Medical Director Dr. Grace Park is a native of Connecticut. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2001 and a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Colorado State University in 2005.  She was voted the 2019 Best Veterinarian by readers of Worcester Magazine.

Dr. Park has practiced extensively in the Northeast working in CT, NY, NJ, and Massachusetts. She joined Second Chance in 2015 as our Medical Director. Her special interests include dentistry, population control, soft tissue and orthopedic surgery and geriatric medicine. Dr. Park is certified in veterinary acupuncture and also has a certificate in aquatic pathobiology.

Dr. Park shares her home with her husband, her cat Lion and 3 pet fish. Her interests include the creative arts, gardening, travel and hiking.

Dr. Ashley Raymond is a native of Pomfret, Connecticut where she developed a love for animals while growing up on her family’s small farm. She attended Syracuse University and earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology in 2010. She completed her Doctorate degree in Veterinary Medicine at St. George’s University in 2014 and attended her clinical year at the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Raymond has a passion for dentistry and oral health, for which she’s pursued advanced training. She also has a special interest in internal medicine and ultrasonography. When not caring for patients, Dr. Raymond enjoys spending time with her husband, dogs, cats, and Nigerian dwarf goats and working on her coral reef aquarium.

Dr. Jackie Celmer grew up in Southbridge Massachusetts. She earned her undergraduate degree in pre-veterinary sciences at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Dr. Jackie attended Ross University school of Veterinary Medicine on the small Caribbean island of St. Kitts. She completed her clinical year at the University of Tennessee in January of 2018.

Dr. Jackie has a strong passion for shelter medicine and helping furry friends find their lasting home. In fact Dr. Jackie couldn’t resist adopting one of her own. When not working as a veterinarian, Dr. Jackie enjoys spending time with her dogs, her family, hiking, watching scary movies and knitting.

Dr. Jennifer Johnson grew up in New York, where she developed her love for animals and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from Cornell University.  After receiving her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Michigan State University, she went on to serve on Active Duty as a Captain in the United States Army Veterinary Corps, where she was in charge of the veterinary care for military working dogs as well as providing public health services to the community.  

Upon transitioning back to civilian life, she ultimately came to work for Second Chance Animal Services in the Springfield Community Veterinary Hospital, where she enjoys promoting preventative care and has interests in ultrasonography and caring for geriatric pets.  In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking and spending time with Tucker, the puppy she adopted from the Second Chance.

Dr. Kristen Cormier has been a member of our surgical team since 2012. She has been performing high quality, high volume, spay and neuter surgeries since 2011 and has safely spayed and neutered over 20,000 animals! Through her work, she hopes to help end the pet overpopulation, and homelessness problem, in our country.

Dr. Cormier received her Bachelor’s in Animal Science from UMass Amherst.  She went on to receive her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Ross University in May of 2009. During her clinical rotations at Tufts University, she flew out to Ohio to the Animal Clinic Northview’s Center for Canine and Feline Reproduction and Infertility to study alongside the renowned Dr. Robert Hutchison.  

Her special interests in veterinary medicine include surgery, anesthesia, reproduction, and emergency surgical procedures such as C-sections, pyometras and foreign body extractions.

All flat-faced animals steal her heart, and she has a special place and admiration for English Bulldogs. She is pictured here with her 1-year-old, super silly kitty “Rocky.”  

Dr. Rosario Delgado-Lecároz grew up in Puerto Rico. She graduated from Tufts University in 1993 and completed a one year large animal production medicine internship at Cornell University where she worked with farm animals mainly cows, horses, sheep, goats and pigs. She did a second internship in CT working with medicine and small animal surgery specialists. The plan was to go back to PR to work on a mix animal practice but she met a really cute American, got married, and the rest is history.

Before working as a shelter veterinarian, she worked at an emergency clinic for 3 years and completed training in veterinary homeopathy and acupuncture. She was a holistic veterinarian for a period of time but community and shelter medicine was more fulfilling than individual medicine. She recently finished a shelter medicine certificate and divides her time working with several local shelters in MA. She also enjoys working at her mix animal practice, Country Veterinary Services, working with sheep, goats, and pigs.

