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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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:

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We hosted our October Pets & People Community Wellness event at John Adams Elementary School! We had a fantastic turnout...
10/19/2025

We hosted our October Pets & People Community Wellness event at John Adams Elementary School! We had a fantastic turnout and administered 100+ vaccines yesterday! 💙

Participating dogs and cats received free vaccines, microchips, dewormer, preventions, pet supplies and more.

We want to give a huge shoutout to our volunteers, including the veterinarians who donated their time and expertise. They help make our free community events possible! Thank you to PetcoLove for supporting this clinic.

This was our last Pets & People event of 2025. The events will return in the spring!

Paws in the Park may have been cancelled, but you can't stop our swag (bags)! 😎 𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧'𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐫 ...
10/17/2025

Paws in the Park may have been cancelled, but you can't stop our swag (bags)! 😎

𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧'𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐠𝐠𝐲 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟔 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝟒 𝐩.𝐦. 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐬! We will be set up next to Penny Post.

The swag bags are filled with tons of great items from our Paws in the Park sponsors, including Alexandria Toyota, ALX Community, CityVet, CubeSmart Self Storage, Fur-Get Me Not, GEICO NOVA, Kingstowne Cat Clinic, MetLife Pet Insurance, PetMedic Alexandria, Royal Restaurant, US Senate Federal Credit Union, VEG ER for Pets, Happy Cat Hotel Alexandria and VCA Alexandria Animal Hospital (VCA Animal Hospitals)!

Thank you to The Dog Park and Old Town Business Association for letting us join in on the frightful fun! See you and all your costumed pups there!

10/16/2025

There are 3 days left to bid in the Paws in the Park silent auction! 🚨 And there are so many cool items and experiences up for grabs.

Find all the items here: https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/111705/auctions/185806?r=1&t=all

Take a peek at a few of the impressive curated package our volunteer team put together! We are so thankful for their hard work finding items for the auction and making the baskets look beautiful. 🤩

Can we raise $30K from the silent auction?! We’re so close to doubling what we raised last year. 🤞 Thank you for helping us get there!

⏰ Bidding ends Sunday, October 19 at 5 p.m.

Do you recognize any of this week's found animals? 👀 Take a look and let us know!If you have access to neighborhood grou...
10/15/2025

Do you recognize any of this week's 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.

▪️"Beavis" - Bearded dragon (6013 Grayson St., Springfield, 22150)
▪️"Susan" - Mixed breed dog (3314 Richmond Hwy., 22305)
▪️"Brownie" - Mixed breed dog (766 N. Howard St., 22304) *Brownie is receiving medical care.*
▪️"Sam" - Domestic short hair cat (1001 S. Washington St., 22314)
▪️"Smoke" - Domestic short hair cat (4513 Duke St., 22304)
▪️"Carissa" - Domestic short hair cat (766 N. Howard St., 22304)
▪️"Lucas" - Domestic short hair cat (unknown)
▪️"Joey" - Domestic short hair cat (2583 Nicky Lane, 22311)
▪️"Jack" - Domestic short hair cat (900 block of Portner Pl., 22314)

If you have information about these animals or they are 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.

🩵 It's Vet Tech Appreciation Week! 🩵 And we're pretty sure we have one of the absolute best! Stephanie's compassion, exp...
10/15/2025

🩵 It's Vet Tech Appreciation Week! 🩵 And we're pretty sure we have one of the absolute best!

Stephanie's compassion, expertise and dedication are on full display in everything she does. From comforting a nervous new arrival to facilitating hundreds of animal surgeries at the AWLA every year, she approaches every animal (and person) with patience and kindness.

Please join us in thanking Stephanie for the incredible care and compassion she brings to the AWLA and the Alexandria community every single day!

The 2026 AWLA calendar is here -- and we celebrated its arrival in style with our calendar contest participants, includi...
10/14/2025

The 2026 AWLA calendar is here -- and we celebrated its arrival in style with our calendar contest participants, including Alexandria's 2026 Animal of the Year Romeo and runners up Gigi the Wonderpup, Luna and Sherlock! 🐾🤩

Every calendar participant who raised $250 or more for the AWLA was invited to a Yappy Hour & Launch Party, sponsored by our friends at Alexandria Restaurant Partners.

