Hundreds of New Arrivals in Need of Adoptive Homes with Additional Animals Incoming
BOSTON, Aug. 14, 2025 – The MSPCA-Angell is calling for adopters as capacity across its four shelters is stretched thin following a series of sizeable surrenders, the organization announced today.
The influx began in late July and has continued through August, starting with the surrender of more than 50 cats from a single home in Norfolk County.
“Our Law Enforcement officers are often faced with these kinds of large-scale cases that can pose challenges on how best to respond,” explained Vice President of the MSPCA-Angell’s Animal Protection Division, Mike Keiley. “In some cases, like this one, the animals’ owner elects to surrender them to our care, which benefits everyone involved.”
“The owner gets relief, while the animals are moved into our care and eventually into more appropriate homes where they can thrive.”
After the cats were surrendered, they went to the MSPCA-Angell’s new space at its Cape Cod Adoption Center—the only space in the area capable of handling such large-scale intakes.
“The new area was initially intended to give us more isolation space needed for cats brought into Massachusetts from out-of-state, but one of the huge benefits of it is that we have flexibility, so we’re also able to respond when animals need help locally,” Keiley elaborated.
Many of those cats are now available for adoption, and, according to Keiley, the space is critically needed with more cats coming into the MSPCA-Angell’s care.
A Lifeline for Coalition Partners
In addition to the Norfolk County cats, the MSPCA-Angell took in 17 cats and kittens from Massachusetts Animal Shelter Support (MASS) coalition partner Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center (TJO) on August 8.
“These cats were surrendered to TJO from two separate owners in Hampden County, but they don’t have the veterinary resources needed to care for that many animals, so we volunteered to bring them to the Northeast Animal Shelter,” Keiley said, noting that the cats are now ready for adoption.
“We also have a long-standing partnership to transfer cats and kittens from Dakin [Humane Society] to our care during what’s called ‘kitten season,’ which is when cat populations rise because they’re breeding more in warm weather,” he elaborated.
“We’re focusing our Community Outreach efforts in Springfield on helping with spay/neuter because that area is seeing an acute overpopulation spike that’s impacting Dakin and TJO’s capacity, but it will take time before we see a noticeable reduction in animals.”
“In the meantime, we transfer cats and kittens to our care, and we brought nearly 20 such cats to Nevins Farm last weekend [August 10].”
Those cats are also now available for adoption.
“As the largest animal welfare organization in New England, we have a duty to not only help the animals that come directly into our care, but also to extend assistance to organizations locally and across the country when they need a hand,” Keiley added.
“Oftentimes, that means we’re stretching capacity at our own shelters, but we do whatever is needed to be there when animals and the people who care for them need help.”
A Menagerie of New Arrivals
In early August, the MSPCA-Angell took in 25 cats, six dogs, four rabbits, two geckos, two aquatic turtles, one tortoise, and one chinchilla from a single home in Berkshire County.
“We don’t often get some of these kinds of animals in our care, like turtles and geckos, but we reorganized space in our Boston Adoption Center to care for them until they can find new homes,” said Keiley.
“These animals are related to an ongoing Law Enforcement investigation, and only some have been surrendered at this point,” he added. “We can’t go into detail on the investigation right now, but the surrendered animals are ready to find new homes, and we need adopters.”
The MSPCA-Angell will release additional information on that investigation as it becomes available.
“All told, in the last month alone we’ve taken in more than 1,200 animals through local surrenders, transfers from other shelters, as strays, and through our regular out-of-state transport program, which is vital for our partners in the South who are constantly operating over capacity, given the challenges unique to their areas.”
“So, we’re issuing a call to the community: If you’ve been considering adding a pet to your home, please come see us!”
Adopt These Pets!
The new arrivals are spread across all four MSPCA-Angell shelters. Interested adopters are asked to visit during open hours, which vary by location:
No appointment is necessary.
Those who would like to donate to help offset the care of these new arrivals is asked to do so at mspca.org/manypets.
