MSPCA C.A.R.E.S. — Compassionate Access to Resources, Education and Services — marks a vital evolution of all our animal protection services. It is an acknowledgment that when there are animals in need, there are often families in need. MSPCA C.A.R.E.S. is how we prevent animal cruelty, neglect, and homelessness by breaking down barriers to resources and services in communities where animals are at the highest risk. The philosophy is simple: animals do not always come to us, so we must go to them.
MSPCA C.A.R.E.S. is a proactive approach, addressing animal welfare issues at their roots and accounting for complex social and economic issues that have traditionally put animals at risk.
MSPCA C.A.R.E.S. focuses on animal well-being across the entire state by leveraging our Law Enforcement, Advocacy, and Animal Care and Adoption Center teams to collaborate with state, private and local agencies to intervene and constructively resolve animal welfare issues before they become more serious.
Our Community Outreach program, expanded in 2019 from zip codes around Boston to Lowell and Lawrence, Mass. The program made a significant and lasting impact, with 1,646 spay/neuter surgeries performed, and 1,711 animals microchipped and vaccinated.
Amazingly, almost 50 percent of the animals that we cared for in these communities had never seen a veterinarian before. These important services, delivered within our own communities by compassionate, highly trained professionals, protect not just the animals involved, but the families with whom they share their lives.
MSPCA C.A.R.E.S. prevents the surrender of countless pets to shelters, keeping them in their homes with the families who love them.
More recently, our Advocacy and Law Enforcement teams, in conjunction with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, led the development of a three-hour animal cruelty training program for the Massachusetts Police Training Committee. This in-service training is now mandatory for more than 15,000 municipal law enforcement officers across the state. We anticipate that this training will lead to an exponential increase in the number of animals that we can protect in Massachusetts.