AWLA Hawk

Richmond Animal Care and Control and Richmond SPCA perform animal control and animal sheltering for the City of Richmond, so together they handle the services that AWLA undertakes for Arlington County. Richmond has many more homeless animals than Arlington — while AWLA received 1,683 homeless dogs and cats in its fiscal 2009, RACC received 6,990 in calendar 2008.

Unlike Arlington County, the City of Richmond has a recent history of above-average violence and crime; it was ranked the fifth most violent city in the US by Morgan Quitno Press in 2004. By 2008 Richmond was only the 49th most dangerous city, but its murder rate was still six times the national average and seven times the Virginia average. So it’s probably safe to assume that a higher percentage of the dogs turned over to Richmond Animal Care and Control are “bully breeds” or victims of abuse than those received by AWLA.

Let’s look at how Richmond’s homeless dogs and cats fare composed to those received by AWLA. (These percentages don’t include lost-and-found pets, i.e. dogs and cats that are reclaimed by their owners after being received by animal control, or untreatable pets euthanized at the request of their owners.)

This is despite AWLA’s funding advantage on a per-animal basis and the much easier task that AWLA confronts, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Why is RSPCA + RACC so much more successful than AWLA at saving homeless dogs and cats?

Enthusiasm for working with local rescue organizations is an obvious difference between RSPCA and AWLA. Other specific programs and goals underlying that success are explained in detail on the RSPCA website.

But the fundamental explanation is simple — Richmond SPCA and RACC demonstrate compassionate leadership, a commitment to saving animals, and effort.

Arlington’s homeless animals deserve the same from AWLA.