LEVERETT — For almost 25 years, a property at 163 Montague Road has served as a sanctuary for dogs, cats and different small animals, guaranteeing that in any other case undesirable and homeless pets would get love and a spotlight, and finally be adopted.
Now, greater than a yr after the Dakin Humane Society introduced that it wouldn’t be reopening this Leverett location, closed on the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, the property has been bought to Better Together Dog Rescue, a nonprofit organization based by a Belchertown resident two years in the past to serve western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut.
“Better Together Dog Rescue is thrilled to finally have a home,” Jenny Franz, founding father of the organization, stated in an announcement. “Our mission to support dogs and the people who love them will continue to grow within the facility. We cannot wait to open our doors to the public.”
The 3,480-square-foot building, positioned on 5 acres of land, bought for $575,000.
Franz established the foster-based rescue in February 2021 from her home and accomplished the primary canine rescue that December, with work centered on inserting dogs with their endlessly households.
“Having a building will not only provide additional space for dogs that need placement, but it will provide a space for the community to visit and volunteer,” Franz stated.
Better Together Dog Rescue has been rising, lately receiving a grant from Tito’s Vodka for Dog People Foundation to buy a van to move dogs, and subsequent yr will probably be launching a cellular pet meals pantry, offering provides and a free retailer to extend access and help extra folks with their pets.
The organization additionally runs the FACT Program, supporting the Forgotten Animals of Cleveland, Texas, by supplying meals, preventatives medicine and assets for the dogs and cats residing on the streets there.
Dakin’s determination to relinquish its Leverett property, made final yr, got here as a part of consolidating its operations to its Springfield location to enhance effectivity. With extra devoted foster caregivers, Dakin was seeing decreased want for extra shelter area, stated Meg Talbert, govt director at Dakin Humane Society
“Before the pandemic, more and more animals were being placed in foster homes, since they simulate a home environment, are less stressful for animals, and can accommodate those pets who have additional needs,” Talbert stated.
Talbert stated Dakin appreciates that one other nonprofit is ready to use the Leverett location, noting that the building’s construction and environment, which had been a smaller kennel when Dakin acquired the positioning within the Nineteen Nineties, are perfect for an animal welfare organization.
Dakin, which shelters, treats and fosters greater than 20,000 animals and has carried out over 100,000 spay and neuter surgical procedures since 2009, will proceed to offer providers in Hampshire and Franklin counties, like supplying pet meals to the Northampton and Amherst Survival Centers, aiding pet homeowners and animal management items by taking in cats and dogs when hoarding or different pet emergencies come up, and arranging “Snip Trip” rides to the group spay and neuter clinics for individuals who in any other case aren’t capable of drive to Springfield.
Dakin’s Pet Health Center, a non-emergency veterinary useful resource for pet dogs and cats, has handled greater than 2,500 pets since opening in 2022.
“We are eager to explore additional partnerships and opportunities to provide Dakin’s services and resources to Upper Valley pets and their people in the future,” Talbert stated.
Founded in 1982 because the Friends of Amherst’s Stray Animals by Janet Wilder Dakin, Dakin and different girls would collect round her kitchen desk out of concern that no place to guard stray dogs and cats, with deserted dogs spending the utmost of 10 days within the city of Amherst’s care being euthanized. Dakin died in 1994, simply because the organization was buying the Leverett kennel that may turn out to be its shelter.
In 2006, Dakin Animal Shelter and the Pioneer Valley Humane Society merged, and three years later, the organization prolonged its attain to all the Pioneer Valley when it purchased the Springfield building owned by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, because the MSPCA pulled out of western Massachusetts that March.
Scott Merzbach will be reached at [email protected].
