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MSPCA's closing center creates gap in animal welfare |
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Could you give this dog a home? He's one of the pets ready for adoption at the soon-to-be-closed MSPCA adtoption center in Springfield.
Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs
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By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
SPRINGFIELD The question cities and towns in the greater Springfield area will face later this year when the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) closes its center in Springfield is what entity is going to provide the same services.
In 2008, the center accepted 6,600 animals into its Union Street shelter and adoption center, according to Candy Lash of the MSPCA. Those animals were not just dogs and cats, but small animals such as hamsters, rabbits and ferrets, she added. The small animals and in some cases cats are not handled by some of the other animals shelters in the region.
The Thomas O' Connor Animal Control and Adoptions Center operated jointly by Springfield, West Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee and Hampden has also seen budget cuts, Lash added. Towns that have their own animal control services will be hit harder by the MSPCA closing, she said.
The announcement made Friday by MSPCA President Carter Luke was that the Springfield center would close March 31. The organization plans to close its Martha's Vineyard facility on May 1 and then its Brockton adoption center on Sept. 30. Other than two law enforcement officers stationed in Western Massachusetts and operating out of their homes, Lash confirmed there would be no MSPCA presence west of Worcester.
Thirty-eight MSPCA staff members will lose their jobs.
The Springfield shelter will operate as normal until closer to its closing date when the acceptance of new animals will be curtailed.
At this time the closing of the facility is permanent as Lash said there are no plans to either re-open the building or find a smaller one if economic conditions improve. The hospital operation, once housed in the building, was shut down in 2007 and the building has been up for sale.
"There is a huge need for an open admissions facility [one that would accept all animals] here," she said. "We're exploring options to see what can be done."
Lash said that because shelters restrict the number and kinds of animals they accept, people in Connecticut and Rhode Island used the Springfield shelter as well.
Lash explained the closing was due directly to a near $12 million or over 25 percent loss suffered to the organization's endowment in 2008. She said that prior to the loss of investment, the MSPCA had already made cuts to its budget.
"There was no fat in this operation at all," she said.
The $1 million overhead in operating the Springfield center, plus the loss to the endowment, necessitated the closing, she explained.
"The extent of the losses were staggering," she said.
The employees were told of the closing on Thursday and Lash said, "Their biggest concerns is what is going to happen to these animals in Western Massachusetts."
The MSPCA has been in Springfield since 1914 and Lash said the events of last week were "a very harsh reality for us."
The organization is going ahead with its Valentine's Day celebration, its third annual Valentine Adoption Extravaganza on Feb. 14 and 15 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Valentine Adoption Extravaganza will feature discounted adoptions of lovable animals in need of new homes including dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, ferrets, rats, birds and more.
Experts will be on hand to offer training and pet care tips, behavioral advice and counseling and low cost spay/neuter assistance information.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information call 736-2992 or online at www.mspca.org on the Western New England/Springfield homepage.
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Comments From Our Readers:
DJNS
2/12/2009
5:08:39 PM
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As a past employee of the MSPCA, I regret that the personell from both the Hospital and Shelter have, or will soon be,forced to join the ranks of the unemployed. The human aspect of the closing does not even start to be as bad as the loss that the animals of the greater Springfield area will endure. Current pet owners will be forced to either travel long distances to find a shelter for pets they can no longer care for, or even worse possibly abondon those pets altogether. Unfortunately the MSPCA did not make plans for this situation prior to closing either facility. An affiliation with other shelters and cities and towns that it services Animal Control Officers, may have been a viable option. A closer relationship with all of the area veterinarians may also have helped both the Hospital and the Shelter facilities.
I sincerely hope the President (Carter Luke, Board of trustees and other management personell will try to find ways to assist with the problem that is being created not only here, but throughout the State. |
groomer
2/14/2009
11:32:21 PM
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As a local pet groomer, I can say that there was no notice to any of the area pet related businesses. This is part of the reason the closing is most likely irreversible. Many I have spoken with, can say without a doubt, that there could have been fundraisers, etc, that would have prevented this from happening. I have without any knowledge offered assistance to the mspca in regards to free pet grooming, and never was taken up on my offer. No wonder its gone under, and perhaps now, with assistance from local business it can be put back together. This time with less animosity. CHERYLS GROOMING ROOM |
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