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Baypath joins statewide effort to adopt out extended-stay animals

PHOTO/BAYPATH HUMANE SOCIETY

An adoption event this weekend across the state hopes to connect animals stuck in shelters with loving homes by waiving standard adoption fees.

Dubbed as an “adoptathon,” the adoption event begins today and continues through Sunday. Baypath Humane Society is partnering up with MSPCA-Angell and other animal shelters in Boston, Methuen, Salem, Cape Cod, Springfield and Lowell to offer waived fees for all species. All animals held in she shelter 30 days or longer are eligible.

According to a press release from MSPCA-Angell, this is the first time in its 150-year history that the organization has suspended its fees for all species in a single event.

Jamie Garabedian, project manager in the MSPCA-Angell animal protection division, said the statewide event hopes to address the slow pace of adoptions occurring nationally. “It’s not that intakes are going up,” she said. “Adoptions are not happening like they used to.”

Garabedian attributed the slowdown of adoptions to factors including housing and pet care costs. “There’s a variety of reasons it has made it more difficult to be a pet owner now than in the past,” she explained.

Baypath has started waiving fees for adoptions ahead of this weekend’s event. According to Baypath’s marketing coordinator Maddy Berthold, the shelter adopted out two cats and one dog that had been there for an extended period of time.

“Even if we get one of those [long-stay dogs] adopted, it’s a huge win for us,” she said.

Berthold also hoped to dispel a common misconception about animals with extended shelter stays. “It’s a myth that there’s something wrong with the dogs and cats that have been here for a while,” she said, noting other external factors are often at play. “Breaking that cycle is really important.”

— NICK SCHOFIELD

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Photo of the Day

A fallen street sign sits in a pile of snow outside Hopkins School on a recent day.

PHOTO/JERRY SPAR