A CRUCIAL UPDATE TO OUR HT FAMILY:
Hello, HT family. We write this to share with you the state of animal welfare in general and the ongoing efforts, barriers, heartbreak and needs that HT faces in our quest to save lives. This week obviously brings many additional challenges and needs as we look to save lives impacted by the most recent natural disaster. We thank you for reading and making our efforts to save lives and create sustainable solutions to animal homelessness in our most challenged communities.
1. Animal welfare has not been in such a dire state for over 20 years. Shelters across the country in all communities are full and having to face decisions to euthanize for lack of space – something many have not had to do for years. The animals are simply
coming in more quickly than they are going out and it’s a dire, sad struggle that is pushing the financial, physical and emotional limits of us all. Our Virginia shelters are suffering tremendously and seeing their staff and volunteers struggle is very difficult. We do all that we can every week to take as many animals as we can, but sometimes it’s simply not enough.Why is this happening? There are several factors: during Covid a large number of people adopted and (sadly) purchased animals so there is a bit of market saturation and fewer adopters; affordable spay/neuter was not readily available for years during Covid and the populations that needed these services the most did not get them and there has been an explosion of animals born that would not have been; medical issues that may been addressed 
early on were not due to the difficulty of getting veterinarian appointments (affordable and otherwise) and many more animals with medical issues have been surrendered to shelters; the housing market and the economy have resulted in job loss, moves and inability to secure housing that allows pets resulting in many being taken to shelters. With more animals in shelters and fewer adopters and less time to find them, more animals are being euthanized.
2. Trails UP saves lives in Virginia's most under-resourced communities. As many of you know, HT not only rescues animals but has been providing vital on-the-ground services in Virginia’s most under-resourced communities so that animal homelessness can be addressed as its root. Our unique Trails UP team travels every month in-person to these
communities to bring free spay/neuter and medical services; food and supplies; and ongoing support to keep pets in homes. We are providing education and resources to help communities build their own programs with their own community members in sustainable ways, while also helping shelters to improve and implement progressive programs. If we do not do this work at the root in the very communities that need it, we will simply remain a band aid and our rescue efforts will never allow us to catch up. It’s backbreaking, heartbreaking, expensive work but so vital. To date, since the creation of our Trails UP team we have provided Trap-Neuter-Return for 2,475 cats and funded the spay/neuter of more than 500 dogs. The lives we have saved through our efforts are in the tens of thousands.
3. Hurricane Relief. We are currently in touch with various organizations and shelters both in Virginia and beyond to determine where and how we can best help animals in flood-ravaged communities. And we trying to balance the needs of our regular shelter partners who remain full with those ravaged by floods. We are most likely going to intake animals in the coming days and our staff is preparing space and resources to get ready. We will keep everyone posted on our status.
OUR NEEDS ARE GREAT. We are not going to sugarcoat this: even before Helene hit we are struggling desperately to prevent euthanasia in our shelter partners. We need more fosters. We need more funding. We need more volunteers to assist our staff with driving, Adoption Center help, screening adoption applications.
Every single one of these duties saves lives in a direct way.
We also need more funding. With the operation of one of Virginia’s largest private shelters in addition to our in-depth, on-the-ground Trails UP program we generally operate at 130% of our capacity, meaning we stretch every single dollar, every hour, every resource we have.
So NOW is the time to DONATE. NOW is the time to FOSTER. NOW is the time to VOLUNTEER. It’s crunch time and needless suffering is in front of us every day. We NEED YOU.
We need funds NOW to get animals out of Virginia shelters. We need funds NOW to get animals out of flood-ravaged communities.
We need funds NOW to push our space and our staff and our resources to provide the maximum resources to ensure lifesaving.
Please donate and volunteer now. Please follow us here for updates on what we'll be doing this week in live time to save lives. No matter where the animals are, they are all facing a dire outcome if we cannot step up. Please help us to step up.