Humane Society of Fairfax County

Established in 1968, the Humane Society of Fairfax County (HSFC) was formed by concerned citizens as a non-profit organization to rescue and protect both domestic and wild animals from abuse, neglect, abandonment, and cruelty. As a young organization with a handful of volunteers, money was tight and animals in need were plentiful. The dedicated group of volunteers held bake sales, yard sales, and distributed donation cans throughout the county in an effort to pay for the ever increasing expenses needed to provide for the animals in our care.

Over the years, things have changed tremendously. The handful of volunteers has grown to nearly a hundred dedicated individuals who give their time to help whenever and wherever needed. The bake sales and yard sales eventually gave way to a small thrift shop located in the basement of a house. After several years, we expanded and opened The Orange Crate thrift shop located in downtown Falls Church.

In December 1994, a very generous and caring individual donated two office buildings in the City of Fairfax to the HSFC. The larger building houses our administrative offices enabling us to help the public with their animal concerns in a more timely and efficient manner. Additionally, the building serves as our cat adoption center. Here the animals are not kept in cages, but have their own deluxe rooms which allow them a real chance to show off for prospective adopters. Since The Orange Crate has always been such a pride and joy to us and a great success financially, we thought it only fitting to open a second thrift store, Second Chance, in our new building.

Today, almost 25 years later, The Orange Crate has been relocated. We now have a much larger and newer building also located in Falls Church, aptly named "Second Chance 2."

Our newsletter, Outcry, has grown from a single page "flyer" into a multi-paged educational packet filled with information on all aspects of animal welfare. We have tried to inform the public that all animals, regardless of species, feel pain, suffer, and need and deserve humane care and treatment. And no matter how controversial the subject, we will not exclude any living creature from our efforts. We take great pride in knowing you can depend on us to defend the rights of all animals. In addition to Outcry, we also distribute a quarterly volunteer newsletter to maintain awareness of current activities and important information.

It had always been our greatest desire to have our own shelter one day, and because of the generosity of many special people, our dream has come true. HSFC purchased 13 acres in Centreville, VA in July, 2002 and since then we have been busy renovating including remodeling the barn to house the horses and developing outbuildings that will primarily house the dogs and smaller animals. Many of our goals have been reached and we are so proud of our accomplishments. But there is still so much to do and so many animals that need our help. Please take a moment to browse through our site and see if there is some way you can lend a hand to help us in our ongoing mission to care for homeless and abused animals.

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