As the COVID-19 situation quickly evolves, we want to share with you some changes that we have put into place at the MSPCA-Angell so we can continue to serve the pets and people of our community while keeping our staff, volunteers, and clients protected. We recognize the vital role that our hospitals and adoption centers play as a safe haven for animals especially in times of crisis. We are committed to being a resource for our community during the outbreak with services and support. As we adjust to these unanticipated changes, our front line team is grateful for your support and patience.

Angell Animal Medical Center

Wondering how you can support Angell through this crisis? Please support Angell  by ordering your Angell patient prescriptions through angell.org/pharmacy versus other online sites. We can ship your order or you can pick it up at our Boston and Waltham hospitals.

Angell remains open for prescriptions and urgent and emergent cases

• Urgent and emergent cases. Angell (in Boston and Waltham) is dedicated to remaining open for those most in need. We continue to serve urgent and emergent cases. If your pet is experiencing an urgent health problem but there is time to do so, please call ahead to the hospital at 617-522-7282. Urgent appointments with an appropriate specialty service may be available, saving you time and reducing the chance of needing multiple visits.
• New appointments and rechecks. Once we are certain it is safe to see appointments again, we will resume booking new appointments and rechecks. We will post updates to angell.org.
• Telemedicine. All of Angell’s services are offering telemedicine appointments. Please call 617-522-7282 or the specific service number (listed at angell.org) for more information.
• Prescriptions/Food.  Angell continues to fill prescriptions for Angell patients. Clients can submit their prescription requests at angell.org/pharmacy or by calling 617-524-5700. Angell can also mail prescriptions (shipping fees apply). If they are time-sensitive, clients can pick up their prescriptions at our hospital locations. Staff will deliver the medications or prescription food to clients outside the building.
  • Current pharmacy operating hours  At this time, pharmacy orders can be picked up during pharmacy operating hours: M-F 8a-8p and Sat/Sun/Holidays 9a-5p  Pharmacy pick-ups for our Angell Waltham facility are also limited, call for details 781-902-8400. Additionally, on nights (after 5p) and during pharmacy business hours on weekends/holidays, curbside order pick-up may only be available every half hour (e.g. 1pm, 1:30pm, etc…), due to our pharmacy’s capacity to both deliver client orders outside while continuing to fill prescription orders inside. Please call the pharmacy when you arrive at 617-524-5700 and we will bring your pet’s order out to a designated pick-up area at our entrance. Please take note – clients who arrive outside of these hours to pick up will not be able to refill or pick up their pet’s order, as there will not be staff available to provide this service.We are grateful to be able to continue to provide needed pharmacy care to your pet, and appreciate your patience and cooperation as we navigate this challenging time together.

How Angell is delivering emergency or urgent care to your pet while minimizing risk of coronavirus transmission

• To help ensure Angell’s clinicians and staff can safely continue to deliver care to critically ill animals, clients currently are not permitted to accompany their pet into Angell’s Boston, Waltham, Danvers and Westford hospitals.
• Communication by phone. Signage outside our front entrance provides specific phone numbers for  clients to call from their mobile phones upon arrival. As clients remain outside the building, our team then guides clients on next steps for an emergency, a necessary recheck, or medication/food pick up.
• Highly critical emergencies or those without cell phones are instructed to use the intercom in the foyer of our front entryway.
• The emergency/urgent care process. Following the client’s initial phone call at arrival, if deemed appropriate, a staff member will meet the client in the parking lot to take the pet into the hospital.
  • Dogs must be leashed.  If the client does not have a leash, we will provide one.  The client will be asked to exit their car and hand the pet to the employee and return to their car.
  • Cats and all other pets must be in a carrier.  If the pet is not in a carrier, a temporary box carrier will be provided.  The client should place the carrier on the ground and step back 6 feet and then the employee will bring the pet into the building.
  • Once the pet is examined, the doctor will call the client on their cell phone (if the client does not have a cell phone the employee can meet the client in the parking lot to discuss care while maintaining a 6 foot distance) and report findings and discuss next steps. Some doctors may be able to put you on speakerphone during examinations or even video conference with you, but this will vary greatly depending on the precise situation.
  • Payments are accepted over the phone with a credit card.  Gloved employees will also accept check and cash.
  • Returning your pet to you. We will wait until your pet’s prescriptions are filled for the visit before returning your pet to you, along with the medications. In the event that your pet is hospitalized, you will not be able to visit, but will receive phone updates and texted photos.
• Our clinics, Angell at Nashoba in Westford and Angell at Essex in Danvers, will use similar methods to remain open for primary care services with entry into the hospitals restricted to patients and staff.

