PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

The Washington Humane Society (WHS) protects animals and serves the Washington, DC community through a wide variety of programs. While the heart of our mission remains rescuing animals in trouble and finding them good, permanent homes, we also focus on preventing suffering through education, spay/neuter campaigns and diligently enforcing the District's anti-cruelty laws.

WHS, the only Congressionally-chartered animal welfare agency in the United States, has been the leading voice for animals in the District of Columbia since 1870. As the only open-access shelter in the nation’s capital, no call for help goes unanswered, and no animal is ever turned away. The Washington Humane Society provides comfort and care to more than 20,000 animals each year through its broad range of programs and services including:

Humane Law Enforcement

• WHS enforces all of the District's animal laws: anti-cruelty statutes under an 1870 Congressional charter, and animal control laws under a contract with the DC government.
• WHS investigates every report of mistreatment of animals, taking appropriate action which may include any of the following: impoundment to protect an animal's health and safety, owner education, arrest and prosecution, inspections to ensure compliance with the law and assistance with spay/neuter or veterinary care.

Sheltering

• WHS operates a private shelter on 7319 Georgia Avenue, as well as the DC Shelter (under contract by the Department of Health) on 1201 New York Avenue. Both shelters maintain an open admission policy– no animal is ever turned away for any reason!
• WHS is proud to maintain the highest animal care standards for medical protocols, cleanliness and comfort of the animals in our care. This, in turn, helps placement efforts as a happy and healthy animal is a better candidate for adoption.
• As the largest animal protection agency in the District, WHS shelters stray, mistreated, and abandoned animals, reunites people with lost companion animals, places animals in responsible homes, rescues sick and injured domestic and wild animals, offers low-cost spay and neuter services, as well as weekly low-cost vaccination clinics for cats and dogs, and transports wild animals to licensed rehabilitators.

Adoptions

• At any given time, WHS has approximately 60-70 animals available for adoption.
• WHS works with a corps of 350 volunteers to promote and facilitate successful adoptions.
• WHS has a broad network of foster homes and relationships with rescue groups who help place animals.
• WHS's adoption-focused web site receives over 50 thousand visits a month.
• Sophie's Fund enables us to provide medical attention for animals in our care, so they are able to get the second chance in life they deserve.
• Shelter In-House Training (SIT) Program teaches dogs the necessary skills such as sit, stay, come that will help them succeed in their new "forever" homes
  

Meet Your Match™

You could be gazing at the animal of your dreams, but you just can’t tell what she’s thinking behind that furry face. What if you knew a little something about her personality and habits before you moved in together? The ASPCA’s Meet Your Match™ program wouldn’t let you go home without knowing who’s in that carrier or on that leash. MYM is the only method in existence today that evaluates an animal’s behavior and interests and matches them to an adopter’s preferences so that you take home a pet you can really click with.

Foster Care

• In order for WHS to succeed with its 5 year Good Home Guarantee Plan, promising every adoptable animal entering its 2 open-access shelters a home, we have greatly expanded our foster home network.
• As the only open admission shelters in Washington, DC, WHS takes in on average 30 animals a day. WHS’s Foster Program works around the clock to provide comfort to all of the animals in our care. Each time an animal is taken out of our shelter and into a home to be fostered, it provides us the more space for another animal that needs our special care and attention.
• For more information on becoming a dog or cat foster parent for WHS, please contact Kate Zapf at 202-541-6358 or kzapf@washhumane.org

Spay/Neuter

• In fall 2007 the Washington Humane Society, along with founding partner Alley Cat Allies unveiled the first ever low-cost Regional Spay/Neuter Center, created specifically to service the entire DC metropolitan area. The new facility is named the National Capital Area Spay & Neuter Center. The National Capital Area Spay & Neuter Center is located on 1001 L Street on Capitol Hill in Southeast Washington, DC.
• The Center addresses the desperate need for low-cost spay/neuter of domestic animals in our region with a goal of providing sterilization surgery on up to 75 animals every day, five days a week. The volume of animals will come from the Washington Humane Society Animal Shelter, the DC Animal Shelter (operated by the Washington Humane Society), as well as many other participating shelters, rescue groups and animal control agencies from around the region.
• Because the drastic pet overpopulation problem is the root cause of animal abandonment, neglect, and suffering, WHS makes every effort to ensure that as many dogs and cats as possible are spayed and neutered. The WHS National Capital Area Spay & Neuter Center – the only one in DC, serves animals being adopted, returned to owners, and animals belonging to members of the public. Special days at the Center are devoted to sterilizing feral cats for free. For more information on this vital service, visit the Spay/Neuter Center page.
  
