The Washington County SPCA is an ‘open access’ shelter. What exactly does that mean?
The Washington County SPCA is an open-access shelter, meaning that all animals are welcome regardless of age, health, or behavior. Many organizations that call themselves “no-kill” are limited admissions shelters that only admit animals when they have space and, quite often, admit only healthy, behaviorally sound animals. Without an open access shelter – what would happen to those animals that are a danger to the community or are too sick to be adopted or whose owners cannot take care of them anymore? Would they be abandoned to suffer or potentially harm someone? While limited-admission groups work hard to solve the problem of pet overpopulation and help many homeless pets find homes, they simply cannot solve the problem alone. “Open-access” shelters, like the Washington County SPCA, help to ensure that every unwanted animal is treated humanely. Because we are an open access shelter, The Washington County SPCA ends up helping close to 3,000 animals in our community EVERY year. We work
