FAQ > Services
Open admission animal shelters accept all pets that arrive at their doors, regardless of age, health, color, breed, temperament, “adoptability,” available resources, or the ability of the finder or owner to pay for their stay. The R-H SPCA is an open admission animal shelter accessible to all pets found within the boundaries of Rockingham County and Harrisonburg City. Each county in VA is required to have an animal shelter to serve their locality, so pets from out of area are required to go to the appropriate facility.
As a result, not all the animals that arrive here are behaviorally sound or the picture of health. While we use the resources we have available, including very generous local veterinarians, grants, and established medical protocols for common health issues, some pets are beyond what we can reasonably address.
For behavior issues, we utilize consultations with Certified Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT) and standardized behavioral evaluations developed by the ASPCA, CPDT Sue Sternberg, and other resources specifically designed for animal shelters. However, not all the animals that arrive here can safely be adopted. Our number one priority is public safety, and placing a potentially dangerous animal up for adoption and allowing it to go into a family home is not what we consider responsible. Furthermore, the number of friendly pets awaiting homes is an ethical consideration as well. Pushing for the adoption of a potentially dangerous pet while a friendly pet continues to wait garners concern.
Pets may be submitted to limited admission or breed-specific rescue groups. These rescue groups might have a knowledgeable trainer, more available foster homes, more demand for adoption, or more financial resources to address medical and behavioral issues. We work with over 60 rescue groups at the time of this writing, all of which identify as “no-kill.”
“No-kill” shelters are usually defined by having a “live release rate” of greater than 90%; however, most reserve the right to deny entry to pets they feel they do not have the resources to place in a home or transfer to another humane society. As a result, another accurate way to describe this animal management strategy is limited admission. When a “no-kill” animal shelter fills to capacity, they have the option of refusing entry. Some maintain waiting lists, request behavioral evaluations before accepting a pet, and/or require expensive relinquishment fees. Many require surrender appointments that can last up to several hours while pets are evaluated, and if a behavior is deemed manageable in their current home, they may send the pet back with the person who tried to relinquish them to begin with. Certainly not all of them have these obstacles to relinquishment, but many do.
While those who are able to relinquish their pet have the comfort of knowing that their pet will not likely be euthanized while in the custody of a "no-kill" shelter, they may have to wait longer or pay more than they anticipated or are able to do. In the interim the pet(s) might reproduce, increasing the number of homeless pets in need of a home. Furthermore, if the pet in question has an aggression problem, a person or another animal may be injured during a rehabilitation attempt.
A criticism of this limited admission model is that animal shelters/rescues/humane societies are required to report “dispositions” (the final outcome for an animal) to VDACS but they are not required to report how many pets were denied entry. By refusing admission of pets that may be euthanized due to health, behavior, or both, “no kill” shelters are able to control their disposition percentages with little accountability for what may happen to a pet after its denial. As a result, a shelter may be able to announce that they have a 95% adoption rate, but it may be for only 200 animals that they admitted throughout the year.
Open admission shelters, on the other hand, may take in as many as 2,000 or more animals per year. In 2017, the R-H SPCA admitted 2,479 pets. While thousands continue to arrive, every year fewer pets have been brought to us. In 2004 for example, we accepted 4,691 pets. In the last decade, awareness and education have improved, many more rescue groups have been established, and aggressive efforts to spay and neuter, particularly dogs, have contributed to the steady decline of homeless pets.
While there are definitely viable roles for both strategies, what many jurisdictions have concluded is that there needs to be at least one open admission animal shelter available to citizens whose pets are denied by limited admission shelters or for whom a long waiting list simply isn’t an option in time-sensitive situations such as divorce, military deployment, family upheavals, or sudden change in health or lifestyle.
The R-H SPCA has many limited admission allies, over 60 at the time this was written. Many rescues are breed-specific and we are able to transfer purebred or nearly purebred animals to the people who are most familiar with the needs of a particular breed. Others may want specifically very young pets or special needs pets, and we’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with these rescue groups. Not only are we assured that they will almost guarantee them a home (barring a sudden turn in health or behavior), their generosity also opens up cages here for more incoming pets. However, we also believe that someone somewhere needs to step up to the plate if euthanasia is the best, most compassionate option for a pet.
