Southwest Virginia has Lost a Juggernaut in Our Rescue Community

If you are in the rescue community in any Southwest Virginia county you know Chris Haverly. Chris was a true product of Southwest Virginia and a very good person that cared about other people and especially their animals. Chris would help anyone that asked and would do anything within his power to help someone resolve and issue with them or their animals. Chris founded Tri-State Animal Rescue so that he could help a wider array of people and rescues in our area. He brought in another dear friend of the animal community, Sonja Mabe, to help him be able to help more people and transport more animals to the rescues we are all partnered with in Northern Virginia. They would sometimes fill two vans with dogs and cats needing a second chance and make sure they got to their committed rescue safe and sound. This sometimes happened twice in the same week. That is called dedicated commitment to what you are passionate about and those two have it in spades.

We lost Chris on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 when he was on his way home from delivering another group of deserving animals to their destination rescues in Staunton Virginia. Chris was not too far from home when he went off the road and crashed near Wytheville Virginia.

Our first thought after hearing the news was utter disbelief, no one could, or wanted, to believe that this was true. We called everyone we knew in rescue in our area hoping that the narrative would be different and that maybe he was just injured. But the narrative didn't change, and with mournful hearts we wondered, "What will we do now?" I know that sounds selfish, but if you knew Chris that is what he would have wanted us to think. He would want us to put our heads together and as I can hear him say now, "By GOD, figure it out. These animals cannot transport themselves." And this we will do.

Literally, the morning after Chris' death, poor Sonja continued with a transport that had already been planned. When I talked to her about it, with tears streaming down her face, she said, "Chris would kick my ass if I didn't." This is the dedication these two have to the people of Southwest Virginia and the animals they love so much whether they belong to them or not.

I will miss you Chris. You were not just a brother-in-arms with the rescue world, you were a person I respected, a person that I could count on, a person of deep commitment, a person that I cared for and loved. But more than that, you were my friend and I am deeply grateful that you felt the same way about me. Rest easy brother, your work will continue and the animals you loved so much will be saved. Your passion is ours as well!

Billy Denton - Scott County Humane Society, Inc.