At Second Chance, she provides spay and neuter surgeries for dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs and small ruminants. Rosario is also helping in Puerto Rico since the hurricane in 2017 through “Veterinarians for Puerto Rico” performing spay and neuter for owned and stray ‘satos’ on the Island. She lives in Upton with her two teenagers, 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 geckos, a herd of friendly fat sheep and her lucky husband. She LOVES being a vet and working at the shelters, and the local farmers in the area. In her free time she does laundry, cleans the house and enjoys life resting peacefully.

Weekly Walk-In Vaccination and Microchip Clinics

Every Tuesday from 9 AM – 11 AM at our Springfield Community Veterinary Hospital at 67 Mulberry Street

Every Wednesday from 9 AM – 11 AM at our North Brookfield Community Veterinary Hospital at 372 N. Main Street

Every Thursday from 9 AM – 11 AM at our Worcester Community Veterinary Clinic at 831 Main Street

Second Chance offers vaccine and microchip clinics to help ensure that all pets get home safely and are protected from rabies. Cats must be in carriers. Dogs must be on leash.  If your pet has had a previous rabies vaccine, please bring the pets Rabies Vaccination Certificate as proof to be eligible for a 3-year rabies vaccine.

For mobile clinic locations and services offered at those clinics, please go to our mobile clinic page.

Walk-In Vaccine  and Microchip Clinic Services

Services for Dogs

*Due to the variance in breeds, size, age, etc. in dogs, please fill out the application and a representative will contact you for pricing.

** Puppies under 6 months of age are required to have at least two distemper vaccines prior to surgery.

***NOTE: HW/Lyme test can be done but we can not dispense any medications for either a positive or negative result at the time of testing. Results need to be brought to the pet owners regular vet and the vet will need to write a prescription for any medication, or if you would like to become an established client at our new subsidized clinic you can make an appointment with us.

Services For Cats

Services for Rabbits

The Pit Fix
Help to get your pit bull fixed is only a click away!

Pit bull and pit bull mixes are the most common dog found in shelters. This is due in large part to the misinformation about the breed and over breeding. We want to help this breed by helping to fix pit bulls at an affordable cost. Be a responsible pit bull owner and get your pit fixed – we can help!
Second Chance helps to fix pit bulls for a cost of $75.00. If you have a pit bull and want to get your pit fixed, please fill out a S.P.O.T. application.  Every pit fixed helps to make a difference!

Your dog can qualify for our reduced cost pit bull pricing if:

• He/she is a pit bull or mostly pit bull mix and has characteristics of a pit bull such as a square/blocky head, short muzzle, and a well-defined muscular structure.
• You can present a copy of your dog’s rabies certificate or previous medical records with the breed of pit bull clearly noted.

Qualification is at the discretion of our veterinarian.

We want to help all pets get spayed/neutered!

Feral F.A.S.T. Program for Barn and Feral Cats
(Feline Alliance Sterilization Team)

Due to the overwhelming need for help in our community and beyond for feral cats, we have a life-saving program to help those felines in need.

What is a feral cat? A feral cat is an untamed domestic cat. Feral cats are cats that are either born in the wild or were abandoned and reverted to a wild state. Stray cats are not considered feral unless you cannot touch or pick them up. Feral cats will usually run away from you when approached. Feral cats do not live in the house with human contact. Please download F.A.S.T. FAQs for additional information about feral cats.

Spay/Neuter Program for Feral/barn cats (An all-inclusive package):

The cost to spay/neuter feral/ barn cats is $40.00

This is a comprehensive package which includes:

• Spay/Neuter
• Rabies vaccine (if not current)
• Distemper combo vaccine
• Pain medication (given at our clinic)
• Flea Treatment
• Ear Tip (a small eartip is mandatory for all feral cats. This helps to identify the cat as spayed/neutered. Since these cats live in barns etc., this helps to easily identify them from a distance).

How to Sign Up:

Need a feral or barn cat spayed/neutered? Please call to confirm availability:

North Brookfield: 508-637-1333

Worcester: 774-243-1234

What you need to know and Instructions for feral cat services:

ALL cats coming into our feral cat MUST be in humane feral cat traps.  All cats coming into this program will be eartipped for identification.

