Help Archives - Second Chance Animals

Help RAISE the ROOF for Homeless Pets

EXCITING NEWS: a group of anonymous supporters has come together with an offer to MATCH the next $20,000 to make all three roofs over homeless pets a reality. Now is the perfect time to consider a gift to help Raise the Roof.

Campaign to RAISE the ROOF

You can provide comfort and hope to a homeless pet with your gift to the $85,000 capital campaign to replace the roofs over the heads of homeless pets as they wait for their ‘second chance.’ Funds raised will replace the roofs on the Adoption Center and the Almost Home transport facility in addition to replacing the aging high-top transport vehicle. These facilities see thousands of animals every year and we need to make sure that we keep our facilities in top form to welcome the many pets that need our help.

These three roofs represent the journey that many animals make on their road to a better life. Pets that come through transport are brought to us with the high-top transit and spend their first 48 hours at the Almost Home transport facility in North Brookfield for their state-mandated quarantine. Here animals get a check-up and any necessary care in the adjacent hospital. Finally, they go to the Adoption Center in East Brookfield in search of a home. This journey is vital to help the animals that need our help.

The total for cost is estimated at $85,000. Thanks to the generosity of supporters so far, we have begun work on the Adoption Center roof where homeless pets from our community and beyond can find their fur-ever homes. Your gift can help make all 3 roofs a reality!

UPDATE: Perla is Recovering Well after Surgery

UPDATE: Perla did wonderful! She is recovering really well. One of our vet techs took her home overnight to give her some extra love and care. We are so grateful for all the well-wishes and support for this girl and all our shelter pets. Thank you!

It’s not too late to make a gift to help Perla and shelter pets just like her get the urgent care they need. We couldn’t do it without you!

We need to get help quickly for this girl. Perla was surrendered through a local animal control officer (ACO). She has a badly fractured leg and the ACO has turned the 1 y/o over to Second Chance so she can get the help she needs. X-rays reveal a complicated fracture of both the tibia and fibula that cannot be repaired. She also has an open wound on her ankle. We kept her as comfortable as we could overnight. Today our vets hope to perform an amputation so we can get her on the road to recovery and her ‘second chance.’

Perla did great overnight. She is a very sweet, happy girl. She will likely be going to surgery within the next two hours or so. We will update you once she’s out of surgery.

We’re asking for help. With all the shelter pets we are seeing who need extensive medical care, we would greatly appreciate any help if you are able – your support will help Perla and pets like her get the urgent care they need.

Finian Overcoming his Past and Ready for His Second Chance!

Finian was just 25 lbs when he came to us, severely malnourished, dehydrated and anemic. He had been eating anything he could, just to survive and was living in extremely harsh conditions when he was seized by local law enforcement and signed over to Second Chance. He weighed only 25 pounds when a dog his size should be 45 pounds. He also tested positive for heartworm, Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, but we had to focus on getting his weight up slowly so we don’t make him sicker after not eating a good diet for so long.

He’s made great strides and last week he came in for his first immiticide treatment for heartworm. He did great. And he is over 40 lbs!!

He got love from everyone at the hospital and was excited to see all of us. We are so grateful for all the support to make his second chance possible. THANK YOU!

He LOVES to play ball and is looking for his forever home. To learn more, visit: secondchanceanimals.org/adoptable-dogs/

10th Annual Golf Tournament

Join us Monday, July 18th at Cold Spring Country Club in Belchertown for our 10th Annual Golf Tournament. This event will benefit the programs assisting the underserved at our Community Veterinary Hospitals in North Brookfield, Southbridge, Springfield & Worcester.

Golfers will enjoy 18 holes with cart, range balls, lunch & dinner and more. We’ll have course features and games, team awards and challenge prizes, plus a raffle and silent auction.

Tickets are now on sale and sponsorships are available. For more information visit our Annual Golf Tournament page

Time Magazine spotlights Second Chance – “How America Saved Millions of Pets—By Moving Them”

“The dusty white cargo plane stood out among the gleaming corporate jets, as did its passengers: 48 barking dogs, newly arrived at the private air terminal at Hanscom Field, outside of Boston.

