My name is Benny!

For animals in foster homes or at the Trails Home Farm, the first step is to fill out the adoption questionnaire. We'll be in touch to set up a quick call to talk through what you're looking for before. If you're a good match, the next step is to meet the animal.

For animals at our Adoption Center, they can be met by appointment or Saturdays and Sundays during our adoption events from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (cats are available 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.).

If you already have a pet, we require that all pets in the home be spayed/neutered unless there are health reasons that can be verified with the vet.

Homeward Trails' adoption fees range depending on type of animal, the originating shelter and the vetting the animal has received and are listed in the animal's profile. Our adoption fees are set to allow us to cover our expenses as well as to help other animals in our program that require additional care. Our fees cover vetting costs, shelter fees, fuel for transport, food, boarding, behavioral training and additional medical care. It is important to note that while the animal you adopt may not require all of these things, many other animals in our system do. Thus, any "extra" money from adoption fees goes to help those animals who may require additional care. By adopting from Homeward Trails, you are not saving just one life, you are helping to save others as well.

Homeward Trails seeks to find permanent adoptive homes in the Mid-Atlantic Region for dogs and cats from under-resourced shelters or whose owners can no longer care for them. In so doing, we seek to reduce the rate of euthanasia of adoptable animals through the rescue and placement of homeless animals; to support proactive spay/neuter practices; to promote positive and ongoing behavioral training; and to educate the public about how to care for their animals in a humane way. Homeward Trails not only facilitates adoptions from local shelters, but also supports a large network of foster care providers who take homeless dogs and cats into their homes, care for them, rehabilitate them when needed, and prepare them for their permanent adoptive homes.

Sadly, without our help, all of these adoptable animals would face almost certain euthanasia - usually within days or hours of our rescuing them. Each year we take in hundreds of wonderful animals who were left at shelters through no fault of their own.

Many are puppies and kittens – innocent victims of unwanted pregnancies. Some are abandoned hunting dogs who served their owners well and were dumped in woods or left at shelters when they were no longer wanted. Others are house pets whose owners simply grew tired of caring for them or moved and did not take them along. And even more are animals that have been injured, abused, and neglected. Whatever the reasons, these animals all deserve better. And once with Homeward Trails, they get better!

Our Principles:
1. To always operate in the best interest of the animals we take into our program and to advocate for the proper care of those in shelters and in private homes;
2. To provide quality care for the animals we take in for as long as they are in our program and to provide ongoing support to our adopters;
3. To always maintain a manageable number of animals in our system whereby we can ensure proper medical care, behavioral training and housing for the animals;
4. To rescue the widest array of dogs and cats by avoiding general discrimination based on breed, age, and health;
5. To provide our shelter partners and their communities with resources that will result in the highest level of care for their animals, an increase in spay/neuter surgeries and a decrease in the abuse, neglect and abandonment of dogs and cats;
6. To treat our volunteers, adopters, and partners with understanding, patience and support