In 2019, the Animal Welfare League of Arlington updated a part of our mission statement from “improving the lives of animals” to “improving the lives of animals and people.”
Adding “people” to our mission was a seemingly small shift, but it would prove prescient: COVID-19 would soon come to affect every aspect of our daily lives, and it was clear that we couldn’t achieve our mission just by focusing on the animals within our care. People were struggling – and if people were struggling, we knew their pets were too. So, in order to “improve the lives of animals and people” we had to help those outside our shelter, and sometimes even outside our own community.
In this spring impact report, you will read how AWLA successfully expanded our network of care, as evidenced through the stories of our community care clinics, our partnerships with surrounding jurisdictions, and the nationwide growth of our Kitten College, among many other examples. The result is that AWLA is now on the forefront of a new national movement in animal welfare. We are leading a paradigm shift from the antiquated days of the “pound” to a more holistic approach that envisions our work as providing a comprehensive resource center, for both the animals and the people who care for them.
Thank you for joining us on this journey.
~ Sam Wolbert, President & CEO
Expanding our Network of Care
Last year, Forbes Magazine named Arlington County the 7th wealthiest county in the United States, with a median household income of $120,071. At the same time, some 15,000 Arlington residents live below the poverty line (annual income $38,000 for a family of four) and are food-insecure. When families have unpredictable access to resources like nutritious food, medical care, safe housing, and childcare, they must choose which necessities to do without. When these families also have pets, they may not be able to provide consistent veterinary care, food, or supplies for their animals.
It’s distressingly common to hear, “People shouldn’t have pets if they can’t afford them.” But we know that love for pets is a consistent societal value and pet guardianship transcends geographical, racial, religious, and socio-economic boundaries. Pets reduce stress and lower blood pressure. They stave off loneliness and increase activity level. They bring happiness to our lives. Why should someone be denied the love of a pet, and a pet be without a loving family, just because they are struggling to make ends meet?
Now in its second year, AWLA’s Community Care Clinics (and other community support services) were created to provide local pet families with the resources needed to keep their animals safe, healthy, and at home. The clinics embody the national Human Animal Support Services (HASS) model of equity and justice, “to combat discrimination and inequity in animal services and to build programs and services that are accessible and welcoming to all.”
AWLA so far has hosted four clinics and served 288 pets, providing veterinary wellness exams, microchips, vaccines, grooming, and flea & tick preventatives. These clinics also provide access to pet food and supplies, as well as local human support services including Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC), Real Food For Kids, and the Arlington Department of Health. For each pet, these services represent approximately $400 of care, allowing families to use their financial resources towards other basic needs and financial obligations.
The impact of the savings these clinics provide is life-changing for many families. Here are just a few of the messages we received after clinics:
AWLA hopes to become a trusted resource for pet owners in Arlington and prevent animals from being surrendered or suffering needlessly.
We are incredibly grateful to Petsmart Charities and Banfield Foundation for making these clinics possible! We also want to thank the 14 veterinarians and licensed veterinary technicians that donated their valuable time to the Community Care Clinics.
notable AWLA alumni - HOLLYLEAF
Many of you will recognize the little round face of Hollyleaf, a diabetic cat who spent almost a year waiting for a home. Thanks to your amazing support we’re happy to report that she is the Queen of her castle!
“Hollyleaf is doing great. She spends her days napping in different spots, playing with her favorite toys, showing her belly, and snuggling in her (most preferred) pile of crunchy paper. She even wakes up early with me each morning to snuggle and watch TikTok, which has quickly become one of her most favorite pastimes! Hollyleaf has also quickly adjusted to my family and loves when her grandparents visit (she always checks their bags for treats, which they normally have for her). She recently returned from a big car trip and could not have been a more courteous house guest. Hollyleaf brings so much joy to my life and to everyone who meets her! I cannot thank her foster mom and you all enough for connecting us and can't imagine our home without her.”
