PO Box 897--Rutland, MA 01543
Phone:508-886-6191 or toll free: 866-970-PETS(866-970-7387)
Email:D20havedogs@aol.com
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Sweetpea For Animals | |
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PO Box 897--Rutland, MA 01543 |
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Sweetpea For Animals Shelter Update Animal shelter plans move ahead
Sweetpea eyes land near Devereux in Rutland RUTLAND— Richard N. Clark of Sweetpea Inc., a nonprofit pet placement group, told members at their annual meeting last night that a regional dog and cat shelter is one step closer to reality. Mr. Clark is also animal control officer for the town. The group of 12 members, all from area towns, met in the town library. “We pretty much know where the building will go,” he said. “If we get the site surveyed and engineered and we can build on it we can go ahead with a major fundraiser,” he said. Treasurer Melanie Kenadek reported Sweetpea has $52,877 toward the construction project in its savings account. Mr. Clark said about 10 times that amount is needed to build the regional no-kill shelter. The group also agreed to use a shelter construction consultant to make sure the plans they expect to have drafted by an architect meet specifications for a shelter. Sweetpea member Arni B.V. Casareale suggested applying for grants. And BarbaraJean Stannard of Paxton, who said she has extensive experience writing grants, offered to assist. According to Mr. Clark, the shelter is needed to house animals picked up in Rutland, surrounding towns and as far away as Auburn, which send him stray and surrendered dogs and cats that would otherwise be euthanized. There is not enough pound space available locally, and Rutland does not have a pound, so Mr. Clark and other members of Sweetpea provide foster homes for dogs and cats until they are placed. Because unacceptable behavior is a primary reason for people relinquishing pets, some of the cats and dogs are placed at Devereux, where students prepare them for family life, according to Devereux animal care teacher Wanda F. Johnson. “From January until now we’ve adopted out about 40 animals and brought in $5,300,” Ms. Johnson said in her report to Sweetpea. Since the spring of 2001, when the partnership between Sweetpea and Devereux began, 304 dogs and cats socialized by Devereux students have been adopted, said Ms. Johnson. She has about 30 male and female students ages 14 to 21 in her animal care class, she said, adding that the students generally have more cats to work with than dogs. Mr. Clark told the group he has been turning down requests to take cats and kittens from Worcester, Boston and other communities because he has neither enough space nor foster homes for all of them. “I have turned down 42 cats,” he said last night. He said he has five foster cats at his house now and is expecting four or five more. “New ones are coming in from Auburn Animal Control,” he said. A black Labrador retriever will join the two dogs and several cats now at Devereux, he said. He asked Ms. Johnson if she would be willing to accept a 9-month-old mixed-breed pit bull that is scheduled to be euthanized today. Saying the students have done a good job socializing a young female pit bull, Ms. Johnson said she would consider the male pit bull. “You get a 9-month-old dog and he’s trainable,” Mr. Clark said.
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About Sweetpea
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