Our Mission and Purpose
Animal Rescue of Tidewater, Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to create a compassionate community where there are no more stray, abandoned, or neglected animals and where destroying adoptable animals is no longer used as a means of population control.
ART’s mission is to improve the condition of animals through:
*Rescuing homeless animals
*Promoting humane treatment and responsible pet ownership
*Fostering compassion and respect for animals
Our History
The first meeting of ART was in January of 1999. Our members came together initially because each was involved in improving the lives of, and finding homes for, orphaned animals. Some individuals took in stray and/or unwanted animals, restored them to health as needed, and placed them in permanent homes. Others in the group focused most of their efforts on supporting local shelters like the city funded Animal Control and privately funded SPCA. We decided that we wanted to continue and enhance these diverse efforts and have done so quite well.
During our short history, ART’s impact on the community has been profound. In addition to developing a solid network of foster homes, which allowed members to rescue and adopt out an average of 23 animals per month, ART members played a pivotal role in the revision of the animal welfare laws in Norfolk. Further, ART is an approved rescue with nearly every shelter in the region and, in fact, has substantially enhanced the volunteer base at the Norfolk Animal Management Center. ART’s most recent initiative, with the help of $75,000 in grants from the Norfolk Foundation, is the formation of the Animal Welfare Coalition of Hampton Roads which includes representatives from virtually every animal service provider group in the region, and whose goal is to increase spay/neuter and quality adoptions, and to end the euthanasia of healthy, adoptable animals in Hampton Roads.
ART is incorporated and a 501 © 3 as designated by the IRS.
What We Do
*Rescue and find homes for stray, abandoned, shelter-released and owner-released animals
*Advocate for improved animal welfare
*Educate the public about animal welfare and animal issues
*Focus on spay/neuter as the underlying solution to animal population control
*Work to build coalitions with our animal welfare partners
*Raise funds to support our work
