Prepping for pet parenthood?
There's a lot to learn when you have a new pet. Our sister brand, The Wildest, is here to support you—with new pet checklists, virtual training, and expert guides. Sign up for free.
Close button icon
Adopt

Search and see photos of adoptable pets in the Fairfax Station, VA area.

Find a pet to adopt

Homeward Trails Animal Rescue

11116 Fairfax Station Road, Fairfax Station, VA 22039

Contact
Email dogadoption@homewardtrails.org
Phone
cats & dogs at Homeward Trails Animal Rescue

Areas Homeward Trails Animal Rescue serves

Homeward Trails in based in Fairfax Station, VA, but serves the greater Washington DC metro area. We rescue homeless dogs and cats from mostly rural, underserved shelters where euthanasia rates are high and adoptions are low.

Homeward Trails Animal Rescue's adoption process

Additional adoption info

You will first be required to complete our Adoption Questionnaire (http://www.homewardtrails.org/adopt-a-pet/adoption-forms/). Once received, a Homeward Trails rep will contact you via phone or e-mail. Please allow 72 hours for a response. If it seems you are a good fit for each other based on the info you provided, a phone interview will follow. If you are renting, we require proof that you are allowed to have a pet as well as any breed or size restrictions that may exist. If you have pets or did previously, we require your vet information and we will call them to verify that your pets are in good health, current on vaccines and spayed/neutered. 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. 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, copying and printing of contracts and paperwork, our website presence, 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.

Adoption application

About Homeward Trails Animal Rescue

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 irresponsible pet owners who don’t spay/neuter. 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

Homeward Trails Animal Rescue's adopted pets

Make a donation to Homeward Trails Animal Rescue to help homeless pets find homes

Adopt a Pet is the easiest way for you to search for a new pet in Fairfax Station, VA.

Support adoption and rescue. Why go to a dog breeder, cat breeder or pet store to buy a dog or buy a cat when you can adopt?

Why should you adopt?

Dog adoption and cat adoption saves lives. Adopt a dog or adopt a cat and you'll have a friend for life.

What is the difference between adopting a dog, adopting a cat, adopting a kitten or adopting a puppy versus getting dogs for sale, cats for sale, puppies for sale or kittens for sale from a dog breeder or a cat breeder?

When someone is breeding puppies or breeding kittens, they are creating new dogs and cats who need homes. Some people are interested in a very specific breed of dog, cat, puppy or kitten and they think the only way to find that specific breed is to buy a dog for sale or buy a cat for sale from a puppy breeder or a kitten breeder. Yet animal shelters are filled with dogs and cats who must find homes.

So rather than buying a dog or puppy for sale from a dog breeder or buying a cat or kitten for sale from a cat breeder, we encourage people to adopt a dog, adopt a cat, adopt a puppy or adopt a kitten at their local animal shelter, SPCA, humane society or pet rescue group.