New Off-Site Adoption Center in Prince William County Will Save Over 1000 lives in 5 Years

Used by Permission of  Prince William Humane Society

WOOF!!! My friends at the Prince William Humane Society sent me this news release- I had to paw it with you!  BARK!!

The Prince William County Animal Shelter was at or over capacity 22 of 31 days in March and it will only get worse. The Prince William County Police Department (which oversees the animal shelter) identified the perpetual overcrowding situation as a critical and immediate need and the county supervisors agree. Overcrowding often results in illness through cross contamination and aggressive behavior resulting in a high euthanasia rate. Thankfully, the Board of County Supervisors are finally discussing this need by considering the construction of a new shelter. If approved, construction of a new shelter will take approximately 5 years.

In the meantime, what happens to all the homeless pets that find themselves in the outdated and overcrowded existing shelter? The Prince William Humane Society has proposed a “No Kill” Off-Site Adoption Center to address this critical need. It is designed to house, care for, socialize and adopt out a portion of the shelter’s animals and will save over 1000 homeless pets lives while awaiting for a new shelter.

The Prince William Humane Society is a private non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to eliminate euthanasia and increase the adoption rate for homeless pets in our County. The Society supports all efforts to build a new shelter for the homeless animals. During its construction, it is their desire to assist the county by providing a conduit for more homeless pets to get adopted, thereby saving more lives. This No-Kill, safe and healthy sanctuary is not intended to take the place of a new shelter, only to support the current shelter.

The Prince William County Animal Shelter is typically at or over capacity according the Shelter Director, Fred Miller and it will only get worse as the summer months approach.

Used by Permission of
Prince William Humane Society

For several years the idea of an Off-Site Adoption Center has been under consideration as a way to take a portion of the homeless animals from the shelter to an off-site location, groom them, house them and socialize them in an effort to get them adopted. The concept is very successful in numerous locations around the country and has been proven effective at reducing the burden on shelter population and staff, increasing adoption rates, and reducing euthanasia.

The Prince William Humane Society has worked diligently on this project for over 2 years gaining support of several generous individuals who have donated handsomely to see this center become a reality. Our proposal is endorsed by the Prince William County Police Department and several County officials have also expressed their support. As part of the process, Prince William Humane Society became a Community Partner and requested a county grant to help with the financial liability of housing, feeding and caring for these animals. The Prince William Humane Society would in turn shoulder the lion's share of the center’s expenses. The proposal does not adversely affect the shelter’s budget. It offers to pay the county adoption fee for each and every dog and cat taken from the shelter. Additionally, over $300,000 in private donations will help fund this project, something no other community partner has done.

The Prince William Humane Society has demonstrated they are an excellent community partner through our various subsidized adoption programs and fund raising efforts. Over the last three years, those efforts resulted in the adoption of almost 700 homeless shelter pets, saving the lives of 27 injured and sick shelter animals and providing service dogs to 17 wounded heroes.  Over $85,500 has been spent subsidizing shelter costs: reimbursing adoption fees, paying veterinary bills, purchasing test kits, medications and various other requested items.

The County Supervisors conducted a straw vote based on some misinformation on April 19th and voted 5 to 3 to deny the Prince William Human Society's  request. The final vote on whether to approve the Off-Site Adoption Center will be on May 6th.  The Prince William Humane Society needs the public’s assistance in convincing the Supervisors that the Off-Site Adoption Center is a win/win proposal for the homeless animals and the citizens of Prince William County.

Please contact your supervisor and let him or her know you support this life saving project and want them to support it too.

The Contact information is:

Chairman Corey Stewart, cstewart@pwcgov.org

Supervisors:

Brenstville District, Jeanine Lawson, jlawson@pwcgov.org

Coles District, Martin Nohe, mnohe@pwcgov.org

Gainesville District, Pete Candland, Gainesville@pwcgov.org

Neabsco District, John Jenkins, jjenkins@pwcgov.org

Occoquan District, Ruth Anderson, randerson@pwcgov.org

Potomac District, Maureen Caddigan, mcaddigan@pwcgov.org

Woodbridge District, Frank Principi, fprincipi@pwcgov.org

Used by Permission of Prince William Humane Society