The Virginia Animal Protection Collaborative (VA-APC) works to be the voice of Virginia’s animal shelters, humane societies, rescues, Animal Control, and animal welfare organizations.  Its charter is to provide capital improvement and education funding earmarked for shelters and rescues from the Virginia State operating budget while pursuing an aggressive legislative agenda.  An easy-to-use grant process will distribute managed funds on a case-by-case basis to the industry. Animal welfare professionals will have access to training and accreditation funding.

VA-APC's diverse and comprehensive approach to animal welfare offers a unique blend of public safety/legal initiatives to social programs to improved animal welfare statewide.  Identifying needs, obtaining resources, draft and pass legislation, and evaluate and recommend technologies to address and ease the daily challenges of animal-related law enforcement.  Using this information to create animal-related social programs that could be thought of as a United Way for animals. 

The committed individuals who put animals’ safety before their own have no representation at the state level.  VA-APG will establish a Division of Animal Cruelty Law Enforcement to represent the needs of Animal Control Officers, Dog Control Officers and Humane Law Enforcement Officers across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Working with the State Legislature and animal-welfare partners, VA-APC will monitor legislation and work to pass or defeat bills based on their impact on the state’s network of animal shelters and rescues.