(no subject)

[greenbeats.livejournal.com]

Is there a pound (dog/animal) in Somerville/Cambridge/Boston?

I've always wondered that, but Google doesn't really provide a good answer.

Comments

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I guess it depends what you mean by a pound. There are animal shelters where strays are taken....

[greenbeats.livejournal.com]

i mean a real pound.

i'm familiar with a couple shelters around, i'm just wondering if there's a down to business depressing pound around.

[kissoflife.livejournal.com]

And why do you want to know this?? So you can banish some poor misunderstood or neglected animal you find annoying to it? Gee, hope everyone jumps right up to tell you where it is.
Clearly we could use some clarification, here...

[greenbeats.livejournal.com]

yes, thanks for the pessimism!

no, i've been looking to adopt a dog for months now and i'm wondering if there's a place like that where dogs are really in need of a home, but who would also not charge $500 to adopt.

sheesh.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

The search phrase you're looking for is

Animal Control

http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/Department.cfm?orgunit=ANIMAL

This is a complete listing from state government approved locations. The ones with "Town Of" or "City Of" in the name are probably what you're thinking of:

http://www.mass.gov/agr/animalhealth/ApprovedEntities.htm

They don't call them pounds up here, but hopefully that'll help you cut through the local lingo a bit. Boston and Cambridge also have facilities.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

That may be tough. Most of the local places will charge for medical, neutering, shots, etc., and that all adds up.

Your best bet is something like Craig's List. There's tons of animals on there that people are pretty desperate to unload:

http://boston.craigslist.org/pet/

Good luck!

[greenbeats.livejournal.com]

thanks for all the info! i had no idea i was speaking foreign lingo, that does make a huge difference.

i've been checking craig's list for eons, i guess i just haven't gotten lucky yet.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

"i had no idea i was speaking foreign lingo"

Well, you saw the reaction you got for using the P-word ;-)

I've never tried to get a pet from CL, but the traffic volume is amazing. You could also try canvasing the local vets and see if they have any tips or animals they're having trouble placing.

Honestly, though, unless someone's trying to unload a really troubled animal (which unless you have a lot of dog training experience can be a nightmare), you're looking at $100 to $200 at least, not figuring in the ongoing costs.

Do you have a car? You might have better luck outside of the metro area if you're looking to save on your initial investment. Generally speaking dogs are more reasonably priced in New Hampshire, though you may have some adjustment issues converting a country dog to a city dog.

I also don't know how long you've been looking (is an eon more than a year?), but the number of animals on CL spikes in May/June and August/September as students try to unload their "school pets." They're typically looking for transfer homes rather than reimbursement. Also, you could try posting on CL saying that you're looking (apologies if you're way ahead of me on that).

[kpht.livejournal.com]

MSPCA at Angell Memorial does dog adoptions. If you have a car, I strongly suggest www.buddydoghs.com out in Sudbury on route 20. They've got some great, well-tempered dogs. It is more expensive than taking someone's dog off craigslist, I beleive $25. But a lot of their dogs are from Puerto Rico or southern states, so you're really helping a good cause. We've gotten the most friendly, well-tempered dogs there.

[sly-salkie.livejournal.com]

The animal rescue league takes of Boston in animals from all the surrounding areas of Boston, and they are technically a kill-shelter. I worked there for three days and couldn't stop crying about the poor little animals so I quit.

That said, this is Boston, and if a shelter does put animals to sleep, it is for the sake of being humane. Animals can go crazy if they're kept in little cages, and also I don't think they have the funding or space to keep every animal that comes through. All adoptable animals (ie dogs that don't seem to bite people) are put up for adoption, and if I'm not mistaken, none of the animals, once cleared for adoption, can be put down. I always adopt from there. There's never a shortage of animals who are in dire need of a good human to give them a chance in life. You probably already knew about them, but they're the closest thing to real pound I know of.

omg are you going to banish some poor neglected animal to be murdered there?

[greenbeats.livejournal.com]

that's terrible! i never knew they were a kill-shelter, though i did wonder why they cycled through animals so quickly. i mean, i see where you're coming from with saying it is humane, but it's still really sad.

but yes, i've been there often. i've just found that they have pretty high adoption fees as well.

[greenbeats.livejournal.com]

$200 and under is really okay with me, i understand some of the animals need to be fixed and fed and all that jazz, but it seems $400+ gets a little ridiculous.

i don't have a car, which is why i'm in such a pickle, i guess. there do seem to be a lot of great dogs (especially through petfinder.com) that are out in areas that i can't get to, though renting a car isn't totally out of the question.

but again, thanks for all the advice! i'll keep checking craigslist since may/june is coming up.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I got my cat from the Animal Rescue League, so anyone who wants to tell me I'm going to hell for supporting a kill shelter, fine. Whatever. I don't regret getting this kitty.

