WASHINGTON – It’s a very Merry Christmas for the Washington Animal Rescue League.

The shelter, which partners with WTOP for Pet of the Week, won a $25,000 from the ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge. The shelter won the funding after increasing its pet adoptions by 326 from the previous year.

The Animal Shelter of Las Vegas won the grand prize of $100,000.

“We’ve had more visitors this year than we’ve had before, which has resulted in more adoptions,” said WARL’s Matt Williams.

Williams also thanks WTOP, which started the Pet of the Week segment in March of 2013. He says the grant will help the shelter save more pets in the coming year.

Click here to check out WTOP’s Pet of the Week stories.

WTOP’s Randi Martin reports.