EAST BROOKFIELD — Roxie, an 8-year-old German shepherd and husky mixed-breed dog, spent two years and six days at Second Chance Animal Services in East Brookfield before someone adopted her. It took a while to find her a home because of the way she “greeted” people, said Mike Byrnes, her new owner.
“She’s very timid and a little scared. She’ll show you her teeth and growl,” he told The Republican.
Byrnes, 52, is a kitchen and bathroom salesman who volunteers two days a week at Second Chance. He helps care for and walk the dogs. That’s how he met Roxie.
“From the day I met her, she was barking and yelling at me, and I was just trying to feed her peanut butter,” he said. “Once you understand what she’s all about and start speaking her language, you bond with her.”
Byrnes lived in a “no-pets-allowed” apartment. He then bought a house in Monson so he could adopt Roxie and bring her home. He chokes up talking about it.
“I’ve put a lot of time and effort into giving her the life she deserves. This is a big day for her and me,” he said, on the morning when he recently brought her home to his two cats. “I literally bought this house for her.”
While it is unusual, it is not unheard of for larger dogs to spend a long time at a shelter. The East Brookfield adoption center has two others like Roxie that have been waiting many months for a permanent home.
Second Chance founder and President Sheryl Blancato said it is tough to place these “rare gems.”
“People come in, and they’re looking for the perfect pet,” she said. “They’re looking for something that’s already housebroken and going to have zero issues. That’s not reality. We’ve become a very instantaneous society, and if an animal doesn’t work out in the first 24 hours, they bring it back.”
One of the pups available for adoption at Second Chance Animal Services in East Brookfield. (Staasi Heropoulos / Special to The Republican)Staasi Heropoulos / Special to The Republican
Canine care crisis
Experts say the animal care industry is facing an immense challenge — while kittens and small dogs are more adoptable because it can be easier to care for them, it is taking longer to find homes for medium to large canines.
Second Chance has space for just over a dozen large dogs, and it is always at capacity. Years ago, there was usually room for one or two more big pups — now there is a two-week wait to get in, because owners are surrendering so many of them.
Authorities say many animals go unadopted or are given up because families cannot afford the rising cost of pet care, including food and veterinary bills.
“I also see housing as a problem. There are a lot of great adopters out there that can’t find housing because landlords don’t allow pets. I shake my head, because I was a landlord, and people are more likely to cause problems than their animals,” said Blancato.
Shelters are finding various ways to handle what some in the industry are calling a crisis. To encourage adoption, it has become fairly common for some to waive fees, which can average at least $400.
The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals drops the fee several times a year.
“Surrenders are up, and adoptions are down everywhere, which is creating a backlog and a capacity crisis in shelters across the country and in Massachusetts,” said Jamie Garabedian, project manager for the MSPCA’s Animal Protection Division.
“Economic instability is at the heart of it, and there’s a lack of affordable, pet-friendly housing. There is also a lack of affordable veterinary care and a staffing crisis in veterinarian world,” she continued.
Dakin Humane Society in Springfield is seeing an increase in the number of owners surrendering their pets, a 5% increase from 2023 to 2024 — from 3,827 to 4,008, according to Lee Chambers, Dakin’s media relations specialist.
She also indicated, however, that adoptions are up 10% from 2,780 in 2023 to 3,031 in 2024. Dakin also is seeing an increase in the number of families fostering pets until the animals can be adopted into permanent homes.
“We have a lot of people who serve as fosters, and that makes an enormous difference. They take pets into their homes if our shelter is a little tight on space or if the animal is stressed from being in a shelter and needs quiet time,” she said.
A major player
Second Chance Animal Services has grown its presence in Massachusetts, becoming one of the commonwealth’s largest pet care organizations.
The nonprofit business is operating on an $8 million budget this year, derived from public and private grants and donations, as well as revenue from fundraisers. The shelter receives no government assistance, according to Blancato.
The business has a staff of 100 including veterinarians and veterinary technicians. The organization also has 275 volunteers that help run its hospitals in Springfield, Worcester, Southbridge and North Brookfield.
The shelter also has an adoption center, primarily for dogs and cats, in East Brookfield. There is a warehouse in Southbridge, where Second Chance stores food it buys and collects before delivering it to pantries where people in need pick up free groceries for themselves and their pets.
The organization distributed 32 tons of pet food last year, with a goal of doubling that to 64 tons this year, according the Blancato. The operation is amid a capital campaign to raise $225,000, so it can more than triple the size of its warehouse from 300 to 1,000 square feet.
Blancato reports that Second Chance helped 57,000 animals last year but only a minority of them — around 1,500 — were through adoption. The mission is to keep pets and their families together by offering donated food and low cost veterinary services.
“We don’t want people surrendering their pets. If the animals are in a loving home, we want them to stay there,” said Blancato.
The nonprofit chief claims the four hospitals offer dramatically reduced prices for everything from vaccinations, exams and small procedures, to major surgery, spaying and neutering. There are even deeper discounts for people who meet income qualifications, she added.
Second Chance pays its veterinarians above market-rate salaries, said Blancato, up to $200,000 a year, depending on a doctor’s skill set. She said she has little trouble hiring vets and now has 25 after hiring 14 so far this year.
The East Brookfield facility is facing rising costs like other veterinary hospitals; however, managers say they are keeping expenses down through a business practice called Lean Six Sigma.
The laser-focused approach is said to eliminate waste and streamline processes, increasing efficiency, reducing costs and in Second Chance’s case, helping keep people and their pets together.
“The joke here is we can’t throw away that pencil because there’s still lead in it. We’re very careful about our money. Our buildings are very humble, not huge and palatial,” said Blancato. “We have turned animal welfare upside down.”