Please know that though we have cancelled the visiting of hospitalized patients, we will continue to text pictures and updates so that you can stay in close contact with your pet while they are hospitalized. The only visiting exceptions will be for end-of-life scenarios.

You can reach our call center 24 hours a day at (617) 522-7282.

Animal Care and Adoption Centers

• The adoption centers are closed to the general public but have gone virtual! For our animal loving friends who simply enjoy visiting our adoption centers, we ask you to refrain from casual visits at this time. However, we are providing virtual tours of our adoption centers every day through Facebook Live so that you can meet some of our adoptable animals and see our centers. Please join us!
  MSPCA at Nevins Farm at 10 AM
  MSPCA Cape Cod at 12PM
  MSPCA Boston at 1:15 PM
• Animals are still available for adoption – you just need to make an appointment! Finding homes for our current population of shelter animals will be vital for our ability to provide temporary housing and increased surrender intake as a result of the outbreak. Animals available for adoption may be viewed on our Pet Search portal.  If you see an animal you may be interested in adopting, please call the adoption center first to learn more about the animal and discuss whether the animal might be a good fit for your home. If the match is promising, we will schedule an appointment for a meet & greet with the animal (observing all social distance protocols during the meeting).
• Animals in need of  immediate surrender will continue to be accepted by appointment. If the need to surrender your pet is not urgent, we ask that you wait to bring in your animal. This will allow us to ensure room for emergency cases and keep traffic low. Rest assured we are here to help if needed. Please visit our website at mspca.org/surrender for more information.
• MSPCA Dog Training Classes have gone virtual! We are able to schedule phone or video private lessons for our dog training classes. Please visit our training website for more information. Follow our social media for videos and great tips on enrichment activities for your pets. Join our Positively Great Dog Training Facebook Group for more free content on training!
• MSPCA Humane Education Classes have gone virtual! Our weekly Little Bookworms Story Time sessions are available online! Join our Nevins Farm Humane Education Facebook Group  and our Boston Humane Education Facebook Group for these sessions and more activities for your animal-loving children.
• Our Community Outreach teams are working within the hardest hit communities reaching out to clients in our service areas and helping to provide owners and pets with the resources they need.
• Our adoption centers have disaster preparedness supplies available on an as-needed basis in the event of emergency. Supplies include dog crates, water bowls and pet food. Please call our adoption centers if you are in need of supplies. Please follow our social media for tips on preparing your own disaster preparedness kit for your pets.
• Our adoption centers are determining plans for emergency temporary housing for pets whose owners are ill or hospitalized. Please call us to discuss your situation should you need help.
• Spay/Neuter appointments are postponed until further notice. 
• Donations of gently used supplies (blankets, toys, etc) cannot be accepted at this time. While we are grateful for your consideration, we are not able to accept these items.
• We are choosing social distancing whenever possible. If you are coming in for a scheduled surrender or adoption appointment, we ask that you respect the 6ft rule, and don’t be surprised if we offer an air high-five in lieu of shaking your hand!

How You Can Help

• Please consider a monetary donation if you are in a position to do so. Now more than ever, animals need your help, as we prepare for more animals surrendered in the coming weeks as a result of economic pressures. Every dollar counts!
• Donations of pet food ARE ENCOURAGED. Cat and dog food (canned and dry, in original sealed packaging) are very much needed to support our community outreach programs and to distribute to local food pantries to ensure people with food insecurity have food for their pets. We have a comprehensive Amazon wish list on our website so you can donate from the comfort of your home! Visit mspca.org/wishlist.
• We encourage every pet owner to develop a preparedness plan should you become ill or hospitalized. Please visit our disaster preparation webpage for helpful information.
• Helping pets in your community – We are encouraging community members to check in with friends, neighbors and relatives that may be living alone with pets or be more vulnerable to this virus to make sure they are ok. If you have room in your home, consider offering emergency housing to those that may need to separate from their pet due to hospitalization.

Thank you for your understanding and support as we strive to continue our work on behalf of animals and the people who love them. We are thinking about all of you – our staff, volunteers, supporters, clients, and community partners – and doing everything we can to be here for those who need us the most. The effects of this crisis will be far reaching. By following the latest trusted science and being compassionate and kind to one another, we will get through this.

