📊 Real data — every figure on this page comes from Virginia Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services (VDACS) Animal Custody Records (dogs only, CY2021–2025), with a source link on each year. Generated from the barkhood database. 📑 View the pitch deck (PDF) →
← All counties · The data

Dog shelter outcomes · DMV · Virginia

Prince William County, Virginia

A well-resourced metro county on the demand side of the DMV — strong adoption capacity, low intake per resident. Here is how its dogs actually fared, in the open.

≥ 88.9%dog live-release rate (2025)
2/5 yrsat or above the 90% no-kill benchmark
5.2dogs taken in per 1,000 residents
21reporting shelters (9/14 complete)

The headline · 2025

≥ 88.9%

live-release rate — of every dog whose outcome was decided, ≥ 88.9% left the shelter alive (adopted, returned to owner, or transferred to rescue).

FLOOR · ≥ Virginia merges all euthanasia into one figure, so owner-requested (mercy) cases can’t be separated out. This rate is a conservative floor — the true live-release rate is at least this high.

The trend · 2021 → 2025

Above no-kill in 2 of 5 years.

100% 90% · no-kill 85% 93.893.089.688.788.9 20212022202320242025

Where the dogs went · 2025

2,668 outcomes decided. Here is every one.

The live-release rate is one number; transparency means showing the whole denominator — including the deaths, separated honestly by kind.

2,668 outcomes decided 2,372 left alive  ·  296 did not
2,372 left alive  ·  live-release rate ≥ 88.9% 296 did not 1657Adopted · 62%672Returned · 25%279
1,657Adopted62%
672Returned to owner25%
43Transferred to rescue2%
279Euthanasia (undifferentiated) — merged total — owner-requested can't be separated, so the rate is a floor10%
17Died in care — a medical signal, not a choice0.6%

Bar width is proportional to count, out of 2,668 decided outcomes. 89% left alive; this is a floor — Virginia merges owner-requested euthanasia into the total, so the true live-release rate is at least 88.9% and likely higher.

By shelter · every reporting year

21 reporting shelters

Each row links to the state source.

A Forever-Home Rescue Foundation, Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
20252762942≥99.0%floorVDACS report
20243713474≥98.3%floorVDACS report
20234244220≥99.5%floorVDACS report
20225155132≥99.2%floorVDACS report
20217858170≥100.0%floorVDACS report

Allies for Community Cats Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025000—floorVDACS report

Beagle Rescue, Education and Welfare (B.R.E.W.) of Northern Virginia, Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
20251391117≥91.0%floorVDACS report
202414514616≥89.0%floorVDACS report
20231091107≥94.0%floorVDACS report
20221791583≥96.3%floorVDACS report
20212111845≥95.3%floorVDACS report

DC Shiba Inu Rescue

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2021560≥100.0%floorVDACS report

Emery Farm

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025000—floorVDACS report
2024000—floorVDACS report
2023000—floorVDACS report
2021000—floorVDACS report

Forescue, Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025000—floorVDACS report
2024000—floorVDACS report

Golden Retriever Rescue, Education, and Training, Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
202553555≥91.7%floorVDACS report
202485713≥95.9%floorVDACS report
202362700≥98.6%floorVDACS report
202262435≥86.0%floorVDACS report
202141394≥90.7%floorVDACS report

Gray Face Acres Senior Dog Rescue and Retreat

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
202228359≥79.5%floorVDACS report
2021928011≥83.3%floorVDACS report

Humane Society of Northern Virginia - A3P

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
202528221≥95.7%floorVDACS report
202422201≥95.2%floorVDACS report
202324220≥95.7%floorVDACS report
202248420≥100.0%floorVDACS report
202125251≥96.2%floorVDACS report

Must Love Cats Rescue

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2021000—floorVDACS report

Paws Deep Animal Rescue

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
20252622465≥95.3%floorVDACS report

Peace of Mind K9 Rescue Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025210≥100.0%floorVDACS report

Pet Harbor Rescue and Referral, Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
20256110≥100.0%floorVDACS report
202415180≥100.0%floorVDACS report
202332380≥100.0%floorVDACS report
202250411≥97.6%floorVDACS report
202144432≥95.6%floorVDACS report

Pibbles4H.O.P.E.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2024101≥0.0%floorVDACS report
2023000—floorVDACS report
2021000—floorVDACS report

Prince William County Animal Control and Public Animal Shelter

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
20251,8701,632258≥86.2%floorVDACS report
20241,6181,380221≥86.2%floorVDACS report
20231,5471,319218≥85.8%floorVDACS report
20221,3481,183115≥90.7%floorVDACS report
20211,3091,180119≥90.6%floorVDACS report

Promises Animal Rescue

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025000—floorVDACS report
2024880≥100.0%floorVDACS report
20231072≥77.8%floorVDACS report
2021160≥100.0%floorVDACS report

Purrty Pawz Rescue Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2024000—floorVDACS report
2023110≥100.0%floorVDACS report
2022000—floorVDACS report

SADSAC (Save a Dog, Save a Cat)

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2021000—floorVDACS report

The Bull Terrier Rescue of Virginia

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025001≥0.0%floorVDACS report
2024003≥0.0%floorVDACS report
2023000—floorVDACS report
2022002≥0.0%floorVDACS report
2021002≥0.0%floorVDACS report

The Grace Card, Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025000—floorVDACS report
2024000—floorVDACS report
2023110≥100.0%floorVDACS report
2022000—floorVDACS report

Their Voice Limited

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2021000—floorVDACS report

Live-release rate = (adopted + returned to owner + transferred out) ÷ (live outcomes + non-owner euthanasia + died in care). Owner-requested euthanasia is excluded (Asilomar / Shelter Animals Count standard). Dogs only.

A demand-side county. Prince William County takes in roughly 5.2 dogs per 1,000 residents — far below the rural rate of 20–70 — and places nearly all of them. That's the metro half of barkhood's thesis: well-resourced suburbs have adoption capacity to spare while under-resourced rural counties euthanize for lack of it. Counties like this one are where dogs from the strained counties can go. See the full DMV picture →

Methodology · the glass wall

What's measured

  • Dogs only. barkhood is a dog-handling service; cats and other species are out of scope.
  • Source: Virginia Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services (VDACS) Animal Custody Records, the mandatory state record — linked per row.
  • Completeness 9/14: 9/14 of the county’s reporting facilities filed in 2025; gaps are shown, not guessed.

Why this rate is honest

  • Euthanasia is merged — Virginia reports all euthanasia as one figure, so owner-requested (mercy) cases can’t be excluded. We publish the rate as a floor (≥), never overstating it.
  • Deaths are shown, not hidden — the denominator and the euthanasia figure are on the page.
  • Per-capita intake uses U.S. Census 2025 county population (502,966).