Animal Welfare League of Alexandria

Animal Welfare League of Alexandria Inspiring compassion for all and providing shelter to animals in need since 1946. Offenders may be banned or posts may be blocked from the AWLA page.

The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria is an independent, local, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Operating the Vola Lawson Animal Shelter, an open-admission facility and Alexandria’s only animal shelter, the League touches the lives of more than 6000 animals every year, including strays, lost pets, local wildlife, rescue animals, and animals surrendered by their owners. The AWLA is committed t

o addressing animal homelessness, promoting animal welfare, and serving as an educational resource for the community. More information is at www.AlexandriaAnimals.org

DAILY ADOPTION HOURS: We open daily (except Wednesday) at noon for animal adoptions.
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Guidelines for Use of This page

Thank you so much for your interest in and support of the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria! We’re so excited to share the stories of Alexandria’s animals, as well as our staff, volunteers and community. Commenting Policy:

AWLA reserves the right to delete all comments that contain

• Offensive language;
• Personal attacks;
• Inappropriate comments or posts about race, nationality, gender, orientation or religion;
• Spam or certain links to other sites, including content of a sales-oriented nature.

06/12/2026

It’s time to announce our second week Calendar Pet Photo Contest vote challenge winners! 🎉Twenty-two entries qualified for the new entry challenge drawing, and 50 entries qualified for the bonus vote challenge drawing.

Drumroll, 🥁 please …. the winners of the new entry challenge are: Moose (200 votes), Chandra (200 votes) and Starr (250 votes)!

The winners of the weekly bonus vote challenge are: Wynn (250 votes), Ripley (250 votes), and Bella the Cat (350 votes)!

Congrats, winners! 🤩

Another vote challenge will be announced next week, and it’s not too late to submit a new entry. Remember to keep sharing your pet’s entry with friends and family.

The winner of the contest on June 30 will be “Alexandria’s 2027 Animal of the Year” and grace our calendar cover, as well as buses in the DMV! How cool, right?! All proceeds from the contest benefit the AWLA. Thanks to your support, we’re more than halfway to our fundraising goal!

Adoptable Vinny Jones wants to remind you about the 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 *𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀* 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 before it's too late to...
06/12/2026

Adoptable Vinny Jones wants to remind you about the 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 *𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀* 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 before it's too late to participate! They both end today (Friday, June 12) at 10 AM.

🐾 New Entry Challenge: All new contest entries until today at 10 AM will be entered into a drawing to win 200+ bonus votes.
🐾 Weekly Challenge: Any entry that receives ANY NUMBER OF VOTES before today at 10 AM will be entered into a drawing to win 250+ bonus votes.

Three winners will be drawn for each challenge and posted this afternoon.

Find more info on the Calendar Contest, enter, and vote for your favorites at AlexandriaAnimals.org/Calendar!

It's National Adopt a Cat Month, and we're celebrating with a special cats-only adoption event this weekend!🐾🐈All cats 6...
06/11/2026

It's National Adopt a Cat Month, and we're celebrating with a special cats-only adoption event this weekend!🐾🐈

All cats 6 months and older have waived adoption fees Friday, June 12, through Sunday, June 14.

⏰Adoption hours are Friday noon-7 PM and Saturday/Sunday from noon-5 PM.
📍4101 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, VA
📲 See all our available animals at AlexandriaAnimals.org/Adopt
🐶 Some cats are in a foster home. Send us an email at [email protected] to set up a meet.
🥺Can't adopt? Consider fostering! Learn more at AlexandriaAnimals.org/Foster

These events are made possible thanks to our Adopt-It-Forward program. If you're interested in sponsoring an animal's adoption fee, learn more at AlexandriaAnimals.org/Adopt-It-Forward.

Kevin Sanders Sentenced in Animal Cruelty Case Involving Dog Death and Abuse at Your Dog's Best FriendsOn Thursday, June...
06/11/2026

Kevin Sanders Sentenced in Animal Cruelty Case Involving Dog Death and Abuse at Your Dog's Best Friends

On Thursday, June 11, Kevin Sanders was sentenced to five years in prison on the Class 6 felony animal cruelty conviction, with three years suspended, and 12 months on each Class 1 misdemeanor conviction, with all misdemeanor time suspended. The suspended sentence is conditioned on two years of supervised probation, two years of good behavior, completion of a cognitive behavioral evaluation and any recommended treatment, completion of anger management, and restrictions prohibiting animal ownership and employment involving animals. The defendant is also prohibited from contacting the victims in the case.

The court ordered the defendant to report to serve his two-year prison sentence on June 25.

In February, Sanders pled guilty to a felony charge related to the death of a dog named Abigail while he was employed at Your Dog’s Best Friends animal boarding and grooming facility, located at 2000 Richmond Highway in Alexandria. In addition, the judge ruled Sanders guilty of four Class 1 misdemeanor charges for abuse involving other dogs at the facility – where he remained an employee after Abigail’s death – based on seized video evidence.

