About the Animal
Welfare League of
Arlington
hancing the quality of care provided to animals and
now embarks on a capital campaign to improve the
intake and residence facility for felines through the
Care And Transform capital campaign.
We invite you to help us improve the lives of cats
and save more cats by contributing to our Care And
Transform. Your gift will ensure a bright future for
more cats in our community and for all the people
like you who love them. We would like to help you
think creatively about your participation whether it
is an outright gift, a gift of appreciated stock, or a
pledge payable over time.
Please address questions about gifts and their
respective benefits to:
Neil Trent, President/CEO
Animal Welfare League of Arlington,
2650 S. Arlington Mill Drive, Arlington, VA 22206
703-931-9241 x214 • [email protected]
Our Mission
Improve the lives
of animals.
Our Vision
Create a world
where all
companion
animals find
compassionate
and permanent
homes.
Our Values
Compassion:
Providing
nurturing animal
care and
community
outreach
Progressiveness: Being on the leading edge of
animal care through continual improvement
Openness: Maintaining open accessibility and
transparency
The Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA)
provides animal adoption and community programs
to the northern Virginia and D.C. metropolitan area,
as well as animal rescue and control services within
Arlington County. Since 1944 AWLA has remained
committed to its mission to improve the lives of
animals through sheltering, community services
and humane education. The original group of 12
volunteers has grown to over 600, and there are 34
professional staff.
Over 3,000 companion animals benefit from
the League each year with 92 percent of sheltered
animals in fiscal year 2013 either being placed for
adoption, reunited with their owners, or transferred
to one of AWLA’s network of rescue partners.
In accordance with AWLA’s mission to improve
the lives of animals, the League is committed to en-
The Animals Need
Your Help
Care And Transform
Capital Campaign
Committee
Construction costs are estimated at $570,000.
You can participate by choosing one of the
following giving levels:
$50,000.00
$10,000.00
$7,500.00
$10,000.00
$3,000.00
Entire Kitten Room
Cat Cages
$30,000.00
$3,000.00
Entire Cat Receiving Room
Cat Cages
$20,000.00
$1,500.00
Pat Ragan, Chair
Lisa Tudor, Vice Chair
Jack Hobbs, Treasurer
Pat Romano, Secretary
Mark Treadaway, Past Chair
Entire Cat Holding Room
Cat Cages
$15,000.00
$1,500.00
Cat Isolation Rooms
Cat Cages
$10,000.00
$1,500.00
Board Members
Karen Albert • Jennifer Barnes • Jeanne Broyhill
Alissa Curry • Diane Greenlee • Patti Mugavero
Ron Novak • David Rose • Gary Sturm
James R. Whittaker, Jr.
Small Companion Animal Room $30,000.00
Cages
$3,000.00
AWLA Board of Directors
A Capital Campaign to provide
an improved intake and
residence facility, in which to
Care And Transform the lives of
feline companion animals at the
Animal Welfare League of Arlington.
Giving Opportunities
Entire Cat Room
Cat Colonies
Cat Suites
Get Acquainted Rooms
Cat Cages
Mark Treadaway, Chair
Jeanne Broyhill
Joanne Hannett
Diane Greenlee
Pat Ragan
Debra Rose
Care And
Transform
Large Plaque
Small Plaque
$5,000.00
$2,500.00
Happier Cats = Healthier Cats =
Quicker Adoptions = Ability to Serve More Cats
Animal Welfare
League of Arlington
2650 S Arlington Mill Drive • Arlington, VA 22206
(703) 931-9241 • http://www.awla.org
Proposed Improvements to Cat Quarters
Dear Friends,
When I came to the Animal Welfare League of
Arlington in 2010, the League had just completed a
large addition that increased its capacity for dogs by
more than 50%. Now it is time to do something for
our community’s cats. Our current facilities do not
meet current recommended standards to minimize
stress and facilitate quicker adoptions.
The League takes in almost twice as many cats
as dogs each year. As all cat lovers know, cats are
sensitive creatures that are greatly affected by their
environment. We have no time limit for any animal.
That means that some animals, particularly cats,
may live at the shelter for as long as a year before
finding permanent, loving homes. We believe that
while cats are in our care we must do everything
that we can to give them a good quality of life. That
means not only human interaction, but also opportunities to stretch, climb, and play.
Research in animal welfare shows that when cats
have a more natural and less stressful environment
they present themselves much better to potential
adopters and are far less likely to become ill. We
think that improving our cat housing space will
reduce cats’ average length of stay in the shelter.
Getting cats adopted quicker is not only better for
them, it frees up space for us to accept more cats.
Our plans call for a complete reconfiguration of our
cat housing space incorporating more cageless housing and increasing the size and functionality of all
cat cages.
Please join us in our mission to improve the lives
of animals in our community by donating to our
CAT Capital Campaign. Your contribution is essential
to help make our shelter the best place for homeless
cats to be until they become part of loving families.
With gratitude,
Neil Trent, President/CEO
The League strives to develop a baseline of world class care for cats, dogs, and small companion animals
by adhering to the Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ (ASV) Guidelines for Animal Shelters recommendations. According to the ASV, poor cat housing is one of the greatest shortcomings observed in shelters and
has a substantially negative impact on both health and well-being.
ASV size recommendations for cat housing are two feet minimum separation between areas for sleeping, eating, and eliminating. Vertical dimensions are also extremely important because cats enjoy spending
time on raised surfaces. Our new cat condos will provide sufficient space to allow each cat to make normal
postural adjustments (e.g., to turn freely and to easily stand, sit, stretch and move their heads without
touching the top of the enclosure), lie in a comfortable position with limbs extended, move about and assume a comfortable posture for feeding, drinking, and eliminating. This remodel will include two cageless
cat colony rooms (housing three to four compatible cats) and four cat suites for bonded pairs of cats.
New Facility Features
• Designed by Animal Arts, a nationally recognized architecture firm specializing in animal shelter and
veterinary clinic design • Two separate cageless cat colonies for compatible cats • Four cageless cat condos for pairs of bonded cats • Enlarged windows in the cat adoption room to provide more natural light •
Larger cat cages with space for hiding, perching, and stretching • Two “get acquainted” private rooms for
potential adopters to meet cats • Cat receiving and isolation rooms relocated away from the shelter lobby
• Direct entrance to the cat room from the shelter lobby • State-of-the-art HVAC system to promote animal health
Stress for Shelter Cats
Imagine being thrust into an institution full of
strangers and living possibly for months—eating,
sleeping, exercising, and eliminating—in one very
small space. This is the reality for shelter cats that
are confined to small cages containing their beds,
food bowls, and litter boxes.
Shelter medicine experts agree the type of housing encountered in a shelter is arguably the single
most important factor in determining the quality of
an animal’s experience in that environment. Housing impacts the animal 24 hours a day and affects
everything from stress level and disease risk to food
intake and sleep quality. Cats are very sensitive to
their environment (sights, smells, sounds, handling,
and movement). Unless these stress factors are carefully managed, cats can become withdrawn, aggressive, and physically sick.
The Animal Welfare League of Arlington’s intake
of cats and kittens by far outnumbers the other
companion animals we
receive. Each year we
take in about 900 cats
with an average length
of stay of 35 days. Our
existing cat facility
currently includes “get
acquainted” rooms
where cats can exercise
during morning cleaning, but they are not
sufficient to impact
overall quality of life
for our longer term
feline residents.