Open admission animal shelters accept all pets that arrive at their doors, regardless of age, health, color, breed, temperament, “adoptability,” available resources, or the ability of the finder or owner to pay for their stay. The R-H SPCA is an open admission animal shelter accessible to all pets found within the boundaries of Rockingham County and Harrisonburg City. Each county in VA is required to have an animal shelter to serve their locality, so pets from out of area are required to go to the appropriate facility.
As a result, not all the animals that arrive here are behaviorally sound or the picture of health. While we use the resources we have available, including very generous local veterinarians, grants, and established medical protocols for common health issues, some pets are beyond what we can reasonably address.
For behavior issues, we utilize consultations with Certified Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT) and standardized behavioral evaluations developed by the ASPCA, CPDT Sue Sternberg, and other resources specifically designed for animal shelters. However, not all the animals that arrive here can safely be adopted. Our number one priority is public safety, and placing a potentially dangerous animal up for adoption and allowing it to go into a family home is not what we consider responsible. Furthermore, the number of friendly pets awaiting homes is an ethical consideration as well. Pushing for the adoption of a potentially dangerous pet while a friendly pet continues to wait garners concern.
Pets may be submitted to limited admission or breed-specific rescue groups. These rescue groups might have a knowledgeable trainer, more available foster homes, more demand for adoption, or more financial resources to address medical and behavioral issues. We work with over 60 rescue groups at the time of this writing, all of which identify as “no-kill.”
“No-kill” shelters are usually defined by having a “live release rate” of greater than 90%; however, most reserve the right to deny entry to pets they feel they do not have the resources to place in a home or transfer to another humane society. As a result, another accurate way to describe this animal management strategy is limited admission. When a “no-kill” animal shelter fills to capacity, they have the option of refusing entry. Some maintain waiting lists, request behavioral evaluations before accepting a pet, and/or require expensive relinquishment fees. Many require surrender appointments that can last up to several hours while pets are evaluated, and if a behavior is deemed manageable in their current home, they may send the pet back with the person who tried to relinquish them to begin with. Certainly not all of them have these obstacles to relinquishment, but many do.
While those who are able to relinquish their pet have the comfort of knowing that their pet will not likely be euthanized while in the custody of a "no-kill" shelter, they may have to wait longer or pay more than they anticipated or are able to do. In the interim the pet(s) might reproduce, increasing the number of homeless pets in need of a home. Furthermore, if the pet in question has an aggression problem, a person or another animal may be injured during a rehabilitation attempt.
A criticism of this limited admission model is that animal shelters/rescues/humane societies are required to report “dispositions” (the final outcome for an animal) to VDACS but they are not required to report how many pets were denied entry. By refusing admission of pets that may be euthanized due to health, behavior, or both, “no kill” shelters are able to control their disposition percentages with little accountability for what may happen to a pet after its denial. As a result, a shelter may be able to announce that they have a 95% adoption rate, but it may be for only 200 animals that they admitted throughout the year.
Open admission shelters, on the other hand, may take in as many as 2,000 or more animals per year. In 2017, the R-H SPCA admitted 2,479 pets. While thousands continue to arrive, every year fewer pets have been brought to us. In 2004 for example, we accepted 4,691 pets. In the last decade, awareness and education have improved, many more rescue groups have been established, and aggressive efforts to spay and neuter, particularly dogs, have contributed to the steady decline of homeless pets.
While there are definitely viable roles for both strategies, what many jurisdictions have concluded is that there needs to be at least one open admission animal shelter available to citizens whose pets are denied by limited admission shelters or for whom a long waiting list simply isn’t an option in time-sensitive situations such as divorce, military deployment, family upheavals, or sudden change in health or lifestyle.
The R-H SPCA has many limited admission allies, over 60 at the time this was written. Many rescues are breed-specific and we are able to transfer purebred or nearly purebred animals to the people who are most familiar with the needs of a particular breed. Others may want specifically very young pets or special needs pets, and we’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with these rescue groups. Not only are we assured that they will almost guarantee them a home (barring a sudden turn in health or behavior), their generosity also opens up cages here for more incoming pets. However, we also believe that someone somewhere needs to step up to the plate if euthanasia is the best, most compassionate option for a pet.