OUR PARTNERS
Partners for a Humane Community
Formed in 2002, our partnership with Richmond City Animal Care and Control and other area humane organizations has saved thousands of pets’ lives. We transfer animals from Richmond Animal Care and Control to our own shelter and place them for adoption.
Richmond City Council adopted Partners for a Humane Community in July 2000. The partnership was dedicated to achieving no healthy, homeless animal dying in Richmond City by 2008. The Richmond SPCA, together with Richmond Animal Care and Control, accomplished this goal two years ahead of schedule in 2006. Never again will a healthy, homeless animal have to die in Richmond simply because he lacks a home.
Thousands of pets have been transferred to private humane societies through the partnership, and the City of Richmond had a live release rate in 2006 of 76%, making Richmond one of the four safest cities in the country for orphaned pets according to Maddie's Fund.
Our long range plan includes plans to expand the Richmond no-kill model to our surrounding counties, and we currently have a formal partnership with Hanover County to increase that county's live release rate.
The Hanover County Partnership, formally approved by the Hanover County Board of Supervisors on June 25, 2008, will be modeled after our partnership with Richmond Animal Care and Control and has an aggressive goal to save the life of every healthy homeless animal in Hanover County within 12 months. Click here to learn more about this partnership >>
The Richmond SPCA also transfers dogs and cats from other county municipal shelters, including Henrico, Goochland and Chesterfield, to the Robins-Starr Humane Center.
ASPCA® Partnership
The Richmond SPCA has partnered with the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) on a national initiative to train and support other communities across the country with the goal of creating a country of humane communities where animals receive the compassion and respect due to them, and where there is no more unnecessary killing of adoptable animals simply because of a lack of resources or awareness. The initiative, formerly titled ASPCA® Mission: Orange™, is a focused effort to create a country of humane communities, one community at a time. Communities benefit from the resources and support of the ASPCA and hands-on training using the Richmond SPCA as their “learning laboratory.” Richmond SPCA Model Programs are featured on ASPCA Pro, a Web site focused on providing support to professionals in the animal welfare field. Details of our accomplishments and methods are provided to help others implement successful programs in their own communities.
In October 2002, Ukrop’s Super Markets generously began providing a healthy and consistent diet for the homeless animals at the Robins-Starr Humane Center. Thousands of our dogs, cats, puppies and kittens have nibbled, munched, gulped and enjoyed more than 100,000 pounds of dry food, tens of thousands of cans of wet food, thousands of boxes of biscuits and tens of thousands of pounds of kitty litter thanks to the generosity of Ukrop’s and its customers. In March 2010 MARTIN'S, which purchased Ukrop's Super Markets, announced they would continue this wonderful partnership! We are forever grateful to our friends at Ukrop’s Super Markets and at MARTIN'S for their kindness and constant support of homeless pets in great need.
In 2009 Carytown's Veterinary Emergency Center (VEC) became the Richmond SPCA's official Meet the FostersTM foster care program sponsor. VEC delivers emergency and after-hours medical care to infant puppies, kittens and other orphaned animals in our foster care program, and are valued partners in increasing the Richmond SPCA's adoption program capacity so that more orphaned animals in our community are being shepherded into permanent, loving homes than ever before.
Partners in Adoption 
We’re grateful to have found our perfect match - Richmond-area Wendy’s restaurants, proud sponsors of the Richmond SPCA’s Adoption Programs. Area Wendy’s franchises joined together in May 2008 to support the life-saving work of the Richmond SPCA by becoming our Official Adoption Program Sponsor. Each pet who finds a loving home through our Robins-Starr Humane center is forever grateful! When you adopt a new four-legged friend, take them by Wendy's to share a Frosty and a french fry and thank them for their support.
Barber Martin Advertising
Since 2004, our friends at Barber Martin Advertising have provided the Richmond SPCA with vast pro bono creative support. Their team of dedicated and talented staff have helped to develop wildly successful advertising campaigns to promote our free spay/neuter initiative, pet adoptions, donations, and the launch of our Exploratorium. In addition, they assisted our organization with a re-branding campaign and Web re-design in 2006. We are forever grateful for all that they have done and continue to do for the Richmond SPCA and pets in need.
The HelpDesk Partnership for Technology Assistance
The SPCA has hundreds of special lives relying on a few more than two dozen computers—keeping track of veterinary and health records, feeding and care schedules, special needs pets, educational opportunities, and, best of all, adoption records.
And even though The HelpDesk Company is not usually in the business of saving lives, they feel it’s important to help those who do.
As a dedicated partner, the HelpDesk provides assisted technology support, complete systems management, and proactive IT care to the organization dedicated to saving our furry friends and helping them find homes.
Visit http://www.thehelpdeskcompany.com/ to find out more about the company’s innovative approach to tech support partnerships for small businesses.
PETCO Adoption Partner
When you visit area PETCO stores, be sure to say hello to the four-legged friends available for adoption. Since PETCO came to Richmond in 2007 our adoptable pets have been featured at their stores (currently at Short Pump and Staples Mill locations), and we have been lucky enough to hold regular Tail Wag'N adoption events at various PETCO locations as well. Starting in 2010, Richmond-area PETCO locations will serve as regular, ongoing pet food drive locations to collect donations for the Richmond SPCA's Pet Pantry assistance program.
Running Buddies Partner
River City Rover, a professional petsitting company in Richmond, Virginia, generously underwrites our Running Buddies shelter enrichment program. Their support makes possible the running and walking of dozens of our shelter dogs each month.
Click here to learn more about our Running Buddies program.
Kobatera Internet Consulting
The Richmond SPCA Spay/Neuter Clinic continues to perform more than 11,000 surgeries annually, all for free or at low cost. These services have become so popular that the demand to schedule appointments over the phone has overwhelmed existing staff levels. We needed to find a better way to manage our calendar, and allowing customers to schedule their own appointments online seemed like a good solution.
We engaged the Internet application expertise of Kobatera to help us solve this problem. Kobatera worked with us to clearly define our scheduling requirements. They explored several possible approaches, evaluated numerous vendors, and through a series of meetings, demos, and prototypes, determined that a vendor-hosted solution from Timetrade would be the best fit for us. We appreciate the work Kobatera did to make online scheduling of spay/neuter appointments a reality.
