Danville Deserves Better

10/24/2025

Check out this great article on the work Homeward Trails is doing to bring proven lifesaving programs to Danville. No one can do this work alone though, so if you have room in your homes, and hearts, sign up to be a foster for them now. Email [email protected] to learn more

Homeward Trails opened a physical location in Danville in June where it runs a pet pantry, local foster program and accepts owner surrenders.

09/22/2025

Last week Danville Deserves Better spoke to the City Council regarding the state of animal lifesaving in Danville. From Freedom of Information Act requests we discovered that of the 282 animals that were killed during Q1 of 2025—79 of them were puppies under 8 months old. Most of these puppies were adoptable and brought in by community members. Shockingly, 75% of adoptable puppies were killed during this 12-week period, despite available resources that could have saved them.

You might have been repeatedly told that adoptable pets like these puppies are not savable. That narrative has shaped the way people in this community think about what is possible. Fortunately, now Homeward Trails is proving otherwise. By using nationally recognized lifesaving programming, they are successfully saving the very same kinds of puppies that previously would not have been saved, without a building but in partnership with community members locally.

I would encourage every resident of Danville with room in their hearts, and homes to sign up to foster. And if you find a litter of puppies or kittens in need of help, they are standing by to assist. By avoiding entering the shelter all together, these animals will have a fighting chance, and the shelter can focus more on the animals they have.

08/26/2025

It’s National Dog Day! We wanted to take moment to celebrate one dogs transformation and how fostering saves lives!

Here is Betty Buttons, now Bessy’s story:

In the sweltering heat of July, a sick, stray Beagle with soulful eyes and a tail that never stopped wagging arrived at the Danville Area Humane Society. Her name, Betty Buttons, and like many pets at this high-intake Virginia shelter—where the live release rate is just 31%—she faced an uncertain future.
But fate had other plans.
Luckily for Betty, Homeward Trails Animal Rescue in Danville, a nonprofit working to save at-risk animals across the region, transferred Betty into their program so she could get the medical attention she desperately needed and thanks to the loving care of a local Danville foster, she had a temporary place to stay .
Betty was quickly diagnosed with pneumonia, and her teeth showed damage, likely caused by chewing rocks—a heartbreaking behavior common in neglected dogs kept tied up or outdoors.
After a week of healing in her Danville foster home, Betty traveled north to continue her recovery with a Homeward Trails foster in Northern Virginia. There, she truly blossomed. Between vet visits and naps, she found joy in life’s simplest pleasures—like rotating from one dog bed to another, watching TV (tail wagging, of course), and snoring her way through the afternoons. She even took to kayaking like a natural, perched in her life jacket and soaking in the scenery like a seasoned adventurer.
But Betty’s biggest adventure was yet to come.
Beverly, a kind-hearted Beagle lover, saw Betty’s profile on the Homeward Trails website.
Today, Betty Buttons, now “Bessy”, is thriving in her new home. She’s healthy, adored, and finally living the life every dog deserves—with walks, cuddles, and as many soft beds as she wants.
While Bessy’s transformation is nothing short of inspiring, her story also shines a light on the urgent need for community support in Danville, where the city shelter’s lifesaving outcomes remains far below the state’s average lifesaving rate of 83%.

As Virginia marks National Dog Day on August 26, her story is a powerful reminder of how rescue, fostering, and local involvement can change lives. By fostering or supporting groups like Homeward Trails, Danville residents can help more pets like Bessy get the second chance they deserve.

📣 Danville friends: Want to help more dogs like Bessy?
✅ Support local rescue
✅ Sign up to foster—even short-term fosters can mean the difference between life and death.
➡️ Get started: homewardtrails.org/Danville

08/13/2025

Great article on what Homeward Trails is doing in Danville! Community problems need community solutions, so if you have room in your home and heart to help save lives, please consider fostering and volunteering with Homeward Trails!

The statistically high euthanasia rate of the Danville Area Humane Society is one reason Homeward Trails set up shop in the area in June.

08/08/2025

Today we saw this letter from a Maryland shelter updating rescue partners on their progress. Increased lifesaving at shelters is possible if you are willing to stop listing the reasons you can’t, and start asking why not. Engaging the community and collaborating with every partner willing to help is crucial. See below about how one organization was able to reverse the trend!

08/07/2025

Return to Owner (RTO) is crucial for shelters and rescues dealing with lost pets. There are some amazing tools being utilized all across the country

08/05/2025

When a shelter is in a crises, the community will respond. It just takes radical transparency and trust on both sides. Shelters, rescues and the public working together leads to more lives saved!

07/31/2025

All of us at Danville Deserves Better and Best Friends Animal Society were shocked and horrified by the attack on Councilman Vogler. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family and we wish him a speedy and full recovery

07/28/2025

Danville Deserves Better is thrilled to see Homeward Trails Animal Rescue open up a branch in Danville in order to address the high euthanasia rates at DAHS. From the beginning of our campaign, we have said that community problems require community solutions and Homeward Trails has an impeccable background on delivering these solutions all across the Commonwealth.

Starting a program like this is never easy, and they will need all the help they can get from the amazing animal advocates in Danville that we have met over the past year. The most important need they will have is for foster families. Fostering is one of the best ways to help overcrowding in shelters and it is great for the health and wellbeing of the animal. If you have room in your heart and home, please email [email protected] for more information!

Danville Deserves Better is not going away anytime soon. We will continue to be active in the community, amplifying voices and advocating for systemic and sustainable lifesaving changes for the animals of Danville.

Stay tuned to our page, and the local Danville Community Conversations page for future announcements. And for more information on Homeward Trails and their work in Danville, please check out their new landing page!

Danville, Virginia

07/24/2025

07/16/2025

Reminder that the pantry will be open from 2-4pm today!

07/09/2025

The pet pantry will be open today from 2-4pm!