AWLA's kitten college goes coast to coast
AWLA’s Kitten College was established in 2017 to save the lives of neonatal kittens (younger than 8 weeks) from unnecessary euthanasia due to lack of resources. Today the Kitten College is nationally recognized and has saved thousands of vulnerable kittens. The strength of AWLA’s Kitten College is its foster network, made up of dedicated volunteers of all skill levels who are ready and able to care for kittens ranging from days to months old.
Other local organizations are overwhelmed with the number of kittens that need help in their communities. Without adequate access to resources, knowledge, or support, despite their best intentions, these shelters were unable to care for the kittens that came into their facilities. Initially, AWLA’s impact was solely through our transfer program in which kittens from under-resourced shelters arrived at AWLA and were cared for by our vast foster network.
With the resounding success of the foster program, it only made sense for AWLA’s Kitten College to share the formula that saves so many lives. Attention became focused on a new goal - to empower these shelters to start their own kitten programs, engage their local communities, and save more lives. And so the Kitten College Apprenticeship Program was created! Apprenticeships equip shelter and rescue staff with the knowledge and skills needed to establish their own kitten nursery.
In the beginning, the Kitten College Apprenticeship Program only hosted apprenticeships onsite at AWLA, with participants having to travel to the shelter in order to participate. Unfortunately, this limited the number of people that could attend since many organizations were unable to travel due to distance or lack of financial resources. However, with your support, AWLA was able to take the Apprenticeship Program on the road!
In the past four months alone, our National Kitten College Apprenticeship Program Administrator, Marnie Russ, has traveled to more than 12 organizations in 7 states across the United States to help organizations establish their own kitten programs. This included speaking to shelter medicine students at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Georgia Veterinary School.
Most recently, Marnie visited Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode, a small shelter near Sacramento, California. While they already have an engaged group of foster caregivers, they only have four full-time staff and a limited budget. A few weeks later, their Director let us know how things were going: “Over the last few weeks we've had many kittens, moms and babies, and pregnant moms coming through our care, many of which are going out to brand new foster homes. I have been using the resources and foster information you gave us to help them feel more prepared and empowered as they get started […] we are already getting positive feedback from our bottle baby fosters in the short time since the program.”
Closer to home, Middleburg Humane Foundation’s Kitten College satellite campus in Middleburg, VA has been growing by leaps and bounds since it began in 2020. Middleburg Humane Foundation (MHF) built a robust trap-neuter-return program in their community that reduced the number of pregnant cats and neonatal kittens entering their facility. Because of this, and along with the resources provided since the launch of the Apprenticeship program, MHF are now able to care for any kittens that come their way. In 2020, for example, AWLA transferred 76 kittens from MHF. So far in 2022, we have taken zero. This is not only great for the MHF, who can now manage the cats and kittens in their community, but it also frees up space for AWLA to reach out to other communities in need.
“The Middleburg Humane Foundation has created a tight knit family of fosters, and a community that is committed to saving the lives of these little ones,” said Ashley Ney, Community Cat & Kitten College Coordinator at Middleburg Humane Foundation, “The final reward is amazing.”
By expanding the network of care from AWLA to shelters and rescues across the country, thousands of lives are being saved. By encouraging organizations to engage with their communities and look to them for support, that network of care continues to grow.
IT'S YOUR PET'S TIME TO SHINE!
SAVE THE DATE!
The 2022 Calendar Contest starts June 1!
Get ready to give your pet the ultimate spotlight with their photo on the cover of our 2022/23 calendar! Each photo entry and vote equals life-saving funds that care for animals in need. From tiny kittens, senior pups, injured wildlife, pet parents in need, and everything in between, your support guides us on our mission to improve the lives of pets and people in Arlington County. So what are you waiting for? Scroll through the 300 pictures of your pet on your camera roll to find the perfect shot, or get the camera and treats out and start snapping. May the cutest pet win!
Saving Lives Across County Lines
In 1997, Prince George’s County passed a law (3-185.01) banning the ownership of “pit bulls” by county residents. The law defined Pit Bulls as “any and all of the following breed of dogs: Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier, or dogs that exhibit the characteristics of a Pit Bull more than any other breed of dog.” As a consequence, residents who knowingly - or unknowingly - owned a pitbull-type dog faced up to 6 months in jail. Despite years of lobbying to remove the ban, in 2019 the Prince George’s County Council voted 7-4 to uphold the law.
