Community Spotlight: Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - This week in the Community Spotlight, we are taking a look at an organization that works to help animals in the Shenandoah Valley. The mission of the Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA is to end pet homelessness and animal suffering.

For Huck Nawaz, the executive director of the Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA… the most rewarding part of the job is- “Seeing them go home, whether they be lost animals being returned to their owners, or the ones that didn’t have someone there to reclaim them or were surrendered by their previous owners,” said Nawaz.

The pandemic has made fundraising more challenging and changed how the shelter operates.

“It has definitely impacted operations severely,” Nawaz said. “Limiting appointments, limiting how many people are in the building and all the other changes the community has had to make.”

But the pandemic has also had a positive effect, especially with the foster program.

“A lot of people have opened up their homes to be foster homes with being home more, so we’ve had our foster program see incredible growth over the last year,” Nawaz said.

The Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA is also celebrating because it has achieved the no-kill benchmark. It increased its overall save rate for its animals to 93 percent.

“It’s an exciting time for us since we’ve worked so hard over the past couple of years to save more animals coming into the shelter,” Nawaz added. “The cats have been at the greatest risk coming in because of the volume, a thousand kittens a year.”

To learn more about the RHSPCA, visit its website.

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