As the COVID-19 situation 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. For CDC Recommendations Regarding Companion Animals and COVID-19, please see the bottom of this announcement.

Angell Animal Medical Center

As an essential business, Angell Animal Medical Center has remained open during the Massachusetts lockdown and is providing urgent medical care, without disruption, to animal patients in our charge. We have implemented extensive safety precautions to protect both our clients and employees and we have concluded that, for now, we feel the safest choice is to continue with our policy of not allowing clients inside the building. As Mass state regulations change, we will evolve our own social distancing guidelines. We thank you in advance for your understanding.

• Referral cases to Waltham and Boston. We are now welcoming all referral cases at our Waltham and Boston locations. Clients or primary care veterinarians please call 617-522-7282 or call the specialty service directly for availability.
• Emergency services. As always, our emergency room is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at our Angell Boston and Angell Waltham locations to care for our most acutely ill patients.
• On-site specialty consults and telemedicine. Angell’s specialists are available either to consult on your pet’s case while your pet is at Angell or to facilitate phone or video appointments. Contact information by specialty is listed at angell.org. Please reach out to our specialty services for more information.
• Primary Care. Please contact us for an appointment by calling 617-524-5653.
• Call ahead. We encourage you and/or your primary care vet to call before your visit (if your pet is not experiencing a life-threatening emergency) so we can direct your needs in the most time and cost efficient manner.
• Pharmacy.  Angell continues to fill prescriptions 7 days per week. Curb-side pick-up and mailing of prescriptions are both available (shipping fees apply). Clients can submit their prescription requests at angell.org/pharmacy or by calling 617-524-5700.
• Please support Angell by ordering your Angell patient prescriptions through org/pharmacyversus other online sites.

• • Current pharmacy operating hours. 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 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

• Adoption and surrender services are available by appointment.
  Please visit our website at mspca.org/surrender or mspca.org/adopt for more information.
• Our adoption centers remain closed to the general public.
  In order to maintain a safe environment for our staff, volunteers, animals and clients the adoption centers will remain closed to walk-through traffic for the foreseeable future.
• Our low cost spay/neuter clinics are open in Boston and Methuen.
  We ask for your patience as we work to reschedule appointments that were cancelled during the outbreak while also accommodating new inquiries for spay/neuter. We hope to start scheduling appointments for spay/neuter at our Cape adoption center in August.
• Dog training classes have resumed in Boston and Methuen.
  Visit mspca.org/dogtraining for more information on in-person and virtual training options.
• All adoption center events are cancelled for 2020.
  In-person events, including vaccination clinics, humane education programs, and fundraising events are cancelled.  Please watch mspca.org/events for future virtual event opportunities.
• Our Community Outreach teams are providing access to food, emergency temporary housing, and urgent veterinary care.
  Our goal is to keep families together with their pets and make sure no pet goes hungry during the crisis. Visit mspca.org/communityoutreach to learn more.
• Foster care and volunteer orientations are suspended until 2021.
  Please visit mspca.org/volunteer for the most up-to-date information.
• We are accepting donated items on a limited basis.
  Visit mspca.org/wishlist for a list of items we do and do not accept at this time.
• We are accepting monetary donations of support.
  Visit mspca.org/helpnow to donate to our COVID-19 relief efforts.

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.

CDC Recommendations Regarding Companion Animals and COVID-19

Public health officials are still learning about severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
(SARS-CoV-2. This is the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease), but there is no evidence that pets play a role in spreading the virus in the United States. Therefore, there is no justification in taking measures against companion animals that may compromise their welfare. Further studies are needed to understand if and how different animals, including pets, could be affected.

Until we know more, CDC recommends the following:

• Do not let pets interact with people or other animals outside the household.
• Keep cats indoors when possible to prevent them from interacting with other animals or people.
• Walk dogs on a leash, maintaining at least 6 feet from other people and animals.
• Avoid dog parks or public places where a large number of people and dogs gather.

If you are sick with COVID-19 (either suspected or confirmed by a test), restrict contact with your pets and other animals, just like you would around other people.

• When possible, have another member of your household care for your pets while you are sick.
• Avoid contact with your pet, including petting, snuggling, being kissed or licked, and sharing food or bedding.
• If you must care for your pet or be around animals while you are sick, wear a cloth face covering and wash your hands before and after you interact with them.

For information on how to keep your indoor cat entertained, check out these tips from the MSPCA Animal Care and Adoption Center:

Seriously Injured One-Year-Old Kitty Rushed to Angell Animal Medical Center; Organization Asks: Is this Your Cat?

