Animal Welfare League of Arlington

Care And Transform

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.

About the Animal Welfare League of

Arlington

Our Mission Improve the lives of animals.

Our Vision Create a world where all companion animals find compassionate and permanent homes.

Our ValuesCompassion: Providing nurturing animal care and community outreach

Progressiveness: Being on the leading edge of animal care through continual improvementOpenness: 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-

Giving OpportunitiesConstruction costs are estimated at $570,000. You can participate by choosing one of the following giving levels:

Entire Cat Room $50,000.00Cat Colonies $10,000.00Cat Suites $7,500.00Get Acquainted Rooms $10,000.00Cat Cages $3,000.00

Entire Kitten Room $30,000.00Cat Cages $3,000.00

Entire Cat Receiving Room $20,000.00Cat Cages $1,500.00

Entire Cat Holding Room $15,000.00Cat Cages $1,500.00

Cat Isolation Rooms $10,000.00Cat Cages $1,500.00

Small Companion Animal Room $30,000.00Cages $3,000.00

Large Plaque $5,000.00Small Plaque $2,500.00

Care And Transform Capital Campaign

CommitteeMark Treadaway, ChairJeanne BroyhillJoanne HannettDiane GreenleePat RaganDebra Rose

AWLA Board of DirectorsPat Ragan, ChairLisa Tudor, Vice ChairJack Hobbs, TreasurerPat Romano, SecretaryMark Treadaway, Past Chair

Board MembersKaren Albert • Jennifer Barnes • Jeanne Broyhill Alissa Curry • Diane Greenlee • Patti Mugavero Ron Novak • David Rose • Gary Sturm James R. Whittaker, Jr.

The Animals Need Your Help

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 • Ntrent@awla.org

Happier Cats = Healthier Cats = Quicker Adoptions = Ability to Serve More Cats

2650 S Arlington Mill Drive • Arlington, VA 22206(703) 931-9241 • http://www.awla.org

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.

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 oppor-tunities 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 hous-ing 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

Proposed Improvements to Cat Quarters 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 recommenda-tions. 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 sleep-ing, 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 as-sume 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 con-dos 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 ani-mal 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 hous-ing encountered in a shelter is arguably the single most important factor in determining the quality of an animal’s experience in that environment. Hous-ing 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 care-fully managed, cats can become withdrawn, aggres-sive, 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 clean-ing, but they are not sufficient to impact overall quality of life for our longer term feline residents.