Animal Welfare Association, Inc.

Animal Welfare Association’s VISION is to create “A Place Where Happiness Begins” by helping to create a compassionate community, by serving as a resource for pet lovers/pet owners in need, and by envisioning achieving zero tolerance for companion animals needlessly suffering and dying in our South Jersey community.

AWA’s history demonstrates a continuing commitment to reaching beyond its facility walls to achieve its mission and vision, believing that a compassionate community should look to enhance the lives of all in the community, including the most vulnerable pets and people.

The human-animal bond is a mutually beneficial and dynamic relationship between people and animals that is influenced by behaviors considered essential to the health and well-being of both.

By redefining how AWA will serve as a resource for pets/pet lovers/pet owners in need, AWA believes it will transform the organization into a Center for Excellence – a national leader in the field of animal welfare.

Animal Welfare Association’s goals center on building and sustaining “Happiness.” AWA will act as a catalyst for a more compassionate community by:
• Creating and strengthening services that directly save animals’ lives and prevent pet abandonment within our community.
• Broadening and deepening the role people play in our work so they are part of the solution.
• Developing strategic and working partnerships to help solve community problems and address service gaps.
• Building and sustaining a diverse funding pipeline to meet current and future program/service needs.

As expected, AWA successfully provides traditional animal sheltering, pet retention counseling, adoptions, foster care, pet behavioral rehabilitation/training and veterinary care, with more than 20,000 pets and people participating in one of AWA’s programs/services each year. Other programs include:
• Veterinary Care: AWA’s shelter and public veterinary clinics help ensure that high quality medical care is available for animals in need. While there is an emphasis on providing spay/neuter surgeries as a tool in preventing pet overpopulation, AWA also provides wellness and illness exams and treatment, dentals, and vaccine clinics.
• Community Engagement: AWA has a long history of outreach and partnering, including, but not limited to, community workshops and training sessions, humane education programs for youth, technical education for veterinary technician students, as well as specialized programs/services for seniors, special needs teens/adults, and economically challenged residents.

The goals of the above are to bring together the pet-caring community to help solve community problems; to address ways to strengthen the human-animal bond; and to help create a compassionate community where all people and creatures are treated with respect.

However, AWA has always been more than a typical animal shelter. It has been dedicated to improving the lives of pets and people through educational campaigns, direct action, and strategic programming since its inception, with an emphasis on serving special needs groups.

THREE of these include:
• Differently-Abled Teens and Adults: AWA partners with community and service-based organizations to provide valuable life and job skills, on-site, to developmentally disabled teens and adults.
• Senior Citizens: Volunteer pet/person teams from AWA’s Pet Therapy program visit hospitals and assisted living facilities to provide emotional and physical support.
• Inner City Neighborhoods: Through AWA’s VOW (Vets on Wheels) and Pet Food Pantry programs, we are able to have a direct, positive impact on pet owners who are unable to access pet care resources for a variety of reasons, including lack of transportation, conveniently located/affordable vet clinics or full service/affordable grocery stores.

2020 marks the beginning of an organizational transformation for AWA. With the start of construction of a new 20,000 sq. ft. animal care and education center in Summer 2020, a rejuvenated AWA will be created.

This “rebuilding” includes more than just the physical plant. It means reevaluating the purpose, staffing and resources for each current and future program and service, with the goal of serving a broader constituent base.

AWA is always looking to make a lasting difference in the lives of pets and people. As we plan for the next two years, for the next two years, we will develop and strengthen strategic partnerships to continue refining our programs and deepening the impact AWA has in the community.

AWA was founded in 1948, and was one of the first humane organizations to serve South Jersey. Since that time, AWA has continued to evolve and grow, to meet and exceed every challenge laid before it. The tag line of "AWA - always moving forward" is more than just a set of words. It reflects the can-do spirit that is ingrained in the culture of the agency. It WILL achieve its goals.

AWA's physical, cultural, and programmatic transformation began with the Board's plan to remodel, and rebuild the existing physical plant in 2020-2021. The planning process for the building, and the use of space, is providing staff with the opportunity to challenge "how we do things" and instead to determine "how SHOULD we do things" at AWA.

The only positive occurring from COVID-19 at this point in time in AWA's history is that it is and will continue to force staff and volunteers to take nothing for granted. From that process will emerge an even stronger AWA than anyone expected.