MSPCA-Angell’s Post

Kelaya Valliere is a pet illustrator and animal advocate from the Montserrat College of Art. For her final project, she chose to partner with MSPCA Boston, Northeast Animal Shelter, AWS Kennebunk, and the Animal Refuge League of the Greater Portland area to promote rescuing from local shelters and adopting pets of all sizes and ages. Kelaya is thrilled to say that all animals featured in this work have been adopted. Her art is currently on exhibit at the MA State House, so if you are in the building, go check it out on the 4th floor! Thank you for featuring our adoptables, Kelaya!

We are excited to officially announce that we are leading a coalition of six local animal welfare organizations - Worcester Animal Rescue League, Boston Animal Control, Berkshire Humane Society, Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center, and Dakin Humane Society. Our goal is to increase adoptions, reduce euthanasia, and improve the wellbeing of shelter animals in Massachuetts. We will work together to deal with issues that were caused by the pandemic, including a huge increase in the number of dogs entering shelters, and staying there longer. Many of these dogs are in need of more behavior and medical support than before. Given that recruiting qualified behavior personnel is just as hard as recruiting veterinary staff, most shelters aren't able to address this challenge alone, and, without that help, it may not be possible to rehome the animals. As part of the coalition, we'll establish a behavior outreach role to work directly with animals at other shelters while helping coalition members learn remedies they'll be able to use on their own. We're also zeroing in on issues that are unique to specific parts of MA. The coalition's first official act will be a group-wide, fee-waived adoption event for all dogs aged one and up! It will begin 7/15 and run through 7/21 Hours will vary by location and all of the City of Boston Animal Control's dogs will be adopted through MSPCA shelters. Visit mspca.org/dogs for more information!

Love working for this amazing organization!

This is Delilah, a spunky 6 month old female Harlequin who presented to Angell Animal Medical Center for acute onset of lethargy and anorexia. Delilah’s bun mom had noticed something wrong earlier that morning and when offered a banana slice (Delilah’s favorite treat) she knew for certain something was off after she refused to show any interest. Delilah’s mom immediately brought her in to our emergency services to be hospitalized. During her stay in hospital she had a full work up trying to figure out what could be making her feel so unwell. On physical exam, she had a large tubular soft tissue structure in her abdomen. Something that should not be there. Delilah received an ultrasound which confirmed she had appendicitis (a rare conditions in rabbits). Her appendix (normally the width of a pencil) was as large as a hot dog! In her tiny belly it was taking up so much space it was causing abdominal pain and making her not want to eat. Delilah was taken to emergency surgery for an appendectomy. The surgery went very well and she recovered in the ICU in our specialized incubator. She was kept on warm and comfy with pain medications and intravenous fluids/antibiotics. Delilah stayed a few days in hospital with the exotics department and went home a happy bun!

Congratulations to this #CancerChamp!!! Giovanni Tortellini just finished his three and a half weeks of radiation at Angell Animal Medical Center. Gio's mom Cara was especially grateful for the daily pics that she received from his care coordinator, and said she could tell Gio loved who he was with, and was getting appropriately fawned over. She told us that the Tortellini boy was right back to his normal happy self right after he got home, and she is so appreciative for the care, comfort, and bonus time that this treatment will hopefully bring us. Best wishes Mr. Tortellini and we hope you continue to feel great!!

We are beyond proud to share that Dr. Rebecca Fellman, Chief Medical Officer for our MSPCA shelters, is the recipient of the 2024 Veterinarian of the Year award from the Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV). This award recognizes remarkable members of the ASV who have been outstanding in their role as a veterinarian to improve community animal health and wellbeing. Dr. Fellman joined our team as we were transitioning from a traditional shelter medicine and public spay/neuter clinic into a more progressive approach. She quickly became the key veterinarian to drive the massive amount of change that came with this evolution. Dr. Fellman created changes within our shelter clinic that allowed us to perform more advanced medical procedures for shelter animals pre-adoption, which removed significant barriers for potential adopters and helped get more animals into homes. Dr. Fellman has also been integral in establishing our community outreach programs, as she helped our outreach team organize and execute vaccine and wellness clinics, as well as expand our spay/neuter capacity to provide more access to affordable spay/neuter.  She worked to transform our shelter clinic to be able to absorb urgent care cases from Angell that could be treated on an outpatient basis, which has prevented medical surrender and kept pets with the families who love them. Dr. Fellman has helped to advance our animal relocation program by addressing pet overpopulation through spaying/neutering animals in South Carolina. Dr. Fellman innovated the plan to have our clinic staff operate the TNVR program on a monthly basis. Since April of 2021 our travelling vet teams have spayed/neutered over 3,000 free-roaming cats. These are just some of the ways that Dr. Fellman’s vision, creativity, compassion, drive and leadership has changed the lives of thousands and thousands of animals, and we hope you will join us in thanking her for her work. We have no doubt that she will continue to innovate new strategies to help animals and the people that love them.

This weekend, we held our very first MSPCA low cost equine vaccine clinic! The event was put together by Kaycie McCarthy, who is our amazing Equine and Farm Animal Outreach Manager. A big thank you to veterinarians Dr. Perdrizet and Dr. Schmitt, who donated their time and expertise, and to Peter Whitmore who donated his time and barn in Orange, MA. Together we helped 25 equines get health exams, spring shots and microchips. Thank you to everyone who helped made this event possible!

Lobby Day for Animals 2024 was a success! Thank you to advocates, legislators, staff, and special guests Bella and Luna who joined us at the State House on Tuesday. Advocates from across Massachusetts came to Beacon Hill to lobby their state legislators in favor of animal protection legislation. Advocacy work cannot be done without you! Thank you State Senator Bruce Tarr for highlighting the importance of animal protection legislation and sponsoring the ban on exotic animals in traveling acts legislation. Also special thank you to MSPCA-Angell Community Advocacy Leader Carrie Thomas for speaking about her experience as an animal advocate and why it's critical to use your voice to help animals! And thanks as always to our co-hosts Animal Rescue League of Boston, Animal Legal Defense Fund, and The Humane Society of the United States. Interested in getting involved in animal advocacy? Join our Animal Action Team! mpsca.org/jointheteam.

Did you know, rabbits can donate blood? A rabbit named Moxy came into Angell West severely anemic and was in need of a blood transfusion. Moxy’s owners sent out a call for help and Carlos (pictured!), our blood donor, hopped in to save the day! Unlike cats, dogs and people, not much is known about exotic companion animal blood types. They do not have blood banks available, so we rely on volunteer blood donors to help out patients in need. Carlos stayed overnight after his blood donation to receive some snacks and fluids but is back to his normal self. Moxy did well for her blood transfusion and is recovering at home.