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James McLaughlin

At an early age James started in animal welfare as a volunteer with several rescues and shelters. Once he retired honorably from the United States Navy, he took the leap to pursuing his passion full time with the Portsmouth Humane Society as a customer service associate. It did not take long for him to step into management as the Adoption Manager, then Director of Operations where he not only oversaw adoptions and customer service, but the volunteer program, foster program, and transfer program well as development for the Portsmouth Humane Society. James was an integral part of the Portsmouth Humane Society’s removal of breed labels and becoming a “No Kill” shelter. After seven years with the Portsmouth Humane Society, James left to become the Executive Director of the Pittsylvania Pet Center.

Under his leadership, Pittsylvania County adopted TNR as the county policy for community cats. The shelter established a low cost spay/neuter & vaccination program, statewide Pet Food pantry, and several other programs to help animals in the community, and the people that loved them. James also established a transfer network which enabled the Pet Center to achieve a 95% live release rate. After two years, James left to join the Homeward Trails Team as part of the Trails Up Program.

James now uses his experience, connections and passion for animal welfare to help under resourced shelters, rescues and communities to improve their life saving effort for animals in need as the Director of Shelter Relations for our Trails Up Program. 

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More News from the Trail!

  • Clear the Shelters Adoption Weekend – August 31 and September 1

    Reduced and Waived Adoption Fees! Join Homeward Trails as we participate in NBCUniversal Local’s 10th annual Clear The Shelters nationwide pet adoption event.  Help us clear the Adoption Center and our foster homes August 31 and September 1 – many of our adoptable cats and dogs will have reduced fee and fee waived adoptions.  Homeward Trails Manny Law Adoption Center 11116 Fairfax Station Rd. Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Saturday, August 31 10 AM – 4 PM  Sunday, September 1 10 AM – 4 PM Our nation’s animal shelters are facing a capacity crisis and need your help now to get pets from shelter kennels into the couches of loving homes! Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has led to more than one million pet adoptions and raised more than $4.5 million. The 2023 campaign resulted in more than 158,000 adoptions – lifting the all-time adoption total past one million – and raised over $575,000.

  • Helping Happy Hounds – Fee Waived Hound Adoptions

    As you may or may not know, Virginia animal shelters are filled with Hounds. These amazing dogs are most often discarded by callous hunters, found starving wandering the countryside. Many never make it as hunters and are then tied up to chains or left along the side of the road like old furniture. A good number of them do not make it out of shelters alive.But these dogs – like all dogs – are amazing and worthy of families. We just cannot get them families fast enough to stop them from dying in our shelters when there is no more space.And so we are trying something new here. ALL HOUND DOGS ADOPTED FROM HOMEWARD TRAILS WILL BE FREE. Yes, we are WAIVING ADOPTION FEES for Hounds for the foreseeable future.We hope that will entice well-matched applicants to consider a Hound now. Use the money you save on training, treats, toys.We think all dogs are worthy. But the reality is that some take extra incentives. Some have more barriers to getting adopted. And the result is well, more end up dying. And no – this does NOT mean we are just giving dogs away. All applicants will still go through our application/screening process to ensure good homes. This is just us trying to save more dogs by eliminating one more barrier to adoption. And hey, Hound lovers can use all the extra money they can get to buy treats, right?Help us help these Hounds. Our program Helping Happy Hounds is live NOW. Let’s save some lives!

  • Our Current Supply Needs – Can You Help?

    Each year Homeward Trail spends thousands and thousands of dollars on supplies to care for our animals and support the general operations of our organization. We always strive to keep our costs as low as possible so that we can spend every extra dollar saving more lives.  One simple way you can help is by donating these supplies – everything from postage stamps, to cleaning supplies, to ink cartridges and paper, to dog and cat food and litter. Our wish lists are updated regularly so you can always find our most current needs. Please consider donating supplies to help us cover the cost of these items. The more we are able to get donated, the more animals we can help. Thank you! Adoption Center Wishlist Meow Palace Wishlist Dog Enrichment Wishlist Trails Home Farm Wishlist Farmhouse Wishlist Trails UP Wishlist  Puerto Rico Wishlist

More News from the Trail!

  • Clear the Shelters Adoption Weekend – August 31 and September 1

    Reduced and Waived Adoption Fees! Join Homeward Trails as we participate in NBCUniversal Local’s 10th annual Clear The Shelters nationwide pet adoption event.  Help us clear the Adoption Center and our foster homes August 31 and September 1 – many of our adoptable cats and dogs will have reduced fee and fee waived adoptions.  Homeward Trails Manny Law Adoption Center 11116 Fairfax Station Rd. Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Saturday, August 31 10 AM – 4 PM  Sunday, September 1 10 AM – 4 PM Our nation’s animal shelters are facing a capacity crisis and need your help now to get pets from shelter kennels into the couches of loving homes! Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has led to more than one million pet adoptions and raised more than $4.5 million. The 2023 campaign resulted in more than 158,000 adoptions – lifting the all-time adoption total past one million – and raised over $575,000.