They had left Mississippi that morning with their health certificates taped to their kennels. All week, the staff at Oktibbeha County Humane Society (OCHS), in Starkville, Miss., had been getting them ready, giving them their shots, testing their temperaments, and color-coding each crate for its destination: red for Second Chance Animal Services in North Brookfield, Mass.”

Read journalist Andrew Blum’s “How America Saved Millions of Pets-By Moving Them”

Adopter Beware – How to Avoid Unknowingly Supporting a Puppy Mill

Advice from Second Chance Founder & CEO Sheryl Blancato

Maybe you have your heart set on a Golden Retriever or a French Bulldog. You’ve been visiting your local shelter and shelter websites with no luck. In fact, there’s not as many pets to choose from as there were a few years ago and you wonder how you’ll ever find your new furry family member.

Animal transports are not a new thing, but with so few pets locally surrendered to shelters here in New England, the practice has greatly increased. How do you know that the pet you are getting is not from a puppy mill?

As with everything, opportunity sometimes fosters a negative side. Transporting pets from overcrowded shelters where they are at risk of euthanasia to shelters in areas where families are waiting to adopt is a wonderful thing. It saves so many lives. Local pets should always be the first priority, but when that number has declined to a point that a shelter or rescue has room to help pets from other states too, it is a good way to save more lives.

Prospective pet owners need to be careful though. There are people out there posing as rescues when they are not. In animal welfare, there are lots of names for them like “puppy flippers.” There are flags to watch out for and alert you to do further investigation. If you live in Massachusetts and you find a pet online that you want to adopt, beware if they will only meet you in Connecticut or somewhere else over the border. That tells you that they are not registered in the state of Massachusetts. There is a mandatory 48-hour quarantine requirement for all pets entering Massachusetts from other states. They may be trying to avoid that and once they leave the drop off site, you can be left on your own if the pet gets sick. You can find legitimate, registered organizations listed on the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources website.

There is also a growing trend of people bringing puppies into the state without health certificates and claiming that they raised the puppies. These pets may actually be from puppy mills. You should always ask to see the parents of the puppies, or at the very least the mom. If they refuse, beware. If they have several different breeds available, that should also be a red flag warranting further investigation. Reputable breeders usually only breed one or two breeds. They do it to further the bloodline of their beloved breed. They care deeply about the offspring and will often require a contract before you can take one of their pups home.

We all need to be sure that when we are adopting a pet that we are helping that pet and not supporting a puppy mill. We need to be sure that transporting is done safely for the pets and not putting them at risk. There are best practices that all shelters and rescues follow when bringing pets in from out of state. A truck on the side of the road, tightly packed floor to ceiling with crates and poor airflow who are handing out pets to those that have cash is not one of them. Let’s all work together to ensure that all pets are safe and that we don’t unknowingly support the practice of puppy mill operations.

#BettyWhiteChallenge

Betty White was a true friend to animals, making the world a better place for animals of all kinds. The #BettyWhiteChallenge encourages animal lovers and Betty White lovers to make a donation to an animal shelter in honor of what would have been her 100th birthday.

We are humbled to honor her legacy of animal advocacy. Every donation to Second Chance made in her name will benefit our Homebound to the Rescue program. This program helps keep seniors and their beloved pets together by providing veterinary services on-site at no cost to low-income senior housing areas. This helps the elderly keep their pets healthy and up to date on vaccines.

Homebound to the Rescue relies entirely on donations and grants, and is made possible in part by the Banfield Foundation. Donations in Betty’s name will help bring this program to help keep more pets and their beloved owners together. Thank you.

Challenge gifts can also be made on our Facebook Fundraiser or by mail to: #BettyWhiteChallenge, Second Chance Animal Services, PO Box 136, East Brookfield, MA 01515.

Keeping Pets & People Together

Charlie is his dad’s whole world. When his wife died seven years ago, his granddaughter got him a puppy (Charlie) to keep him company. Charlie developed a large mass on his thigh that couldn’t easily be removed and initial testing suggested it was malignant. A beloved pet’s serious illness or injury can wreak havoc on a senior budget, but Second Chance and Pets for the Elderly are committed to keeping pets and the people they love together whenever possible.

