Tierheim Berlin (Tierschutzverein für Berlin)

Tierheim Berlin is operated by the Tierschutzverein für Berlin und Umgebung Corporation e.V., an animal welfare association that has been active in the city since 1841. The shelter describes itself as Europe's largest animal shelter: its grounds in Falkenberg, in the Lichtenberg district, cover 16 hectares — roughly the size of 22 football pitches.

The purpose-built site, designed by architect Dietrich Bangert on the land of a former pig farm, began operating in September 2001 and was officially opened in June 2002. It includes four cat houses, six dog houses, a small-animal house, an aviary, an exotic-animal station, a cat emergency station, an on-site veterinary practice, an event hall and a pet cemetery. Under a contract with the Lichtenberg public-order office, renewed from January 2026, the shelter takes in all of Berlin's stray animals, as well as animals that have been seized or need to be held in quarantine. Several thousand animals pass through its care each year.

Animals are rehomed through the shelter's adoption service. Adoption advice days run on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons (13:00–16:00, except public holidays), and individual appointments can be arranged on other days; the information desk is open daily. Volunteers aged 18 and over can help in the dog and cat houses, walk dogs, foster or carry out post-adoption home visits, although places are limited.

Beyond the shelter itself, the association campaigns against illegal puppy trading, for Berlin's cat neutering ordinance, for alternatives to animal testing and for an end to wild animals in circuses, and it supports a street-dog project in Turgutreis, Turkey. It is registered in the Vereinsregister at Amtsgericht Charlottenburg (23246 Nz) and recognised as a charitable (gemeinnützig) organisation, and accepts donations directly through its website.