The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has recently selected the Animal Welfare League of Arlington as a Wild Neighbors Community. We are one of only five pilot communities selected across the nation, including Arlington, Virginia; Austin, Texas; Boulder, Colorado; San Diego, California; and Washington, D.C. We were selected because we are a community with a proven track record in addressing the public’s wildlife problems humanely.
The Wild Neighbors program is built on the premise that wild animals belong and have a right to live in our community and, like companion animals, deserve respect and basic protection from unnecessary killing, cruelty, and suffering. As a Wild Neighbors Community, we will be partnering with The HSUS to review and enhance our agency’s wildlife policies, train our staff on current humane wildlife problem-solving techniques, as well as host educational events to help the public learn about the wildlife around them and ways to humanely handle wildlife problems.
The HSUS will use our city as a model to help other communities across the country develop and utilize policies and approaches to wildlife conflicts that are more humane and effective. Our agency does not loan traps to the public for trapping wildlife outside because it is only a temporary fix and leads to other wildlife re-filling any vacated niches. Instead, as a Wild Neighbors Community, we will be introducing educational tools and materials that will help the public achieve long-lasting solutions to their wildlife conflicts. We do not support killing healthy wildlife for nuisance reasons.
