The Animal Welfare League of Arlington took in about 70 cats and dogs this past Friday (April 6) from shelters across Virginia and West Virginia.
Four staff members traveled to different parts of Virginia, but shelter staff from the West Virginia brought the animals to Arlington themselves.
The AWLA accepts animals weekly from the West Virginia shelter, and the large number of transfer requests from Virginia shelters wasn’t tied to any specific event, according to Chelsea Lindsey, the league’s communications specialist. The other shelters are simply high-intake and at capacity, and can’t easily adopt out all of the animals in their region.
Even though shelter transfers aren’t unusual, it was still a larger intake than usual for the AWLA.
“That’s a big number for us to take in in one day,” Lindsey told ARLnow.com, adding that she expects many of the kittens to be “snatched up quickly.”
About 50 of the animals were mother cats with kittens, and have been placed with foster families mainly in Arlington and Alexandria. Those kittens will have to wait until they are at least eight weeks old before being adopted out, in addition to hitting weight targets and being fixed.
Only one animal, a cat, from the large shelter transfer is ready for adoption. The dogs all need to be fixed and several of the cats have what Lindsey called “kitty colds.”
This past Friday we took in 70 animals from other shelters in VA! We are committed to saving more lives in our state, and are so excited to be partnering with high-intake shelters and giving pets a second chance at life. @HumaneSociety @ARLnowDOTcom @fox5dc @ABC7News @WTOP pic.twitter.com/9w7jRTkoc7
— AWLArlington, VA (@AWLAArlington) April 9, 2018
Photos courtesy of Animal Welfare League of Arlington