BOSTON, July 1, 2020 – An adorable and friendly one-year-old cat named “Sally” is lucky to be alive after she was found on the streets of Roxbury, Mass. with a tail so injured it had to be amputated, the MSPCA-Angell announced today.

The MSPCA believes Sally—who is friendly and affectionate despite all she has been through—may have once had a home.  She is not microchipped, however, and wore no ID collar, making it nearly impossible to find her owner.

“She is so affectionate and loving, so it’s likely she once lived with people.  But, unless someone gets in touch with us, it’s impossible for us to find her previous family—so as soon as she recovers we will place her into a wonderful adoptive home,” said Anna Rafferty-Arnold, associate director of the MSPCA’s Boston animal care and adoption center.

Rafferty-Arnold asks anyone who believes Sally may be their cat to email adoption@mspca.org.

Sally was found on Columbus Avenue at around 7:00 p.m. on June 26^th and rushed to the MSPCA’s Angell Animal Medical Center by a good Samaritan.  Dr. Charlie Cournoyer of Angell’s Emergency & Critical Care Unit was first on the scene.

“We’re not exactly sure how Sally was injured—she may have been struck by a car or gotten her tail trapped in a door or fence—but she suffered a ‘de-gloving’ of her tail, which means all of the skin had been stripped from her tail, exposing the bone underneath,” said Dr. Cournoyer.

Sally was immediately started on pain medicine and antibiotics until the MSPCA’s Adoption Center could take over her care the next day.

Amputation and the Road Ahead

Sally’s tail was too injured to be saved and was amputated on June 29^th by the MSPCA’s Dr. Cynthia Cox, who also spayed the young cat.  The operation spared Sally significant pain, as well as any future complications.

Should an owner not come forward in the coming days, the MSPCA will place Sally for adoption.  Readers interested in adoption can email adoption@mspca.org for more information.

Sally is just one of the more than 100,000 animals whose medical and sheltering needs are met each year by the MSPCA-Angell.  Readers who would like to offset the cost of Sally’s care—and the care of animals just like her—can click here.

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GreaterGood.org Delivers 36 Pallets of food to the MSPCA at Nevins Farm in Response to COVID-19 Economic Crisis

BOSTON, June 29, 2020 – The MSPCA-Angell announced today that it has received 36 pallets of pet food and animal care supplies from GreaterGood.org, a national nonprofit that protects people, pets and the planet.  The food will immediately be distributed to food pantries across the Merrimack Valley to help feed pets belonging to families struggling with ongoing COVID-19 economic fallout.

The MSPCA will act as a distribution hub for food pantries such as Merrimack Valley Catholic Charities and the Merrimack Valley Elder Services Meals on Wheels program, who are intent on helping as many pet-keeping families as they can.

Pet owners looking for support across the Merrimack Valley—from Lawrence and Lowell to Amesbury, North Reading, Haverhill and Dracut—can visit www.mspca.org/foodpantries for a roster of food pantries that also distribute pet food.

“Massachusetts cities and towns may be re-opening, but there remains little relief for thousands of pet-keeping families directly impacted by the pandemic’s economic fallout,” said Mike Keiley, director of adoption centers and programs at the MSPCA-Angell.  “We’re grateful that GreaterGood.com continues to play a leading role in helping pet owners in our community and across Massachusetts.”

The donation effort is being conducted alongside GreaterGood.org’s national foster campaign, called #StayHomeAndFoster.  More information about that program can be found at StayAtHomeAndFoster.org.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is creating an unprecedented animal sheltering crisis, while also affecting pet parents, so it is our duty to step in and offer assistance on a national level by creating a network of relief distribution centers with our local animal shelter partners while also supporting them,” said Liz Baker, CEO of GreaterGood.org.  “Our goal is to provide local animal shelters and pet parents struggling financially with pet food and supplies so they can continue to care for the pets they love during this challenging and stressful time.”

Rescue Bank, a signature program of GreaterGood.org, will manage the distribution of these life-saving donations to the local shelters.  GreaterGood.org’s nationwide donation effort is made possible with the support of long-time partners including Chewy, PetSmart Charities®, iHeartDogs, Purina, Mars Petcare, Rachel Ray Nutrish, RC Pets, Pet Adventures Worldwide, Vitakraft Sun Seed, Inc., and GreaterGood.com.  For more information, readers can visit GreaterGood.org.

MSPCA Community Outreach Milestones

The GreaterGood.org food donation comes on the heels of milestone-smashing community support undertaken by the MSPCA in recent months.  The organization has now delivered 275,000 pet meals to community food banks and individuals as well as more than 11,000 lbs of cat litter.

