Prince William SPCA

 

Woodbridge, VA ~ February 6, 2008 

BristowEnews.com spoke to Melissa Korzuch, President of PWSPCA, a non-profit organization based in Woodbridge, Virginia. According to Melissa, the PWSPCA primary mission is to promote the prevention of animal cruelty, lower the pet population through spay/neuter, and find suitable homes for lost and strayed animals. PWSPCA has partnered with the Prince William County Animal Shelter and the city of Manassas Animal shelter to address some of these issues. PWSPCA is an all-volunteer organization and is dedicated to protecting domestic animals from cruelty, neglect, abandonment, and controlling the overpopulation of companion animals through spaying and neutering.

 

This non-profit organization was founded in 2004 and is currently administered by twelve active board members who regularly meet every month in addition to about fifty volunteers who oversee day-to-day operations. Prospective volunteers who are interested in helping out are encouraged to visit their website, download the necessary forms, and sign the document. A volunteer coordinator from PWSPCA will contact the prospective applicant. The only stipulation for prospective volunteers is the time and the commitment. Since the PWSPCA purely runs on volunteer basis, the prospective applicant is encouraged to follow-through with the commitment.

 

The PWSPCA also provides telephone hotline, email services, and a web site to local community residents as it relates to pet adoption questions, spaying/neutering, and other animal related questions. Melissa pointed out that PWSPCA does not pick up strayed or homeless animals, but can assist the citizen in contacting the local authorities such as the Prince William, Manassas or Manassas City Animal Control. The PWSPCA often acts as the “intermediary” between the public and local authorities. The PWSPCA gets a lot of referrals and inquiries and the volume of calls has been growing steadily over the past few years.  Most calls are from people who want to have their pets spayed or neutered.  Some of the unusual calls the PWSPCA has received in the past have been about exotic animals brought in the county such as the “Sugar Glider”, a rare squirrel animal found only in the Southern hemisphere such as Australia and New Guinea. Although this animal is legal in the state of Virginia, they are illegal in Prince William County.  The hotline also fields a lot of cruelty calls to local authorities primarily in the winter time due to poor weather conditions.

 

Another focus of the PWSPCA is to work with animal adoption and rescue organizations in getting the animals adopted as quickly as possible. Melissa noted abandoned animals are usually cared for at least seven days by the County and then they can be euthanized if they don’t find a home. The mission of PWSPCA is to find suitable homes and shelter for these animals ASAP.  The PWSPCA works with petfinder.com, an on-line, searchable database of animals that need homes. Petfinder.com lists the necessary animal information and increases the chances for pet adoption. PWSPCA has one major event a year, namely the Pet Adopt-A-Thon and Fall Festival in October.  The event showcases animals at the shelter and gives them opportunity to meet prospective pet owners.

 

In closing, the PWSPCA is looking for support with the formation of Animal Advisory Committee in the Prince William County. Melissa encourages local residents of Bristow, Gainesville, and Nokesville to contact Supervisors Covington or Stirrup and Chairman Corey Stewart in supporting this initiative.  Finally, the PWSPCA encourages local residents to adopt their pets and always spay or neuter all of their companion animals.

 

The PWSPCA information:

 

PWSPCA

P.O. Box 6631

Woodbridge, VA 22195

Hotline: 571-222-0033

Fax: 571-222-0033

Website

http://www.pwspca.org

Date Published: 2008-02-06 03:00:00

Section: Business,