North Brookfield – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays:

– Drop off is at 7:45 AM the day of surgery.  Payment is expected at the time of drop off.

– Pick up is at 4:00 PM the same day unless other instructions are given.

Worcester – Tuesdays, Wednesdays:

– Drop off is at 7:50 AM the day of surgery. Payment is expected at the time of drop off.

– Pick up is at 3:00 PM the same day unless other instructions are given.

We have feral cat traps that can be loaned out for a $20.00 deposit.

Do you live in Worcester? Please be sure to visit our Spay Worcester page for our Worcester program.

More feral cat info:

CARETAKER’S GUIDE: An Overview of Caring for Feral Cats

How To Help Your Neighborhood’s Feral Felines

Community Cats & Public Health

Be Part of the Solution – Support the F.A.S.T. Program

We want to help feral cats live out a healthy life. Unfortunately, these cats were either born in the wild or were abandoned and reverted back to a wild state. They are not adoptable as house cats. Since these cats have adapted to life outdoors, the best we can do for them is provide vaccinations to keep them healthy and spay/neuter services so that their population is kept under control.

You can help in several ways:

Adopt a Trap: Feral cat traps are expensive and the shelter needs several traps to keep up with the need to loan these traps out to catch the feral cats and bring to the program. You can help by making a donation of $75.00. The trap will be marked with your “adoption”. If you would like to donate a trap, please donate below and if you would like the adoption noted, please note it in the Memo section of the on the donation link (or with the check if you are mailing in the donation). Adoption Example “This trap was adopted in memory of Scooter“.

Volunteer: Help by volunteering at the shelter for the feral program. Volunteers are always needed during these programs to do paperwork, clean out the traps while the cat is in surgery, and/or to assist with various other duties during the clinic. If you would like to help, please fill out our contact form.

Donate: It costs the shelter approximately $100. per cat for services through this program. You can help by donating to the program. To do so, you can use the PayPal button above or by sending a check to: Second Chance Animal Services, Inc., 111 Young Road, P.O. Box 136, East Brookfield, MA 01515.

Save a feral: If you are feeding a feral cat, please get them spayed/neutered. By using this program, you are helping to end pet overpopulation and are helping to make the life of that feral healthier.

Feral cat adoption: While the shelter does not routinely adopt out feral cats, we do help to rehome feral cats that have lost their existing home. If you have a barn or can provide other suitable housing and feeding for a feral cat, please contact the shelter.

Farms: Are you a farm? Please email us if you are a farm. Our definition of a farm is someone who is actively utilizing their property for the sale of produce or has farm animals and includes at least one barn or related structure. We do have programs for feral cats specific to the farming community. These farm programs are free or at reduced costs. Please email or call us for details.

Second Chance Pets for Life Program

Second Chance Animal Services operates Pets for Life in Massachusetts.  This program targets communities that have been identified as in the most need for assistance in locating services to help with their pets needs.

The locations are currently in Worcester in the 01608, 01609, 01610 zip codes.  We offer assistance to all zip codes in Worcester but these 3 zip codes are our focus areas to help with pet overpopulation and pet services.  For additional information, please contact our Community Veterinary Hospital in Worcester at 774-243-1234.

We also have a special Pets for Life program in Springfield and Fitchburg.  These program services are announced regularly in these locations.

Please note that we have 3 full service veterinary hospitals located in North Brookfield, Worcester and Springfield.  All of these hospitals are open to everyone but also offer subsidized rates for veterinary services for those that qualify. For more information, explore the links below:

Community Veterinary Hospital Locations

Veterinary Services

Subsidized Pricing Qualification.

WHAT IS PETS FOR LIFE?
Pets for life is a groundbreaking community outreach initiative designed to extend animal welfare resources for pet owners who have never received services or have received services without long lasting impact. This approach is effective because it embraces the human component of the companion animal equation, we meet people where they live and establishing trust, creating a ripple effect in the community for long term impact.

By improving the relationship between a person/family with their pets, we feel we can improve the quality of life for both, thus increasing the chances of the pet staying in their homes permanently. This is a wonderful program for the city of Worcester, since this is the only grant of its kind awarded in the state of Mass.  Thanks to this grant from Petsmart Charities we are able to save lives with this program.