MSPCA waives adoption fee for dogs next week

SALEM, Mass. (WWLP) – The MSPCA is waiving adoption fees next week after taking in more than a dozen dogs from an animal shelter in New York City.

According to the MSCPA, they are picking up 14 dogs this weekend from Animal Care Centers of NYC (NYACC), an organization that has several overpopulated shelters with 300 dogs in their care and only a capacity for 180. The dogs will be taken to MSPCA in Salem that range from one to eight years old and are mostly large, bully-breed mixes.

The MSPCA’s “Run, Walk, DOG!” event is being held from April 15th through April 21st in honor of the Boston Marathon. All dogs six months and older will have their adoption fees waived at the shelter’s four Massachusetts locations.

The shelter is hoping to rehome more than 100 dogs during the event. They also hope that someone takes home, Dove, a nearly two-year-old mixed-breed dog. The MSPCA took in Dove on April 9th along with 19 other dogs from an animal shelter in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Dove has experienced a lot of trauma in her short life,” said Mike Keiley, MSPCA-Angell vice president of animal protection. “She was found as a stray and had endured a gunshot wound to her face. But Dove is really special and resilient. She underwent successful surgery in South Carolina and, despite her trauma, staff there said she’s loving and affectionate. Now, it’s time for her to turn the page and start a new life, and what better place to do that than here in Massachusetts,” he added. 

For more information visit mspca.org/dogs.

“People in the Northeast often think that the national dog population crisis is something that only Southern and warm-weather states are dealing with,” explained Keiley. “But that’s not true, and no one knows that more than NYACC.”

“Through transports like these, we’re hoping to not only rehome more dogs, but to also shine a light on the bleak realities of the crisis that lead to this wildly incorrect viewpoint that shelters are somehow at fault, when really they’re doing everything in their power to help solve this issue in their communities. And so are we, which is why we knew we needed to make this transport happen,” he added.