They had a nice clean area where the animals were kept, you can take them out and play with them for a while to get to know them, they give you good instructions, and I brought my kitty home spayed and vaccinated for $80.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

According to this:

http://www.arlboston.org/Main/adopt.aspx

It is more or less in your price range, especially if you get an older dog.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

They're actually a little more expensive than ARL:

http://www.buddydoghs.com/html/adoptapet.html

[kpht.livejournal.com]

Ooh! I meant $250! SOrry!

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

No it makes you a good person. People who think that going to a "no kill [sic]" shelter reduces the number of animals that have to be put down are just deluding themselves.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

All I know is, I'm happy with my decision. I got the perfect cat for me. :)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I found that out the hard way when a staff member at one of the "no-kill" shelters confided to me that when they get overfull they just transfer some of the animals over to another shelter...which happens NOT to be a no-kill one. So they get to still claim they are a no-kill shelter simply because they don't kill the animals in their facility. Grrr.

[sly-salkie.livejournal.com]

It's very sad, and very controversial. All the people who work there adore animals, and they only last if they believe that what they're doing is right. I had a pet rat that was dying of a respiratory infection, and I had him put to sleep, and then I hated myself because I wasn't sure if he actually wanted to die, and why was it my choice, and was I only doing it so that I wouldn't have to watch him suffer, etc...

Their adoption fees are definitely a bit high, but all the vet work is done for you already for the next year. I'll second someone else's advice to check the craigslist classifieds. Lots of people get animals and then make life decisions that don't factor their pets into the equation (pisses me off so much), but some have healthy animals, up to date on shots and whatnot, who the owners want to see in good homes.

[sly-salkie.livejournal.com]

They try to get as many animals adopted as they can! They're all good people and they love animals, and you're not supporting a kill shelter by adopting from there. They even put through special-needs animals and old animals in an attempt to find them good homes. The animals that are put down are on the vicious side (more dogs than cats) or very very sick animals that are beyond help, or wild animals that are guessed to be rabid. Wild animals with broken bones are sent to rehabilitation facilities in the woods, where they are most often released back into the wild with minimal human contact. I swear, it's a wonderful place!

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I certainly had no problems with the treatment of the animals I saw. They seemed healthy and sociable.

Supporting a kill shelter?

[shelter-worker.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, could you please clarify?

Somewhere along the line, "no-kill shelter" has come to mean good and "no-kill" has come to mean bad. It's not only untrue, it's unfair. Not all animals can be adopted. It's a sad reality. There are only so many cages, so many foster homes and when these are all full, decisions are made. The decision to euthanize an animal is not one made easily or lightly.

But what do you do when a dog is returned from his second home for biting? Or when a 12 year old cat in the shelter is so depressed from living in a cage for 2 months that she stops eating? Or the cat who doesn't like to be held or petted and oh yeah, will require special prescription food for the rest of his life? What do you do with the all the pitbulls, which many people shy away from due to their reputation in th media? What do you do when all the cages are full and you run out of foster home?

The animal overpopulation epidemic in the US is a travesty. Blame people: for overbreeding, for not taking pet ownership seriously, for treating pets as disposable items to get rid of when they are no longer convenient. But please do not blame the people who choose to try to help this problem, even though certain aspects of the job are heartbreaking.

Re: Supporting a kill shelter?

[sly-salkie.livejournal.com]

My earlier post in this thread:
"The animal rescue league takes in animals from all the surrounding areas of Boston, and they are technically a kill-shelter. I worked there for three days and couldn't stop crying about the poor little animals so I quit.

That said, this is Boston, and if a shelter does put animals to sleep, it is for the sake of being humane. Animals can go crazy if they're kept in little cages, and also I don't think they have the funding or space to keep every animal that comes through. All adoptable animals (ie dogs that don't seem to bite people) are put up for adoption, and if I'm not mistaken, none of the animals, once cleared for adoption, can be put down. I always adopt from there. There's never a shortage of animals who are in dire need of a good human to give them a chance in life. You probably already knew about them, but they're the closest thing to real pound I know of."

Another poster was concerned that she had been supporting a kill-shelter by adopting her cat from the ARL. I was pointing out the positives of having a well-run, humane animal control system in Boston to reassure her that it was not bad to adopt from shelters such as the ARL, who aims to reduce the suffering of animals as much as is within their power.