  Map to Spay/Neuter Center
  

CatNiPP (Cat Neighborhood Partnership Program)

• CatNiPP is designed to address the challenge faced by property owners surrounding the presence of stray and feral cats, all while treating the cats in a humane and ethical manner. Stray and feral cats are the product of human mistreatment – owned cats are too often abandoned and those that are not neutered produce litters of untamable kittens. Unaddressed, the process continues and seems unstoppable.
• Through CatNiPP, the Washington Humane Society endorses a management method called Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR). TNR works because it addresses the root of the problem – the breeding. In TNR the cats are humanely trapped, brought to our spay/neuter clinic where they are neutered, vaccinated and generally examined. They are also "eartipped" (a portion of their ear is cut) to signal that they have been treated by a veterinarian. After treatment the cats are then returned to their outdoor home – to live out their days in a managed colony. They no longer reproduce and their nuisance behaviors, like fighting, spraying and yowling are dramatically reduced.
• In keeping with the goal of reducing the number of unwanted animals entering our shelters, WHS has opened its National Capital Area Spay & Neuter Center the second Sunday of every month for a full day of feral cat sterilization surgeries. It is understood that all cats that participate in the clinic are true feral animals, and are not tame, nor adoptable cats. Tame and adoptable stray cats should make an appointment for sterilization during normal business hours.

Washington Humane Society Behavior & Learning Center

• The new WHS training facility located on 7315 Georgia Avenue, NW offers competitively priced private and group lessons. The WHS Behavior & Learning department also utilizes the new training facility to work with adoptable dogs and cats in the WHS shelters and train WHS volunteers and staff on the philosophies of animal learning.
• Group training classes, and private lessons for dogs and cats owned by private citizens are open to the public and provide education and training in subjects such as socialization, preparedness, general manners, specific obedience, general cat and dog care, and even a leash aggression class.

Legislative Affairs

• The Washington Humane Society was chartered by Congress in 1870 to enforce the animal cruelty laws of the District of Columbia. We work with City Council to pass laws which help provide better protection for the animals of Washington, DC.

• WHS's program serves schools in areas with a high incidence of animal abuse, making multiple visits to classrooms every year. Building this rapport with students and teachers has proven essential in creating an atmosphere of trust and compassion for animals.
• WHS's award-winning SPEAK Program introduces children to loving family dogs and allows them to form a bond. Many of the school children have only known fighting pit bulls and guard dogs.
• WHS's Junior Humane Officer Program builds self-esteem as children gain confidence in their ability to make a difference in an animal's life by reporting suspected abuse.
• For more information, contact Humane Education Program Manager, Shakela Brown, 202-723-5730 (ext. 133), sbrown@washhumane.org

Safe Haven

• WHS has long been at the forefront of educating the public and social service workers about the link between animal abuse and domestic violence.
• The Safe Haven Program cares for pets during an interim period when their owners make the courageous decision to leave an abuser.

Human – Animal Rehabilitation

• WHS and N Street Village, a nonprofit social service agency for homeless women, have established a new unique program, benefiting both homeless women and homeless animals. The women from N Street Village volunteer weekly in the WHS shelter in an internship program with specific goals in mind, helping to care for, rehabilitate, socialize and train the animals, while gaining on-the-job experience. This program was recognized by the Dalai Lama, during his October 2007 visit to the nation’s capital to accept the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal. To hear remarks by the Dalai Lama on this program, visit the "In the News" page.
• WHS's DOG TAGS Program prepares wounded Soldiers, recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, for a future career in the animal behavior industry through a 3 tier certificate level training curriculum. The Soldiers come twice a week to our Behavior & Learning Center and learn skills that enable them to pursue either a hobby or a career working with animals, all-the-while, providing training, enrichment, and companionship for the WHS cats and dogs that are awaiting adoption.
  This program gives WHS an opportunity to give back to the injured men and women of the Armed Forces while creating healing relationships that benefit both humans and animals.

$35 Microchipping

• The public is welcome to visit either of our two shelters or our National Capital Area Spay & Neuter Center for this quick and painless $35 procedure to safeguard your pet
• No appointment is necessary. Click here for hours of operation and locations
• No limit on the number of animals
• Cats must be in a carrier & dogs on a leash
  

For information on supporting specific programs, our endowment, or designating your gift to a special fund, click here.