 Organization’s Law Enforcement Dept. and Hampden County District Attorney’s Office File Four Counts of Felony Animal Cruelty

BOSTON, Feb. 28, 2020 – The MSPCA at Nevins Farm in Methuen, Mass. is caring for two horses that literally had to be dug out of their stalls at a Ludlow home on Feb. 5 because the manure in which they were standing had piled so high that they could not exit through the doors, the organization announced today.

The horses were freed after nearly two hours of digging by MSPCA Law Enforcement and Adoption Center personnel.  Once extracted from the stalls in which they had been trapped, the sores on their backs—a result of standing on piles of manure so high that their backs were pressed into the building’s rafters—were made plainly visible.

The MSPCA-Angell’s Law Enforcement department has, in coordination with the Hampden County District Attorney’s Office, leveled four counts of felony animal cruelty against Nancy L. Golec of Ludlow, the former owner of the horses.  Golec was arraigned in Palmer District Court on Feb. 24, 2020.

The horses—a 13-year-old Arab named Shakira and an 11-year-old Quarter Horse/Arab cross named Tia—were surrendered and immediately transported by way of the MSPCA’s equine ambulance to Nevins Farm.

“Worst Case of Neglect I’ve Ever Seen”
Roger Lauze, the equine rescue training manager at Nevins Farm, said he hasn’t seen such neglect in nearly 40 years of working in horse rescue.  “The hooves on these horses were so overgrown and disfigured that it will take years of farrier work for them to reshape—if that’s even possible,” he said.

Both horses had overgrown teeth, with hind legs were caked in manure.  Tia is underweight, an additional sign that she had been neglected for years.

Their overgrown and misshapen hooves contributed to imbalances that have significantly impacted their health.  “We’re going to do everything possible to help them live the rest of their lives without pain, but that will be determined by the degree to which we can reshape the hooves,” said Lauze.

X-rays confirmed changes to the coffin bones of both of Shakira’s front hooves, but the staff are hopeful these changes will not further erode the quality of her life.  “It really depends on the extent to which her hooves can be reshaped,” added Lauze.

Tia’s radiographs, however, show immense deformation of the coffin bones in her hind hooves, among other bone changes that could forever compromise her health.

The Nevins Farm team will continue to rehabilitate both horses in hopes that they can be placed for adoption.  Anyone interested in adopting can email barnstaff@mspca.org for more information.

Readers who wish to contribute toward the horses’ mounting medical bills may do so by way of the MSPCA at Nevins Farm Ashton’s Hope Fund.

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Boston City Council Lauds the MSPCA-Angell’s Community Outreach Team on World Spay Day

Presents Resolution Highlighting the MSPCA’s Work to Protect Pets within Boston’s Most Vulnerable Communities

BOSTON, Feb. 25, 2020 – City Councilor Matt O’Malley, on behalf of the Boston City Council, will present a resolution to the MSPCA-Angell on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020 in recognition of the critical strides the organization has taken to reduce the homeless pet population, and to keep pets and their families together in Boston, the organization announced today.

WHAT:

The Boston City Council has declared Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 World Spay Day and congratulates the MSPCA for the work it does to ensure the health and vibrancy of the animal community in Boston, and across the Commonwealth, by way of MSPCA-C.A.R.E.S., an initiative that focuses on breaking down barriers to services and resources for families with pets.

WHEN and WHERE:

The resolution will be presented to members of the MSPCA Advocacy and Community Outreach teams before its City Council meeting at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 26 inside the Ianella Chamber at Boston City Hall.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES:

Members of the media are invited to the ceremony, after which members of the City Council, and MSPCA officials, will answer questions and take photos.  Photo opportunities include:

• The resolution itself, as well as MSPCA officials posing with it
• Dog(s), who will be in attendance, along with members of a family that the MSPCA’s community outreach efforts have helped
• City Councilors and MSPCA officials making remarks from the podium

“I am thrilled to partner with the MSPCA-Angell to promote awareness of the importance of having pets spayed or neutered at the next Boston City Council meeting,” said Councilor Matt O’Malley, who was the author of the ordinance banning the sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores in the City of Boston in 2016.

“This is a great opportunity to educate pet owners on ways to support their pets’ health and extend their lives, and this service will help address overcrowding in animal shelters,” added O’Malley.

The full text of the resolution is below.