Dad opted to amputate his limb to give him the best chance of survival. When he picked Charlie up from surgery he said he was going to bring him home and they were going to watch Charlie’s favorite show tonight. It has dogs and cats on it that he likes to bark at. Charlie’s owner tells us he is doing wonderfully and already walking around on his own!

We are grateful to Pets for the Elderly and to all the generous supporters who help keep pets and people together.

Want to help?

Second Chance Assisting in Tornado Recovery Efforts

Second Chance Assisting in Tornado Recovery Efforts

Nonprofit Takes in Transport from Kentucky Shelters

EAST BROOKFIELD, MA (December 15, 2021) – Second Chance Animal Services this morning took in 11 homeless cats and kittens from animal shelters in tornado ravaged Kentucky. The transport, facilitated by the ASPCA (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,) will free up space and resources to care for pets that have been displaced by last weekend’s devastating tornadoes.

Second Chance CEO Sheryl Blancato explains that the cats picked up at Hanscom Field Airport by Second Chance were already in animal shelters when the tornadoes struck. “Our hearts are breaking as we see the devastation and are ready to do anything we can do to help,” says Blancato. “As an ASPCA Emergency Placement Response Partner, we were expecting the call and began preparations at our Almost Home transport facility.”

There will be a full house at the Almost Home facility. 13 cats are still at the facility from the recent large-scale local rescue. A total of 15 kittens were born to six pregnant cats, bringing the total to 88 for that case alone. The facility also welcomes weekly transports from overcrowded shelters.

The cats and kittens will complete a 48-hour state-mandated quarantine and have all their veterinary needs met before they make the trip to the Second Chance Adoption Center to begin their search for a new home. Anyone wishing to donate toward their care can donate at secondchanceanimals.org/donate/ or checks can be mailed to Second Chance Animal Services, PO Box 136, East Brookfield, MA 01515.

An Extraordinary Year of Lifesaving for Second Chance

From large-scale rescues to emergency surgeries, 2021 has been an extraordinary year of saving lives for Second Chance Animal Services. We have responded to more emergency cases this year than ever before, saving pets with nowhere else to turn. By year’s end Second Chance will have helped over 40,000 pets. The total is very similar to 2019 and 2020, but this year so many of the pets we helped were in crisis.

Day after day, our hospitals are squeezing in another surgery to save a dog suffering from a life-threatening uterine infection or a cat who has eaten something he shouldn’t have. They arrive in a critical state. We have adjusted our schedules to accommodate as many emergency surgeries as possible because we may be their last chance.

Some may be diagnosed by an emergency facility that isn’t able to perform surgery in time to save the pet due to the ongoing emergency veterinary care crisis. Others are referred to us when emergency surgical costs are out of reach for those with limited budgets. Second Chance is one of the only hospitals in Massachusetts that offers subsidized rates for emergency care.

Second Chance’s Almost Home transport facility has also been busier than ever, welcoming rescues from southern shelters that are near capacity. We also took in 73 cats from a local large-scale rescue this fall that included six pregnant moms. A total of 15 kittens were born, bringing the total to 88 for that one case alone.

Each pet that comes through Almost Home has all their medical needs met including a full veterinary exam and tests, vaccines, and spay or neuter surgery if necessary before they can go to the Adoption Center in East Brookfield to begin their search for a new home. The Adoption Center also takes in local surrenders and ensures their veterinary needs are met as well.

The incredible demand for help has put a strain, not only on the Second Chance staff, but on a limited budget as well. Supply costs continue to increase, and the tight labor market continues to drive labor cost upward. Blancato says that despite the rising costs, Second Chance is committed to expanding capacity in 2022. We know there are many more pets who need help and we’ve set a goal to help 45,000 pets in the new year. We can’t let these pets down, but we can’t do it alone.

Second Chance opened their long-awaited fourth Community Veterinary Hospital in Southbridge this fall. The facility is currently open three days a week and plans to accommodate a full schedule and add a weekly vaccine clinic in the new year as hiring and funding allow.

You can help! You donation today can help a pet with nowhere else to turn.

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