MISSION
Our mission is to rescue every unwanted, abandoned,
abused, or neglected dog in our county; to do whatever
is necessary to relieve any suffering; and to help each animal
become healthy, sterilized, well-adjusted, and happily re-homed.
Our mission is difficult and costly, and we need all the help
we can get.
Our secondary mission is to tirelessly work to strengthen
our financial base and expand our human resources in order
to support our operations.
HISTORY
RAWL's history is impressive. It's the story of an extraordinary
turnaround of policy of shooting stray animals and throwing
them in a river, to a "no kill", mandatory sterilization,
and re-home project realized through the efforts of only a
few in a short time. It's the story of a quiet, isolated,
rural county that was a little behind the times in "getting
a grip" and giving private citizens room to develop this
organization hand-in-hand with public animal control.
In 1988, a group of private citizens pressured Rappahannock
County to begin development of a facility to comply with the
State requirements relating to animal control and rescue.
During 1989, plans for a facility began to formalize, and
in December of 1990 the county animal shelter began its operations.
From this beginning, and through 1993, though everyone did
their best - some animals were humanely destroyed. However,
starting January 1st, 1994, the goal of a no-kill and mandatory
sterilization policy became reality!
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METHODS
RAWL is based on the private/public partnership created between
itself and Rappahannock County. The county is obligated to
fulfill the state requirement to provide care and shelter
to all stray dogs for a limited period of time, and RAWL is
committed to rescuing and re-homing these strays.
Within the delegation of responsibilities, Rappahannock County
employs the animal control warden, provides and maintains
an accessible kennel and office on county property,
and pays RAWL a fee to operate the facility. From that point,
RAWL assumes the balance of the responsibilities: staffing,
management, daily care, supplies, veterinary trips, innoculations,
arranging the reclaim of lost animals and coordinating adoptions.
The county benefits through a relief of kennel management.
RAWL benefits by being enabled to construct its own animal
facility ( for transfer of all the animals) virtually adjacent
to the county's. The partnership facilitates routine
operation and management of the kennel and increased public
access. RAWL is also assured an unending supply of neglected,
abandoned, abused and unwanted animals; 250-300 each year.
RAWLS's presence in county animal control, and its direct
interaction with the animal warden serve to at least maintain,
if not raise the standards of how our public officials address
and promote animal rescue in our county - and that equates
to more help for more needy animals more of the time.
RAWL staffs six employees; 1 full time and 5 part time. The
number of volunteers fluctuates between 4 and 12. RAWL can
never have enough volunteers to assist in all aspects of its
activities.
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SPAY / NEUTER
PROGRAM RAWL is able to sterilize all of the animals
we assume with notable efficiency. There are three reasons
for this: our public/private partnership with Rappahannock
County, our working relationship with our vet and our organization
of transportation.
Our public/private partnership with the county puts us a step
or two ahead at the time we assume custody of an animal, because
RAWL's staff and the county shelter's staff are one and the
same - a shared resource. In effect, we begin our relationship
with an animal 7-10 days before we take custody. During that
7 day (without a collar) or 10 day (with a collar) county
holding period, we are the staff that manages and effects
the county's responsibility to provide veterinary recommended
care and treatment for any existing or acquired sickness or
injury. Therefore; by the first day of official custody, we
have already evaluated an animal's health, age, and the status
with our vet, so we are then able to promptly schedule sterilization
in accordance with each individual case, or continue treatment
already begun. Also, the county kennels and RAWL kennels are
side by side with shared office space. In every way, the partnership
enables a virtually effortless transfer fot these animals
we take on to be sterilized and re-homed.
RAWL is fortunate to have an excellent relationship with its
vet, Dr. Johnnie Clark. We rely on the flexibility and availability
of Dr. Clark and his staff to provide care and sterilize the
number of animals. Again, that's 250-300 dogs per year. Dr. Clark
allows RAWL a 25% discount
on all his services.