RESOLUTION OF CITY COUNCILOR MATT O’MALLEY

WHEREAS:     February 26^th is widely recognized as World Spay Day since it was established in 1995 by the Doris Day Animal League; and

WHEREAS:     World Spay Day is recognized in over 70 countries to bring attention to the importance of spaying or neutering animals and the need for affordable services in our communities; and

WHEREAS:     Pets provide companionship to 68% of U.S. households; and

WHEREAS:     Of the 3 million cats and dogs that are euthanized in shelters each year, approximately 2.4 million are healthy and adoptable; and

WHEREAS:     Spay/neutering a pet is an effective and humane way to save animals’ lives and prevent surplus litters and reduce the number of animals that are put down in animal shelters; and

WHEREAS:     Neutered male dogs live 18% longer than intact male dogs and spayed female dogs live 23% longer than intact female dogs; and

WHEREAS:     Neutered dogs can help curb aggressive, curb undesirable behaviors such as marking, and reduce a dogs risk of certain tumors and cancers with spay/neuter surgery; and

WHEREAS:     There are numerous programs sponsored by Boston-based non-profits, such as the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) that offer spay and neutering surgery for animals in low-income communities free of charge as well as offer to do the surgery to the general public; and

WHEREAS:     The MSPCA-Angell, located in Jamaica Plain, does community outreach to provide resources and services, such as providing spay or neuter surgery, and vaccinations. The MSPCA-Angell, through a continued presence in Boston’s communities seeks to create a safety net for family pets; and

WHEREAS:     The MSPCA-Angell’s community outreach in Boston in 2019 has resulted in meeting 737 families and 975 pets who became clients. The MSPCA-Angell conducted 437 spay/neuter surgeries, conducted 677 veterinary visits, and provided 27,184 meals to pets for free to families with lower incomes; NOW THEREFORE BE IT

RESOLVED:    That the Boston City Council, in meeting assembled, does hereby declare that February 25, 2020 as “World Spay Day,” and congratulates and thanks animal welfare organizations like the MSPCA for ensuring the health and vibrancy of our animal community in Boston and throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Appointment Roster Growing Steadily at the New Clinic at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School

BOSTON and Danvers, Mass. Feb. 14, 2020 – It’s been less than three months since the MSPCA-Angell opened its latest fully immersive academic and clinical training program at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School, and the clinic is already busy.

Today the organization announced that Angell at Essex’s 100^th patient visit was a special one indeed: a pair of nine-week-old Basset Hound puppies stopped by on Wednesday, Feb. 12, for routine care—and to capture the hearts of Medical Director Erin Turowski and the students who assist with animal care at the fast-growing clinic.

“It’s a special day whenever puppies are in the building, but this was an especially gratifying visit because we had previously cared for the family’s older Basset Hound, who needed surgery several weeks ago to remove two benign cysts, and who is recovering so well,” said Dr. Turowski.

The puppies, named “Stanley” and “Pearl,” and owned by John and Sally Iwanicki of Merrimac, Mass., came in for exams and first vaccines.

“This included a general health exam during which we evaluated their teeth, checked for hernias and heart murmurs, and vaccinated them,” said Dr. Turowski.  “Fortunately, Stanley and Pearl are in wonderful shape, with no health concerns at all.”

For John and Sally, the visit was a wonderful opportunity to re-connect with the clinic, including the students who took care of their older Basset hound, Louie.

“We’re so happy with the level of care at Angell at Essex and it’s clear to us that Dr. Turowski has created an environment in which the students are maximizing their exposure to animal patients—and the patients benefit so much from that added attention,” said John.

Angell at Essex, which opened its doors to the public in December 2019, reserves a portion of its appointment schedule for discounted spay and neuter services, vaccinations and basic veterinary care for cats, dogs and other pets.  Remaining appointments serve the general public in the area who are seeking quality care for their pets.

Teaching (and healing) Together
Essex Tech students interested in a career in veterinary medicine perform basic tasks such as client and patient intake, record keeping and appointment setting, as well as handling of animals, all supervised under the direction of their licensed classroom instructors, and with guidance from Dr. Turowski.

Angell at Essex is open weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. throughout the year.  The clinic does not provide overnight care, specialty care or 24/7 emergency service, as Angell’s Boston and Waltham facilities do, but refers cases as appropriate to surrounding specialty veterinary referral hospitals.  Appointments can be scheduled via phone at 978-304-4648.

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