News Flash

Aug. 27, 2019 - The Peninsula Regional Animal Shelter has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Petco Foundation in support of its efforts to expand and enhance the shelter’s animal foster care program for Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson and York County.

The Petco Foundation investment will help the shelter build a comprehensive network of trained foster volunteers for animals that need extra care, support and attention before being able to be adopted. The lifesaving work foster pet parents do includes raising un-weaned kittens (bottle babies) and juvenile kittens until they have reached an appropriate age and weight for spaying/neutering and adoption. Fosters also help with socializing dogs and cats and assisting in supportive care of animals with special needs who require additional attention beyond the shelter’s capability.

“We are thrilled that the Petco Foundation has once again chosen to invest in the Peninsula Regional Animal Shelter,” said Shelter Manager Roger Iles. “Foster pet parents are a lifeline for the shelter in situations where we don’t have the resources to appropriately care for animals due to special behavioral or medical needs or limited space. We currently have about 90 fosters active with the shelter, but we need 1,000. This grant will allow us to expand that program and help save more lives.”

Earlier this year, Petco Foundation awarded the shelter a $50,000 grant that was used to purchase and brand an adoption bus in support of the shelter’s community outreach efforts and off-site adoptions.

The Peninsula Regional Animal Shelter is an open admission shelter serving the citizens of Hampton, Newport News, Poquoson and York County through education, adoption, outreach and animal care. Since its opening in 2015, over 9,000 animals have been adopted and nearly 2,500 have been place with other animal welfare organizations, and every year has there has been a reduction in the number of animals euthanized and an increase in the number of animals adopted.

For more information about the Peninsula Regional Animal Shelter visit www.PeninsulaAnimalShelter.com. For more on the Petco Foundation, visit www.petcofoundation.org and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by using the hashtag #PetcoFamily.