Lucky Dog Rescue Set to Invade Annandale

Dog lovers and animal aficionados, prepare yourselves. Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, a non-profit, all-volunteer animal rescue organization is holding their first adoption event in Annandale on Sunday, Feb. 6.

The dogs at the event are rescues from high-kill shelters in Virginia and as far south as South Carolina. “We pull them out of there and we transport them up here about every two weeks,” said Anne Wuhrer, senior adoption and fundraising coordinator with Lucky Dog. Since the organization accepts dogs of all breeds and sizes, there will be a variety of breeds available for adoption. "We pull dogs that were sitting on death row through no fault of their own. You’d be so surprised; some of them can be the most loving of dogs,” said Wuhrer.

All potential adopters go through an in-depth approval process, which involves a questionnaire, interview screening, landlord check, home visits and more. On Sunday, potential adopters can meet a dog and complete the questionnaire then. The Lucky Dog adoption process can last anywhere from one day to a week. “We try and do a matching system. We won’t give a husky that has high energy to someone who likes to lounge around or a Chihuahua that is fearful of children to a house with toddlers. We want every adoption to be successsful and a great fit,” Wuhrer said.

There are no income restrictions for potential adopters, but Wuhrer said Lucky Dog does makes adopters “fully aware” that it’s expensive to have a dog and care for them properly. If approved, adopters sign a contract that says they will ensure their dog is fully vetted and always up to date on its annual vaccines and monthly medications.

The group is hoping the new event location in Annandale is a success with volunteers and attendees. Annandale residents looking for volunteer opportunities can stop by Sunday’s event and sign up for the day or register ahead of time through the website. “We’re always looking for handlers. They can just come to an event and handle a dog for two hours,” said Wuhrer.

Although Lucky Dog is a rescue organization, they do not have a shelter facility. Instead, the group relies on its network of volunteer foster parents in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to care for the dogs. Many of the volunteers like Wuhrer work full-time jobs in addition to their work with Lucky Dog. Wuhrer is a physical therapist at Inova Fairfax Hospital and owns a private consulting firm for physical therapy.

For anyone looking to adopt, but who may not have the time or resources to care for a dog long-term, Lucky Dog offers the alternative option of becoming an overnight foster parent. Dogs can stay with overnight fosters anywhere from one night to three months.

“Overnight fosters allow us to bring up more dogs for the weekend,” said Wuhrer, who started as a weekend foster before she became a volunteer coordinator. “Then the dogs go to the adoption event and a lot of them get adopted. After that, our full-time fosters take over for the dogs still searching for their forever homes." Full-time fosters go through a similar process as adopters, but they learn more about the Lucky Dog system.

Residents who are unable to serve as a foster or attend Sunday’s event, but want to volunteer their time can do 10-minute home visit checks.

The Lucky Dog adoption event in Annandale is from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at PETCO, located at 7434 Little River Turnpike in the Little River Shopping Center. There’s no fee to attend the event.