Over 15 Places in Northern Virginia to Adopt or to Foster an Animal
Pet adoption and animal shelters are topics very near and dear to the hearts of all Ray Gernhart and Associates agents. If you follow our blog, you might even remember a piece we did back in September 2018 about Crumbs and Whiskers, a rather unique coffee shop and cat rescue here in the heart of Washington, DC.
Around here, we love all manner of animals.
Curious ones:
Lazy ones:
Grumpy ones:
Fashionable ones:
Even ones that see the world a little bit differently:
If you’re anything like us and you can’t get enough of cuddly, lovely, snuggly creatures, here’s a short list of some excellent places in Northern Virginia to adopt an animal in need of its forever home:
- Animal Allies
- Location: PO Box 7040, Fairfax Station, VA 22039
- Contact: 703-940-9183
- Key Facts: Have a special place in your heart for kitties who are at risk of never finding their forever homes? This place takes in deaf and FIV+ cats, as well as felines with other special needs.
- Animal Welfare League (Multiple Locations)
- Alexandria
- Location: 4101 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA
- Contact: 703-746-5655
- Key Facts: This open-admission facility, which is operated within Vola Lawson Animal Shelter, takes in any unwanted pet. No animal turned away!
- Alexandria
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- Arlington
- Location: 2650 S. Arlington Mill Dr., Arlington, VA
- Contact: 703-931-9241
- Key Facts: This organization seeks to keep pet owners with their animals by offering several assistance programs, including a low-cost rabies clinic and affordable spaying and neutering services. For those on a limited income, they even offer emergency veterinary care.
- Arlington
- Bunny Lu Adoptions Inc.
- Location: PO Box 1681, Waynesboro, VA
- Contact: 703-753-0833
- Key Facts: Their Waynesboro location provides bunny adoption, supplies, and even bunny-sitting. (Each pampered rabbit here gets a toy and a manicure!)
- Crumbs and Whiskers
- Location (Cat Café): 3211 O St. NW, Washington, DC 20007
- Location (Kitten Lounge): 3109 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20007
- Contact (Cat Café): 202-621-7114
- Contact (Kitten Lounge): 202-333-2814
- Key Facts: Sip coffee. Play with adoptable cats. Adopt adorable cats. Repeat, as necessary! This innovative company has adopted out 1,559 cats and saved 3,301 from euthenasia. (Note, for the health and safety of all involved, only those seven and older are allowed in the cafés.)
When the Ray Gernhart & Associates team visited this special place a few years back, we all fell in love! We wanted to adopt them all!
- Homeward Trails Animal Rescue
- Location: PO Box 100968, Arlington, VA 22210
- Contact: 703-249-5066
- Key Facts: This shelter aims to find forever homes for dogs and cats rescued from high-kill shelters around the Mid-Atlantic. They also take in animals from owners who can no longer adequately care for their pets.
- Humane Society (Multiple Locations)
- Fairfax County
- Location: 4057 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax, VA
- Contact: 703-385-7387
- Key Facts: This thirteen-acre farm in Centreville offers adoptable birds, cats, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs, and dogs.
- Fairfax County
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- Loudoun County
- Location: PO Box 777, Leesburg, VA 20178
- Contact: 703-777-2912
- Key Facts: This organization partners with Loudoun County Animal Services to keep their shelves full of pet food for needy families. They’ve donated thousands of pounds of pet food since their formation.
- Loudoun County
- Fairfax County Animal Shelter
- Location: 4500 West Ox Road, Fairfax, VA 22030
- Contact: 703-830-1100
- Key Facts: Looking to add a pet to your family? This place offers dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, gerbils, birds, snakes, and turtles! (Phew!)
- Friends of Homeless Animals
- Location: PO Box 415, Aldie, VA
- Contact: 703-385-0224
- Key Facts: This no-kill shelter finds loving forever homes for roughly five hundred cats and dogs annually.
- Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation
- Location: PO Box 50037, Arlington, VA
- Contact: 703-295-3647
- Key Facts: Since it began in 2001, this organization has taken in nearly thirty thousand homeless pets! The sixty-three-acre farm provides plenty of room for homeless dogs to roam and a cage-free building for cats. All adoption events are off site.
- Loudoun County Animal Shelter
- Location: 39820 Charles Town Pike Mailstop #66, Waterford, VA
- Contact: 703-777-0406
- Key Facts: This mobile adoption vehicle provides a climate-controlled, safe, comfortable environment for approximately twenty animals at a time.
- Lucky Dog Animal Rescue
- Location: 5159 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA
- Contact: 703-237-5327
- Key Facts: Taking dogs and cats from high-kill shelters in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Puerto Rico, this organization saved nearly two thousand animals in 2018!
- Prince William County Animal Shelter
- Location: 14807 Bristow Road, Manassas, VA 20112
- Contact: 703-792-6465
- Key Facts: This shelter, which offers a clean and safe environment for all stray or unwanted animals, enforces all animal welfare laws, and it conducts animal education seminars.
- SPCA (Multiple Locations)
- Fauquier
- Location: PO Box 733, Warrenton, VA
- Contact: 540-788-9000
- Key Facts: Adopting from here gives you a little extra peace of mind. They only offer animals that are spayed or neutered, are microchipped, and have passed a temperament test.
- Fauquier
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- Fredericksburg
- Location: 10819 Courthouse Rd., Fredericksburg, VA
- Contact: 540-898-1500
- Key Facts: Don’t miss out on their Humane Education program. It teaches all grade levels about how to properly care for a pet, and it offers a dog bite prevention program for children of elementary school age.
- Fredericksburg
- Washington Area Adoption Group
- Location: PO Box 105, Delaplane, VA
- Contact: 571-393-4980
- Key Facts: Located on Bull Run Mountain, this group boards dogs and cats in individual climate-controlled “kabins.”
- Wolf Trap Animal Rescue
- Location: PO Box 2753, Merrifield, VA
- Contact: 703-638-2531
- Key Facts: Since its founding, Wolf Trap has saved over four thousand animals from euthenasia. All rescued dogs and cats are fostered until adoption.
Interested in adopting but can’t keep an animal in your current home? We’ve heard it many times before! One of the biggest hurdles for a pet lover who rents is finding a place that allows those four-legged friends—or finding a place that doesn’t gouge on pet rent. When you own your own home, though, you get to make the rules!
When you find that perfect place with the fenced yard or an extra room just for cat toys (hey, we don’t judge!), you’re helping ensure your pet looks like this:
…or like this:
…instead of this:
…or this:
So, run—don’t walk—to one of these NOVA shelters, and then give us a shout about finding the perfect place for you and your new best friend to call home!
