Homewards Trail animal rescue brought a half-dozen dogs hoping to be adopted into a loving home. Photo by Donna Manz.
On one of the hottest days of the year, June 11, homeless animal rescue and pet-centric vendors teams converged in the parking lot of the old Marco Polo restaurant. A dog-and-cat adoption expo, sponsored and organized by the Vienna Arts Society, brought dogs needing a forever-home to families looking for a pet to make their family complete. And as hot and humid as it was, people came. They filled out adoption papers, they picked up pups they had applied to adopt the previous week. While the homeless animal adoption expo was originally founded by VAS to support Wolf Trap Animal Rescue, each of the rescue orgs present benefited from the exposure. Wolf Trap Animal Rescue and Homeward Trails brought dogs to show off their personalities and Wolf Trap adopted out all they brought. Event organizer, Lu Cousins of VAS, adopted a cat herself there.
Southern states’ shelters have a high-kill rate and rescue teams from the D.C. area routinely take a van down south to bring homeless pets to this area where there are many animal rescue options. VAS welcomed the animal rescue orgs at no charge for participation. Of the 24 participants, WolfTrap Animal Rescue, Cat Hustler Rescue, Homeward Trails Rescue, Fairfax Pets on Wheels Rescue, Lab Rescue League, and NOVA Cats Rescue either brought potential adoptees with them or fielded questions and interest. The dogs were adopted out for $450 and the rescue organizations kept the full amount of adoption fees.
Wolf Trap Animal Rescue was founded in 2015 by veterinary surgeon Amber Burton. Although the rescue organization does not yet have a physical facility to house pets temporarily, the nonprofit depends on foster families to care for the animals until they are adopted.
Homeward Trails, taking in 100 to 150 dogs and cats, maintains an adoption center in Fairfax Station where they can house and care for as many as 45 dogs at one time. Care for the dogs and cats not in the Homeward Trails center are placed with people who can foster them.
Other vendors included: Bottled Up, Little Unique, Becky's Pet Care, Spot on Dog Ice Packets, Rudy's Friends Dog Training, Charming Incentives, Tonya Rapton Author, Joyce Meyers Artist, Emilse Wolff Artist, Ken Frye Artist, Abby Parades Artist, Ginny Moore Artist, Joyce Turk Artist, Vibrant Pets, Hope Center, Noahs Ark, Dog Love, and, a special appearance by the chickens of Vienna (yes, they were real, live chickens).
The Vienna Arts Society held a bake sale to offset their expenses for the event.
“When you do an adoption event, you see the result of your work, animals getting a home,” said Wolf Trap Animal Rescue volunteer, Jesse Marsh. “That’s the happy part.”
To learn more about the Vienna Arts Society, go to www.viennaartssociety.org.
To foster, adopt, or volunteer with one of the participating rescue organizations, see:
www.wolftrapanimalrescue.com
www.facebook.com/wolftrapanimalrescue
www.homewardtrails.org (info@homewardtrails.org)