WORCESTER — The Worcester Animal Rescue League is one of several Massachusetts partners of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center participating in a special, weeklong, fee-waived “adoptathon” for all dogs age one and older.
The event — called “Big Dog Energy” — runs through Sunday, April 27 at 10 shelters across the state including the Worcester Animal Rescue League, 139 Holden St.
Jamie Garabedian, manager of MSPCA-Angell’s Animal Protection Division, adoptions of larger dogs have slowed down over the past couple of years and it’s causing a capacity problem for the MSPCA and many other animal shelters.
In addition, Garabedian said her organization is also seeing an increase in local dog intakes, which includes strays, surrenders and seizures related to law enforcement.
She said that local intake of dogs at the MSPCA-Angell has increased 11% this year compared to the same period in 2024.
“We want to continue to be there for all the animals who need to come into our care for various reasons, but if we aren’t able to free up space, that might not be possible,” Garabedian said.
The groups collectively hope to rehome at least 100 dogs during the event. For more information, visit mspca.org/dogs.
While waving adoption fees is a noble approach to entice would-be dog owners to bring a shelter pet to their home. Sheryl Blancato, CEO of Second Chance Animal Services, is addressing the falling pet adoption/increasing surrender rate among dogs with “Access to Care,” a program offering affordable veterinary services, vaccine clinics and spay/neuter programs, as well as pet food assistance
“We make sure that there’s access to care,” Blancato said. “Our cost is low cost and we offer additional subsidies for people living in the poverty level or below, so it’s even lower. And it’s just to ensure that everybody has access to veterinarian services so that they can keep their pets.”
Second Chance Animal Services is a Massachusetts-based nonprofit which runs a pet adoption center at 111 Young Road in East Brookfield and four community veterinary hospitals located at 372 N. Main St., North Brookfield, 831 Main St., Worcester, 700 Worcester St., Southbridge, and 67 Mulberry St., Springfield.
“People don’t surrender pets lightly,” Blancato said. “They do it because they feel out of options. So we decided to give them options — real, meaningful support that can prevent surrender before it starts.”
While some larger organizations have turned to free adoptions, Blancato said they are encouraging what she calls a more thoughtful and sustainable approach that protects smaller shelters and the long-term health of animal welfare services. “The focus has to be on keeping the animals out of the shelter,” she said. “You can’t build shelters big enough and even if you give them all away, that’s not going to solve the root cause of the issue. At Second Chance, we focus on the root causes.”
While free adoption promotions can be helpful, when adoption fees are waived across the board, it can put smaller shelters and rescues in a difficult position, Blancato said, because these fees help cover essential medical care and adoption preparedness for pets.
“Small rescues and shelters are so important to the ecosystem of animal welfare because they are getting pets in. A lot of them work out of foster homes and things like that,” she said. “They can’t afford to do the free adoptions unless a donor steps forward because they don’t have the money to do it. They rely on that to help subsidize all the costs of care.”
Blancato said the biggest need they have now is finding homes for “larger dog,” 45 pounds and up.
“Building bigger shelters is not the answer. It’s keeping them out in the first place,” Blancato said. “The bottom line, we want to get to these animals before they get surrendered. That would make everybody happy, And if they’re in a loving home, why should they end up in a shelter only for us to try to find another loving home? If they have a loving home, let’s work to keep them there.”
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