Berkshire Humane Society

The successful adoption of Jingles, a young dog who spent almost a full year at the Berkshire Humane Society's new, substantially larger facility, is just one illustration of how the new shelter makes a big difference. Due to the increased capacity of the facility, each and every adoptable dog that has passed through the BHS's doors for the past 18 months has found a loving, responsible home. That's an amazing 100% adoption rate!

Being able to save animals like Jingles is why the BHS's board voted to take a financial risk and build the new shelter. Of course, everyone supports the BHS's goals, which are to save lives, to bring people and companion animals together, to educate the public about the importance of proper animal care, and to emphasize population control (i.e. spaying and neutering) in order to decrease the numbers of unwanted animals entering shelters. Yet, because of the new facility and its "open admission" policies, the BHS is better able to fulfill these goals, at the same time keeping its doors open to any person or animal in need! The BHS is committed to never turning any animal away because of space, illness or temperament, thereby helping people who have no where else to turn.

For the year 2005, the Berkshire Humane Society took in over 1800 unwanted pets and in addition to placing 100% of all adoptable dogs, 91% of adoptable cats also found homes. "All of the pets we adopted were placed into responsible and loving homes, all were spayed or neutered, vaccinated and micro-chipped," explains John Perreault, the BHS's long time manager. In the same time period, the BHS saw its surrender numbers drop by 281 animals, attributing the decline to the availability of spay/neuter programs and the years of education they have provided the community. And with the decline in numbers, the chance for each unwanted pet to find their forever homes increases.

With an impressive 91% adoption rate for cats, which is more than twice the national average, the BHS has another reason to feel proud. However, they admit there is room for improvement as far as the feline numbers go. The simple reason is that 69% of all animals dropped off at the center are cats, and a full 35% of those come in as strays. "Sadly, cats do not have the same control laws as canines, and it shows when you see that almost 70% of the unwanted animals surrendered are feline, and that a third of them are strays" says Perreault. "Our society just doesn't give the same value to cats as they do to dogs. And a common misconception is that a cat is happier when able to roam free, but in reality this is just not the case. In fact, statistics show that cats which are allowed to go outdoors live shorter lives due to exposure to many dangers such as cars, wild animals and disease. Plus, we all know what happens when un-neutered or un-spayed cats are allowed to roam free, many more unwanted felines are brought into the world. It's a numbers game; there simply are not enough homes for them all". The BHS alone received 1247 cats in 2005. Despite excellent adoption rates, the BHS will not rest until no healthy animal must be euthanized because of space, but for that, they need your help

"There is no doubt that our new adoption and education center has helped with the placement of more animals" says Perreault. "We can now hold three times the number of pets available for adoption than our previous shelter." But we cannot continue to do our good work without community support. The new shelter was expensive to build, we still owe a substantial amount on our mortgage, and our operating expenses have obviously increased along with the number of animals. In order to address some of these financial challenges, our mission for 2006 is to substantially increase our membership. We need to ask the people of Berkshire County to support this exemplary facility in order to ensure its doors stay open and its superb work continues."

To find out more about membership or to learn more about the BHS's many wonderful programs, please stop by and visit the shelter located at 214 Barker Road in Pittsfield, or visit their website, www.berkshirehumane.org.

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