We coordinate one or two roundtrips to Dr. Clarks's clinic
each week on an as needed basis. Its a 54 mile round trip
(there are no veterinary services in Rappahannock County)
and we maintain an old van and station wagon - that way at
least one, if not both of these vehicles is always functional.
Most RAWL animals are spayed or neutered within two weeks
of entering our custody. Age and other health considerations
may push back that time frame for some animals, but in the
end, every animal is sterilized.
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ADOPTION (RE-HOMING)
PROCESS RAWL's goal is to find and help establish suitable,
happy matches with caring, responsible, new owners for any
and all neglected, abandoned, abused or unwanted animals in
Rappahannock County, Virginia. In order to stay on course
with the objective, we focus on the following guidelines:
- Conscientious preparation (sterilization, health, behavior)
- Persistant public adoption exposure.
- Attention to the details of screening and our pre-established
standards
- RAWL's guarantee to re-adopt its animals at anytime, for
any reason.
PREPARATION
No animal is considered adoptable until they have been
sterilized (our policy is described above). No health issue
is too big a bite for our staff to chew. We have tackled and
cured parvo, and developed affordable treatment and management
for older dogs (arthritis, diabetes). With the great help
we get from Dr. Clark, we try to rehabilitate, treat, cure
or manage any condition ailing a newly acquired animal.
Most animals we take in seem to miraculously maintain equilibrium
through their trials and tribulations, but not all. Of those
who don't, many return to well adjusted behavior in due course
at our facility; even though they're living in a "kennel"
environment at RAWL, it's not too terrible a life :) Nutrition,
cleanliness, exercise, attention, and affection are all part
an animal's day. For the tougher cases, we have special foster
home possibilities and/or training and behavior modification
with a dog trainer.
Most animals become adoptable quickly and easily. However,
there are some for which becoming adoptable just plain "takes
as long as it takes". At RAWL, we don't want that investment
of time and money to be an obstacle.
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ADOPTION EXPOSURE
Most RAWL animals are re-homed through weekly trips
to two retail supply adoption facilities in the more urban
communities between Rappahannock County and Washington, D.C.
The two facilities were carefully chosen after inspecting
many. We now have a terrific long-standing relationship with
one of these facilities, and have recently developed a solid
relationship at the second., where adopted animals often return
to visit us there! We advertise our adoption dates, locations,
etc. in the appropriate community papers (and on this website).
Animals are also adopted directly from our facilities in Rappahannock
County. A forty-five minute drive from the capitol beltway,
Rappahannock County sits next to the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The natural beauty is undeniable, and open land is maintained
by careful zoning (25 acre minimum per residence) and conscientious
citizens. There are two blinking lights, but no stop lights.
The affluent have second homes here, agribusinesses struggle
on (cattle, hay, orchards, vineyards, horses), small businesses
cater to recreation, though true rural poverty and illiteracy
still exist here. There are two banks, a privately funded
library, a Michellen Four Star restaurant, RAWL, a lot of
valuable horses, but no veterinary clinic within this county.
There's one small weekly paper - any other communication travels
via the grapevine or direct mail. Thank goodness for our adoption
opportunities outside the county!
GUARANTEE
RAWL guarantees to adopt-back any animal, at any time,
for any reason. This guarantee makes everyone more comfortable
when adopting, and also assures the best for the animals.
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SCREENING
Any potential adopter is evaluated from two points
of view. First, the specific of the living conditions, intended
care, available attention and the personal attitudes each
adopter's lifestyle and home offer, for any pet, must be judged
truly adequate and satisfactory. Second, the same issues must
be judged truly adequate and satisfactory as well as truly
appropriate for the individual animal under consideration.
The process begins, of course, with the adopter meeting the
adoptee and then spending some time - walking, playing etc.
even this interaction offers some screening insight. Interested
adoptors then complete a pre-adoption questionaire, and we
review it. At this point we either continue with a personal
interview, or politely discontinue the process. Information
brought to light in the questionnaire could, for instance,
lead us to recommend a different animal more suited to say
- the age of the children in the household.
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