HSFC  -  1968-2008:  "40 Years of Protecting Animals"

Established in 1968, the Humane Society of Fairfax County, Inc. was formed by concerned citizens as a non-profit organization to rescue and protect animals both domestic and wild from abuse, neglect, abandonment, and cruelty.

As a young organization, with a handful of volunteers, money was tight and animals in need were plentiful.  The dedicated group of volunteers held bake sales, yard sales, and distributed donation cans throughout the county, in an effort to pay for the ever increasing expenses needed to provide for the animals in our care.

Over the years, things have changed tremendously.  The handful of volunteers has grown to over 100 dedicated individuals who give much of their time to help whenever and wherever needed.  Whether it be educating the public about animal care, alerting the community about the horrors of the fur industry and hunting, providing information on state and county laws, foster parenting for our animals awaiting adoption, working at our thrift shops, handling the hundreds of calls and e-mails we receive weekly, participating in one of the many programs we offer to the public, helping to adopt the multitude of different animals into loving homes, spending hours at our booths at local fairs, coordinating with rural shelters, who have high euthanasia rates, by transferring pets to our facilities to ensure they will find forever homes with loving families, or helping to rehabilitate wild animals for future release...we continue to expand our horizons, and each day, strive to add new ideas to our long list of services to the community.

The bake sales and yard sales eventually gave way to two thrift shops – one located in the City of Fairfax, Second Chance I and one in Falls Church, Second Chance 2.  Our storefront location is still operated by tireless volunteers, many of whom have been with us since its inception, and our sales are derived from the clothing and household items donated by the public. 

In December 1994, a very generous and caring individual donated two office buildings in the City of Fairfax to the HSFC.  The larger building houses our administrative offices which enables us to help the public with their animal concerns in a more timely and efficient manner.  Additionally, the building houses our cat and small mammal adoption center.  Here the animals are not kept in cages, but have their own deluxe rooms which allow the animals a real chance to show off for prospective adopters.  We have chosen to currently rent out the smaller building to generate additional income to cover the expenses to help the animals in our care.

In July 2002, our dream of owning our own farm finally came true.  We purchased a 13-acre farm in Centreville that houses our horses, dogs and other animals needing our assistance.  After numerous renovations and updates, a caretaker has moved onto the property and we are currently housing our horses and some of our dogs at the property.  In addition, we recently constructed a state-of-the-art dog kennel and hope to have our grand opening in the fall of 2008. 

We have tried to inform the public that all animals, regardless of species, feel pain, suffer, and need and deserve humane care and treatment.  And no matter how controversial the subject, we will not exclude any living creature from our efforts.  We take great pride in knowing you can depend on us to defend the rights of all animals, and we are also proud to say we are not  just a "cat and dog" group.

In addition, several major legislative issues have been enacted because of our dedication to animal causes.  We are responsible for better anti-cruelty laws, the enforcement of veterinarian attendance at horse shows, animals in shelters humanely euthanized instead of being sold to research labs, the requirement that baby ducks and chicks be sold in lots of 6 to preclude impulse buying at Easter time.  Rodeos and their cruel tactics have been literally run out of town, pet store standards have been established to protect the consumer and guarantee humane care for "puppy mill" puppies, the enforcement of cats considered as companion animals and therefore receiving the same protection as dogs, numerous stores clearing their shelves of cruel glue traps, bone-crushing leg-hold traps, and cosmetics manufactured by companies using animals in needless research.  We have also spayed and neutered thousands of animals in an effort to stem the pet overpopulation problems, successfully prosecuted hundreds of cruelty and neglect cases, and sponsored tattoo and rabies clinics.  Whenever or wherever an animal's welfare is at stake, you can count on a representative of the Humane Society of Fairfax County to be there to voice our opinion and to speak for the animals.

Many of our goals have been reached and we are proud of our accomplishments.  But, there is still so much to do.  With this year marking our 40th anniversary, we dedicate ourselves to another 40 years or until all of our goals are reached.