The ban, based on misinformation about pitbulls along with stereotypes generally associated with owners of the breed, means that the Prince George’s County Animal Shelter must take in dogs that cannot be adopted to families in their jurisdiction…simply because of the way they look. To address this problem, shelters from across the DMV Metro region, including AWLA, have collaborated with Prince George’s County Animal Shelter to transfer pitbull-type dogs to their organizations for adoption.
Thanks to this collaboration, AWLA has transferred in pitbull-type dogs from P.G. County Animal Shelter for adoption in Arlington for many years. Even so, this solution left room for improvement. Because dogs often had to wait days, and sometimes weeks, before they could be transferred to AWLA, this escalated stress for both the animals and the overly crowded P.G. County shelter. To streamline and speed up the process, in January 2022, AWLA began to accept surrenders of pitbull-type dogs from P.G. county residents on a case-by-case basis.
While there are no ordinances in Arlington banning pitbull-type dogs, it can still be difficult to find housing that accepts them. Many properties have breed restrictions based on size, weight, and/or type of dog, and pitbull-type dogs are invariably among those restricted. However, the tide may be turning.
More and more evidence also shows that breed plays little role in an individual’s dog behavior. This Washington Post article discusses a recently published study that found that "breed means very little in predicting the behavior and personality of an individual dog, the researchers found. That appears to be especially true for traits that are most commonly associated with a dog’s personality, qualities such as cuddliness, friendliness toward strangers and aggression." As a result, real estate management companies nationwide may be loosening their restrictions. Here at home, Arlington-based real estate developer, Paradigm Companies, recently removed breed restrictions for all of their properties and we hope that many more companies will follow their lead.
Scroll down to meet some more of the dogs that are looking for new homes at AWLA!
Notable AWLA Alums - Henny Penny
Every so often an animal at AWLA goes truly “viral.” This year, Henny Penny the Pentagon Chicken was the biggest news story on the internet! On January 31st, AWLA’s Animal Control team received a strange call from the Pentagon Police. A chicken had appeared at a security checkpoint and needed to be relocated from the premises. Together with the Pentagon security team, our officers caught the Rhode Island Red hen and brought her to the shelter.
The story was too good not to share.
Shortly after posting a photo of the chicken and asking for name suggestions, Twitter was ablaze with clever names, puns, and speculations about whether the chicken was a spy. And so, Henny Penny, the Pentagon Chicken - named after the famous children’s story “Chicken Little” - became a star. Local news channels featured her, Jimmy Fallon wrote and performed a song about her on the Tonight Show, and publications as far away as the United Kingdom and India told her story.
We’re happy to report that Henny Penny didn’t let fame go to her head…much! She now lives with one of the Animal Control officers who rescued her. She rules the roost in her new home (literally, she really likes to boss around the other chickens) and brings a smile to everyone who meets her. The sky is certainly not falling on Henny Penny anymore.
CREDITS
Editor: Chelsea Jones
Contributors: Sam Wolbert, Kat Williams, Amy Schindler, Jennifer Davies, Marnie Russ
AWLA President & CEO: Sam Wolbert
Board Members: Alice Barrett-Feeley (Board Chair), Carol Freysinger (Vice Chair), Jennifer Case (Treasurer), Sheila Raebel (Secretary), Tim Denning, Dr. Kayleen Gloor (DVM, MSPH), Allen Herzberg, Rick Inderfurth, Sally Kaplan, Kristanne Littlefield, Dr. Katy Nelson (DVM), Olga Pamfilova, Dr. Amy Pike (DVM), Tannia Talento
The Animal Welfare League of Arlington is a registered 501(c)3 charitable organization. Our Federal Tax ID is 54-0603502.
Combined Federal Campaign: #90065 | United Way: #8804 | Commonwealth of VA Campaign: #8068