Read our full release: https://bit.ly/SandersCase

It's time for the SECOND VOTE CHALLENGE ANNOUNCEMENT! 🚨 We’re launching a 24-hour bonus vote challenge starting right no...
06/11/2026

It's time for the SECOND VOTE CHALLENGE ANNOUNCEMENT! 🚨 We’re launching a 24-hour bonus vote challenge starting right now!

Any entry (can be new entries, too) that receives 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗡𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗩𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗦 between 10 AM today (Thursday, June 11) and 10 AM on Friday, June 12 EST will be entered into a drawing for bonus votes.

We will draw 3 winners. Two contest entrants will receive 250 bonus votes, and one will receive 350 bonus votes! We will draw the winners on Friday, June 12 (afternoon) and announce them on Instagram and Facebook.

Thank you again for supporting the AWLA! Remember to encourage your friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers to vote for your pet to be Alexandria’s Animal of the Year. All proceeds raised from the contest benefit the AWLA and our mission to help pets and people, so vote, vote, vote.

Here's a link to the contest, but we encourage sharing your pet's personal entry link (found on their entry page) to drum up votes.

💫AlexandriaAnimals.org/Calendar💫

Do you recognize these found animals? 👀 Take a look and let us know!If you have access to neighborhood groups or website...
06/10/2026

Do you recognize these found animals? 👀 Take a look and let us know!

If you have access to neighborhood groups or websites like NextDoor, please share their photos and info there to help us find their family.

▪️"Squid" - Domestic short hair cat (201 Cambridge Rd., 22314)
▪️"Crumbles" - Domestic short hair cat (3101 Richmond Hwy., 22305)
▪️"Potato" - Domestic short hair cat (5340 Holmes Run Parkway, 22304)
▪️"Soup" - Domestic short hair cat (5340 Holmes Run Parkway, 22304)
▪️"Tomato" - Domestic short hair cat (5340 Holmes Run Parkway, 22304)
▪️"Garfield" - Domestic short hair cat (766 N. Howard St., 22304)
▪️"Mocha" - Mixed breed dog (5404 Richenbacher Ave., 22304)

If you have information about any of these animals or if one is your lost pet, please email [email protected] or call 703-746-4774. You will need to provide proof of ownership when claiming a lost pet.

FIRST OF TWO VOTE CHALLENGES THIS WEEK! 🚨 Haven't had a chance to enter your pet's photo into our Calendar Pet Photo Con...
06/10/2026

FIRST OF TWO VOTE CHALLENGES THIS WEEK! 🚨 Haven't had a chance to enter your pet's photo into our Calendar Pet Photo Contest? Now is the time! There are bonus votes on the line ...

Starting now until Friday, June 12 at 10 AM (EST), 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 will be entered into a drawing to win 200+ bonus votes to help them on their way to becoming "Alexandria's 2027 Animal of the Year."

On Friday, we'll draw three winners from the pool of new contest entries. Two winners will receive 200 bonus votes, and one big winner will receive 250 votes!

The contest is open to everyone -- you don't have to live in Alexandria or have adopted your pet from the AWLA. Every pet entered into the contest will be in the calendar, so every animal can fulfill their dream of being a calendar model!

Enter your pet into the contest 👉 AlexandriaAnimals.org/Calendar

P.S. The challenge for current contest entrants will kick off tomorrow at 10 AM!

We are going to have 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 for our Calendar Pet Photo Contest this week. Are you ready to score some...
06/09/2026

We are going to have 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 for our Calendar Pet Photo Contest this week. Are you ready to score some bonus votes to help your pet take home the grand prizes, like having their cute face on DC metro bus ads?!

Tomorrow morning (June 10), around 10 AM we will announce the first bonus vote challenge! The second challenge will be announced on Thursday (June 11) around 10 AM. Keep an eye on our social media accounts and your email for details on how you can get your pet closer to being “Alexandria’s 2027 Animal of the Year" and gracing the cover of our 2027 calendar!

Stay tuned …

Do you have questions about your cat or dog's behavior? 🐶🐈 Well, we have answers (and solutions)!Listen to tips and tric...
06/09/2026

Do you have questions about your cat or dog's behavior? 🐶🐈 Well, we have answers (and solutions)!

Listen to tips and tricks with Behavior & Training Manager Joe Miench, CPDT-KA, ABCDT, at the Kate Waller Barrett Branch Alexandria Library this Saturday, June 13 from 2 - 3:30 p.m.

The AWLA uses and teaches only positive reinforcement (relationship-based) training, not punishment or "balanced" training. We encourage animal lovers in our community to seek out positive reinforcement trainers for their own animals, too. If you're interested in what that means, we encourage you to RSVP for this free presentation with a Q&A at the end.

👉Register here: https://alexlibraryva.org/event/15897481

Address

4101 Eisenhower Avenue
Alexandria, VA
22304

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 7pm
Tuesday 9am - 7pm
Thursday 9am - 7pm
Friday 9am - 7pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

Telephone

+17037464774

Website

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