Maddie's Lifesaving Award in Richmond, Virginia 

The Richmond SPCA and Richmond Animal Care & Control in Richmond, Virginia formed a working partnership in 2002 to provide a safety net of care for the city's homeless pets. In 2006, they established a community-wide adoption guarantee for healthy shelter dogs and cats and have maintained it ever since.

In recognition of this achievement, the Richmond SPCA and Richmond Animal Care & Control have been given the prestigious Maddie's^® Lifesaving Award and an unrestricted grant of $230,200.

Each organization will share in the grant according to their 2007 adoption performance: $160,350 will go to the Richmond SPCA; $69,850 to Richmond Animal Care & Control.

Total intake for the coalition in 2007 was 7,050 dogs and cats; the annual live release rate community-wide was 76.5%.

Effective programs for adoption, pet retention, customer service, marketing and spay/neuter have contributed to Richmond's success.