Frequently Asked Questions

The Regional Center for Animal Care and Protection is located at 1510 Baldwin Avenue NE, Roanoke, Virginia.  Stray animals from the City of Roanoke, Counties of Botetourt and Roanoke, and the Town of Vinton are brought to the RCACP to be reunited with their families.  While we are located next door to the Roanoke Valley SPCA, we are not affiliated with this organization, nor are they affiliated with RCACP. If you are missing your pet, please check RCACP first and check back frequently as animals arrive daily. 

If your pet has been brought to the shelter, you may reclaim him/her Monday - Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  Please visit the Lost Pets page for more information.

Please visit our Adoption Search pageto view all of the animals that are available.  Adoptable animals can be seen at the shelter Monday - Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for meet and greets.

To reclaim a lost pet, please come to the shelter during our regular operating hours (9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday - Saturday).  You will need to identify the animal as yours so the staff will take you on a walkthrough to see if your pet is in the building. If your pet is, indeed, in the building, you will need to pay the appropriate fees to reclaim the animal.  Arrangements can be made if you cannot afford the fees at that time, so please do not let that circumstance keep you from reclaiming your pet.

Redemptions must be made in person by the rightful owner of the animal.  We require some form of identification that the animal is, in fact, owned by the person who is reclaiming it.  Identification can include pictures, tags, microchip, vet records, etc.

Only the pets that are on active stray hold are displayed on the stray search page.  If your pet was not reclaimed by the end of the stray hold, then it will be processed to see if it can be made adoptable through the shelter or through one of our rescue partners.  Once the stray hold has expired, the animal's ownership is transferred to RCACP and we are responsible for its disposition at that point.

When an animal's stray hold expires, it is evaluated and depending on that evaluation it receives vetting (spay/neuter, rabies, microchip, etc.) to be placed for adoption.  Space is always a consideration, so if a rescue is interested in the pet, then arrangements are made to transfer the animal to one of our rescue partners.  

It is extremely important to reclaim lost pets as soon as possible.

Please visit our Animal Adoption page to view current adoptable animals.  All of our cats and dogs have been spayed/neutered and have received age appropriate vaccines.  They have also been microchipped. They are just searching for forever families to take them home!

At the Regional Center for Animal Care and Protection, our goal is to connect adoptable pets with suitable forever homes.  The first step in adopting through RCACP is to complete an Adoption Application(PDF).  The next step is having a meet and greet with the animal to make sure that he/she is compatible with your family, human and animal alike.  When adopting dogs, we do require that all family members living in the home (or ones that will have frequent contact with the dog), come to the shelter to meet the dog prior to approval for adoption.  We also require that any other dogs in the home come to the shelter to meet the selected dog to ensure that they are compatible prior to adoption.  For cat adoptions, it is recommended that everyone in the household meet the cat prior to adoption as well.  If all goes well, the selected animal will go home with you and a folder full of helpful hints to introduce the animal into its new home!

Adoption fees for dogs vary depending on how long the animal has been in the shelter.  The rates are as follows:

• Dogs/puppies that have been in the shelter less than 21 days = $80.00
• Dogs/puppies that have been in the shelter over 21 days = $30.00
• Cats/kittens have their adoption fees waived with approved adoption applications = $0

The animals at RCACP depend on our volunteers to provide the "extras" that are sometimes hard to find time for during the day.  There are multiple opportunities to help the animals.  Please visit our Volunteer page to learn more about how you can help making an animal's time spent in the shelter less stressful.

Yes!  We have a very active pet food pantry that feeds approximately 200 animals a month and keeps them in loving homes.  Any donation of unexpired cat and dog food and pet supplies such as litter and litter boxes is welcome.  We appreciate the support that we receive from the Roanoke Valley in assisting our neighbors that need a little help.

 Becoming a foster can be a lot of fun and very rewarding - plus you are several two lives!  If you are interested in becoming a foster, please visit our Foster page to receive more detailed information.

FRVR Kittens ( Fostering Roanoke Valley Regional Kittens) is a cooperative effort among Angels of Assisi, RCACP, and the Roanoke Valley SPCA to provide a safe haven for Roanoke Valley homeless momma cats and kittens.  If you are interested in fostering moms and kittens, single kittens, or orphaned litters, please contact Meghann Cords  for more information.  Your help is needed!  

Roanoke Adventure Dogs (R.A.D.) is a great way to help our shelter dogs relieve some kennel stress and for the humans who participate to reduce their stress, too! R.A.D. involves taking a dog out on a field trip adventure for at least 2 hours and then promoting that field trip to potential adopters through social media.  Anyone that is at least 18 years old, has a driver's license and a cellphone is eligible to take a dog out on a field trip.  The dogs are matched with fieldtrippers based on requested temperament and energy levels.  The dogs have a backpack of supplies that travel with them so fieldtrippers do not have to bring their own supplies.  Dogs can be picked up as early as 9:30 a.m. Monday - Saturday and must be returned by 4:45 p.m. so they can get bedded down for the night.  Please stop by and see us if you are interested in this exciting program!