We sincerely appreciate everyone who contributed to this year's successful calendar fundraiser, which raised more than $137,000 for the AWLA. A record!!

If you ordered calendars, we will be shipping them within the next few weeks.

📸: Fantastic photos courtesy of Happy Paws Photography.
🎨: Thank you to Alexandra Schmeling Fine Art for creating custom pet portraits at the event and donating all her proceeds to the AWLA!

We will open today at 11 a.m. for business (noon for adoptions) and close early at 5 p.m. in observance of Indigenous Pe...
10/13/2025

We will open today at 11 a.m. for business (noon for adoptions) and close early at 5 p.m. in observance of Indigenous Peoples' Day. We will reopen for normal business and adoption hours on Tuesday, October 14.

There's still plenty of time to stop by today and see our adoptables - like sweet Nova here. 🧡 Thanks to Beyer Subaru, her adoption fee is sponsored this month!

10/12/2025

Dear pet-loving community,

We are so sorry about Paws in the Park. We know you’re as devastated and disappointed as we are. 💔 This event has become so special to us and to our community. It’s something we all look forward to every year.

The reason we cancelled was due to the predicted high winds and flooding at Oronoco Bay Park. If you’ve been to the park, you know the wind is even worse down at the water. There were serious concerns from our logistical vendors about their equipment’s ability to withstand the elements and the safety risk it could pose to event attendees. And we were very certain the small vendor tents could go airborne easily. It was an extremely hard call, but it was done with safety for pets and people in mind.

I know we’ve had many people ask about rescheduling. Sadly, that’s just not in the cards. Reserving the park, the permitting process, and establishing contracts for logistical vendors, musical entertainment and more doesn’t lend itself to setting rain dates or arranging quick reschedules. We also know our vendors have other commitments already planned. There are just too many factors we have to get in place for an event of this magnitude.

We encourage you to check out our Paws in the Park website at www.PawsInTheParkVA.com to find our silent auction and links to all the vendors who signed up to attend. Please visit their websites and support local small businesses!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your understanding and empathy. This has been really rough on our team. We will see you soon!

🩵 Love, the AWLA team

We are devastated to announce that we’ve made the EXTREMELY hard decision to cancel Paws in the Park. 😭While we were pre...
10/10/2025

We are devastated to announce that we’ve made the EXTREMELY hard decision to cancel Paws in the Park. 😭

While we were prepared to hold the event in the rain, the predicted high winds and flooding in the park on Sunday can’t be ignored. Just our luck that a Nor'easter (first time in 46 years) decides this Sunday is the day to hit.

Beyond our own concerns surrounding safety for event attendees, volunteers, and staff, our logistical vendors (tents, A/V, and more) were also not comfortable setting up their equipment.

We are absolutely crushed that this has happened. We were looking forward to a day of fun and community with YOU – our animal-loving friends.

We have decided to extend the deadline to bid in the Paws in the Park Silent Auction until Sunday, October 19 at 5 p.m. We encourage you to take a look and participate. All funds raised from the auction will benefit the pets and people we serve. You can find it at https://pawsintheparkva.com/silent-auction

If you could, we’d sincerely appreciate you sharing this post.

We look forward to getting together with you all soon. 💔 Stay tuned and stay safe this weekend!

It's DAF day! ⭐ No, that does not stand for "Dats A Fluffbucket" (but maybe it should). It stands for a Donor Advised Fu...
10/09/2025

It's DAF day! ⭐ No, that does not stand for "Dats A Fluffbucket" (but maybe it should).

It stands for a Donor Advised Fund and is a tax-advantaged savings account for charity—like a 401k for your generosity goals. DAFs help you become more impactful, efficient and strategic with your donations. If you have funds in your Donor Advised Fund waiting to be invested in life-saving work, the AWLA can put those funds to use today! *BONUS* Set up a monthly donation to keep our critical work funded all year long!

For more info or to make a donation in 3 simple clicks visit https://alexandriaanimals.org/donor-advised-funds/.

P.S. Fluffy (pictured) is available for adoption. And we can confirm he's a majestic fluffbucket.

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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