📊 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

Stafford County, Virginia

A mixed county in the DMV — moderate intake relative to its population. Here is how its dogs actually fared, in the open.

≥ 94.3%dog live-release rate (2025)
✓ no-killabove the 90% benchmark, every year
11.3dogs taken in per 1,000 residents
10reporting shelters (3/7 complete)

The headline · 2025

≥ 94.3%

live-release rate — of every dog whose outcome was decided, ≥ 94.3% 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 the no-kill line, every year.

100% 90% · no-kill 85% 94.094.895.893.494.3 20212022202320242025

Where the dogs went · 2025

1,968 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.

1,968 outcomes decided 1,855 left alive  ·  113 did not
1,855 left alive  ·  live-release rate ≥ 94.3% 113 did not 1433Adopted · 73%377Returned · 19%110
1,433Adopted73%
377Returned to owner19%
45Transferred to rescue2%
110Euthanasia (undifferentiated) — merged total — owner-requested can't be separated, so the rate is a floor6%
3Died in care — a medical signal, not a choice0.2%

Bar width is proportional to count, out of 1,968 decided outcomes. 94% left alive; this is a floor — Virginia merges owner-requested euthanasia into the total, so the true live-release rate is at least 94.3% and likely higher.

By shelter · every reporting year

10 reporting shelters

Each row links to the state source.

Campfire Critters Animal Sanctuary

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025000—floorVDACS report
2024000—floorVDACS report
2023000—floorVDACS report
2022000—floorVDACS report
2021000—floorVDACS report

Canine Lifesavers, Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
20259349938≥99.2%floorVDACS report
202489884912≥98.6%floorVDACS report
202384881522≥97.4%floorVDACS report

Community Cats Rescue Network, Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025000—floorVDACS report
2024000—floorVDACS report
2023000—floorVDACS report
2022000—floorVDACS report
2021000—floorVDACS report

Davey's KitCats

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025000—floorVDACS report
2024000—floorVDACS report
2023000—floorVDACS report
2022000—floorVDACS report
2021000—floorVDACS report

Mews and Merlot Inc.

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2021000—floorVDACS report

Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
202141240≥92.3%floorVDACS report

Salty Paws Brigade

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025109893≥94.7%floorVDACS report

Second Chance Dog Rescue

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
2025000—floorVDACS report
2024000—floorVDACS report
2023000—floorVDACS report
2022101≥0.0%floorVDACS report
2021101≥0.0%floorVDACS report

Stafford County Animal Control and Public Animal Shelter

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
202588577399≥88.5%floorVDACS report
2024908809102≥88.4%floorVDACS report
20231,06398656≥94.5%floorVDACS report
202298793740≥94.9%floorVDACS report
202175569540≥94.2%floorVDACS report

Stafford SPCA

YearDog intakeLive outcomesEuthanasiaLive-releaseBasisSource
202221201≥95.2%floorVDACS report
202119180≥94.7%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 mixed county. Stafford County takes in about 11.3 dogs per 1,000 residents — between the metro low and the rural high — and places most of them. 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 3/7: 3/7 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 (170,803).