Animal Resources of Tidewater was established January 1999, and since its inception has rescued/adopted out over 2,100 dogs and cats. Based on continuous calls for assistance, we saw the need to help with spay/neuter as a way to reduce shelter intake.  ART’s Spay Hampton Roads (SpayHR) program was launched in spring 2010 and began with the Norfolk Pet Project, which provided free spay/neuter for over 2,000 Norfolk pets from 2010-2013. Our Regional Plan’s next initiative was the Portsmouth Pet Project, during which we funded over 500 free spay/neuter surgeries for Portsmouth pets from 2016-2018.

Our Regional Plan is an ongoing project with the following goals:

• educate the community about the number of companion animals who lose their lives in the Hampton Roads (Virginia) area each year
• promote spay/neuter as a vital component in saving lives
• provide information about quality low-cost spay/neuter clinics in Hampton Roads

Recent projects under our Regional Plan

2021 Portsmouth Pets Grant

In November 2021, SpayHR was awarded $5,000 from the Prince William Humane Society (PWHS) Homeless Animals Support Network (HASN) to fund a spay/neuter project for dogs and cats in Portsmouth, Virginia. The grant’s theme centered around the effects of COVID on veterinary care: “The theme for this grant cycle is Spay/Neuter! Based on feedback from rescues and shelters throughout Virginia, it is apparent that access to spay and neuter services has been greatly diminished and prices have increased due to COVID” (excerpted from grant application). We selected Portsmouth as the target grant community because, unlike other cities in Hampton Roads, it does not have a permanent low-cost clinic available to the public. Our goal was to spay/neuter approximately 35 animals at a projected cost of $150/animal. In total, 52 animals were spayed/neutered under grant funding. This total includes 17 more animals than originally estimated! We’re extremely grateful to PWHS’ HASN program and to our clinic partners and community members for making this project a success. 

2020 Chesapeake Community Cat Grant

ART received $10,000 as part of a Rachael Ray Save Them All grant from Best Friends Animal Society. The grant provided funding for spay/neuter of community cats and other assistance with TNR resources. The grant period began in February of 2020 for a one year term; however, outreach and TNR activities were so successful that the funds were spent within seven months! Funding from the grant enabled 176 spay/neuter surgeries for community cats in Chesapeake. Two prime goals of the grant were to reduce cat intake and increase cat live release rate at Chesapeake Animal Services (CAS). Both occurred. The original goal in the grant description was to support an at least a 66% save rate for cats at CAS. the shelter: The year-to-date save rate for cats at CAS is 74%. We are deeply grateful to CAS for assisting us by providing data that informed our work significantly. We are also indebted to Chesapeake Humane Society (CHS) for providing low-cost spay/neuter, without which the project would not have been so successful.

2019 Norfolk Community Cat Grant 

In mid-July 2019, SpayHR was awarded a grant by the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies and Best Friends Animal Society to fund a large-scale spay/neuter project for unowned “community” cats in Norfolk, VA. With the assistance of our amazing volunteers and our valuable partnerships with the Norfolk SPCA, No More Chasin’ Tails, the Virginia Beach SPCA, Chesapeake Humane Society, and private veterinary practices, we were able to spay/neuter 214 cats in just over 3 months! We also partnered with local rescue and advocacy groups like Cat Team 7, Feral Affairs Network, Billy the Kidden Rescue, and Cat Rescue, Inc. to assist the community in TNR and provide adoption options for socialized community cats. We are grateful for our local partnerships and our volunteers for making this project possible. 

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