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MSPCA-Angell Raising Funds to Offset Foxy’s Care, Seeks Adopter for Special Kitty

BOSTON, June 8, 2020 – An adorable one-year-old cat named “Foxy Cleocatra” may have used several of her nine lives when she was struck by a car in Waltham, Mass. on May 3, suffering a broken leg that required emergency intervention at the nearby MSPCA-Angell West.

The car strike—which also fractured one of Foxy’s canine teeth—left her hind left leg shattered, and poor Foxy in serious pain.  The frightened kitty was rushed to Angell where Dr. Spencer Yeh attached a device known as an “external fixator,” in hopes the bones may reset, without surgery, in about a month.

Foxy wore no ID collars and was not microchipped, which made it impossible to determine whether she had a home.  She is convalescing in a foster home and, despite all she’s been through, she is playful, adores chin and chest scratches and is reportedly very chatty, happily carrying on conversations with her human companion.

Donations Needed!

Foxy may still need surgery in the weeks ahead to repair her broken leg.  Combined with the dental surgery that she’ll undergo once her leg stabilizes, her medical bills have exceeded $4,000.  The MSPCA has set up a special fund to help offset the cost of her care, and other animals like her.  Anyone who wishes to donate can do so via mspca.org/helpfoxy.

Foxy’s needs come at a time when the MSPCA has extended its services across the Commonwealth in response to the coronavirus pandemic.  Since the pandemic began, the organization has delivered nearly 200,000 pet meals to food banks and individuals, in addition to providing subsidized medical care to over 500 animals.

This work has resulted in keeping countless pets healthy and home with families who love them, but comes at a great cost.

“If there were ever a time for donors to step forward to support the life-saving work we do every day for animals, now would be that time,” said Anna Rafferty-Arnold, associate director of the MSPCA-Angell’s Boston adoption center.   “We have to provide for people in our community who need help caring for their pets, and we must still be here for animals like Foxy who find themselves homeless and severely injured at the same time.”

Foxy will return to Angell in about three weeks for x-rays to determine whether her leg has healed, or if she needs additional treatment.  Once the veterinary team feels confident she is on the road to full recovery, she’ll be placed for adoption.  Anyone interested in adopting Foxy can email adoption@mspca.org for more information.

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Organization’s Oldest Adoptable Loves Attention and Time Outside

BOSTON, May 20, 2020 – She loves fruit salad and dandelions, attention from people, and time outside.  And at 53, she may just be the oldest animal that the MSPCA-Angell has ever been charged with adopting into a new home.

She is “Ms. Jennifer,” a loveable tortoise whose owner died this week of COVID-19, and who the MSPCA is eager to place into a loving adoptive home.

Ms. Jennifer arrived at the MSPCA on May 9 after her owner was admitted to the hospital.  Since then, staffers have showered the loveable reptile with affection (and vegetables) to make life at the shelter as pleasant as possible.  Now, with no home to go back to, Ms. Jennifer needs a hero more than ever.

At just four pounds, and about the size of a large dinner plate, Ms. Jennifer is the perfect-sized tortoise for any reptile or turtle-enthusiast.  Her previous owner absolutely doted on Ms. Jennifer, scheduling her wellness checkups at Angell Animal Medical Center, bringing her along on errands and showing her off to friends and strangers alike.

Sadly, Ms. Jennifer is just the latest animal to arrive at the MSPCA as a result of the pandemic.

“We continue to see animals coming to us because their owners have either died, fallen too ill to care for them, or been so impacted economically that they could no longer care for the pets,” said Victoria Odynsky, manager of the MSPCA-Angell’s Boston adoption center.

“Like we do for every animal in our charge, we’ll take the best possible care of Ms. Jennifer until we find her a suitable adoptive home,” added Odynsky.

Birthday Celebration!

Ms. Jennifer turned 53 on Wednesday, May 20 and to celebrate that milestone, MSPCA staffers threw a birthday party complete with time outside on the grass, loads of TLC from staff and volunteers, and a fruit salad—a particular favorite for turtles of all kinds.

“We like to think she knows the attention is for her, and that she feels the love and support of all of us taking care of her,” said Odynksy.

Anyone interested in adopting Ms. Jennifer can email adoption@mspca.org for more information, or to schedule an appointment to meet her.

The MSPCA’s three animal care and adoption centers in Massachusetts remain closed to the general public, with the organization continuing to pair pets with adopters via individual appointments.

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 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.