs have animal control people while others haven’t. They will have to come up with a solution,” she said.

People wanting to assist colonies of wild cats can find information at alleycat.org. The Philadelphia headquarters of the SPCA works with Phillycats.org that traps, sterilizes, vaccinates and releases wild cats, said Heather Redfern there. “We have what is known as the cube where surgeries have been done since October. We have been working with Philly Cats for the past year to year and a half,” she said.