Our shelter doors are never closed to ANY companion animal.

That means we take in hundreds of unadoptable ones. It means that we provide the last act of kindness owners can perform for their beloved companions, after they have surrendered the animal to us. It also means that other localities’ public shelters refer people to us if they have closed their doors to accepting any animals.

It also means we must make difficult decisions. Last year was a very busy year for shelters and rescue groups. We, however, never made the decision to make numbers more important than animals and that means we had to make difficult decisions all the time.

In 2023, we received 1,085 animals that had been turned away by other Virginia public animal shelters. Here are a few of the stories:

The number included a kitten who was being eaten alive from maggots inside her body. The public shelter in the locality where she was found told the person, “Put her back where you found her and let nature take its course.” We said “yes” to the person who found that unacceptable and accepted her. She was euthanized.

The number included many cats and three chained dogs from another locality. An elderly woman let her granddaughter move in with her and the granddaughter immediately started collecting cats. She then moved away. The family of the elderly woman sought help from the public shelter in that county, telling them they were afraid it was an unhealthy, unsafe situation for their loved one. They were also concerned about the care of the animals. The public shelter people told the family it was the family’s responsibility, not theirs. The desperate family called us for help and we said “yes.” Most of the animals were unadoptable.

The number included a woman who lived in a car with a high number of small dogs. Shelters in two localities would not accept them (they were “closed to owner surrenders”). A police chief in the town called us for help. We said “yes.” Many of the dogs were sick and we spent hundreds of dollars in veterinary bills. Upon recommendation of a veterinarian, two were immediately euthanized and one died at the clinic within a few hours. We adopted out the ones we could and had to euthanize the rest because of their condition.

When you hear the “all the Danville shelter does is kill,” please remember these stories. There are many, many more stories waiting to be told.

Our doors can never and will never close to accepting animals.