Front Royal’s Animal Shelter looks back on successful year as Precious looks forward to finding a home

We visited the county Humane Society’s Julia Wagner Animal Shelter on Progress Drive a few days before New Year’s, principally to meet Precious, the shelter’s longest term resident. Precious has been at the shelter for two years, followed next by a white pit bull terrier named Neko, who just yesterday appeared to be getting lucky – a potential adopter was in the building! Neko had been waiting a year for his luck to change. We hope that it did.

Precious, above, and Neko below, hope the New Year rings in a chance at a forever home. Photos Courtesy Human Society of Warren County

Meanwhile, in her final “Shelter Tails” newsletter of the year, Humane Society of Warren County (HSWC) Executive Director Meghan Bowers listed many of the year’s successes, along with verbally worrying about a backlog of dogs being returned to the shelter as the Covid crisis becomes less virulent. Nationwide, thousands of dogs that provided comfort for Covid shut-ins apparently became dispensable as the crisis devolved. Many adopters in Warren County were among them. Bowers used the  word “horrible” in describing the situation this put her no-kill shelter in. With every one of its 35 dog pens now occupied, Bowers is forced to open a waiting list for those wanting to return their dogs, leaning heavily on volunteers who are providing  temporary homes for the returnees.

“It’s not a good situation, and I worry about it,” Bowers told us.

On the bright side as noted above, Bowers provided a “winter newsletter” providing highlights of the year past, and publicized local fundraising events for 2023, one of which, the fourth annual Polar Plunge, is scheduled just over a week away (January 7). For information, particularly if you’re up for a cold, cold dip in a local lake or sponsorship of someone else’s, call 540-635-4734. The event has raised some $10,000 in past years and launches several high-end fundraising events during upcoming months.

Maintaining the shelter’s no-kill status earned a “WOO HOO” from Bowers as she pointed to the November opening of the already popular thrift store in Front Royal, as well as the downtown spay/neuter clinic that over its first full year of operation completed more than 3,200 successful surgeries on dogs and cats.

She also gave a shout-out to Shear Elegance Pet Boutique that grooms all shelter pets that are in need of a little clean up. “They have worked more miracles than I can count and treat the animals like they are their own,” Bowers said.

Also listed in the newsletter is the late year, sold out “Tails and Ales” event that raised more than $12,000.

To conclude our  shelter visit, we wished all of the caged animals, along with the shelter staff, a “Happy New Year”, and visited Precious in her pen, offering her hope that very soon a new and caring family will take her in. Precious, unfortunately upon arrival, was “terrified and defensive and uncomfortable meeting  new people.” But today she has blossomed, does well with other dogs, is playful and super-energetic – in greeting us she jumped three feet high from a  sitting position! – and would make someone an excellent walking companion. Let’s hear a “WOO HOO” for Precious to greet the year 2023!