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MSPCA Vineyard chapter depends on annual fundraiser for cash
August 25, 2005
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Cynthia Hatt, the coordinator of the MSPCA’s Saturday night event, cuddles Norman the rabbit, one of the shelter's adoptable pets.
"Jim Boy" the beagle hopes to win the heart of a potential owner with one of his best smiles. |
By Janet Hefler
There’s nothing like spending money on a nice dinner out and knowing the cash is all going to the dogs — and cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and ferrets.
On Saturday evening the Martha’s Vineyard chapter of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) will host “A Doggone Purrfect Evening and Silent Auction” from 6 to 9:30 pm at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown. The proceeds will go to help animals at the MSPCA’s Animal Care and Adoption Center of Martha’s Vineyard. The cost of the tickets, $40 each or two for $75, includes dinner and admission into the auction.
“This is definitely our biggest fundraising event of the year,” noted Cynthia Hatt, shelter project coordinator. “It is a fun-filled, casual event, and the silent auction offers something for everyone, thanks to the generosity of community donations.”
Auction items include a seven-day stay in Mexico, sunset bi-plane trips around the Island, Red Sox memorabilia, delivery of a cord of firewood, rounds of golf, jewelry and clothing items, and Island restaurant gift certificates, to name a few.
Of course, an MSPCA fundraiser would not be complete without something for pet lovers. Pet sitting, grooming services, dog training classes, and a custom oil painting of a beloved pet top the list.
“This event is a collaboration between the MSPCA, corporations, and private businesses, and this is where a business like mine belongs,” noted Kerry Scott, the owner of three local Good Dog Goods stores, who has sold tickets, donated items, and given her generous support. “My business thrives because people love animals. People adopt a pet from the MSPCA, and then they come to one of my stores to buy collars and leashes, for example. We should support the MSPCA’s work.”
The Martha’s Vineyard facility is one of seven statewide shelters owned and operated by the MSPCA. It faces tough competition for donations not only from other nonprofit organizations, but also from humane societies supported by off-Islanders in their own hometowns, said Ron Whitney, shelter manager.
Even so, over the past decade, the Martha’s Vineyard shelter has managed to become 70 percent self-sufficient, raising two-thirds of its own funds through donations. Asked to provide a copy of the shelter’s operating budget, Scott Giacoppo, MSPCA spokesman, said one was not available, but reported that the Vineyard’s shelter’s expenses total about $250,000 a year.
In addition to its sheltering and adoption service, the MSPCA programs include spaying and neutering, pet owner education, and placement of permanent identification microchips in all of the animals that go through its doors.
The Martha’s Vineyard shelter also operates a program to transfer animals from other crowded urban shelters. This has proven successful in helping pets that become shy and antisocial in stressful environments. Transferring them to the Vineyard’s quieter shelter may help calm them and make them more appealing when being considered for adoption.
About two weeks ago, Vineyard volunteers picked up seven dogs in Woods Hole arriving from Boston and brought them over on the ferry. They were all adopted within one-and-a-half weeks, Ms. Hatt said, evidence of the shelter’s high adoption success rate. “Ninety percent or more of the animals that come into our shelter find a home,” noted Mr. Whitney.
Especially diligent in matching people with their perfect pet is Jennifer Morgan, who coordinates the transfer program and serves as the adoption counselor. Based on detailed application information provided by potential pet owners, Ms. Morgan either matches them up with animals at the Martha’s Vineyard shelter or conducts an online search of animals at other shelters.
In addition to the three MSPCA staff members, 12 year-round volunteers lend their loving care and time to the animals at the shelter. Some are seasonal, like Stacey Polishook, a Vassar student. For the last two weeks, Stacey spent every morning while on vacation here with her family helping around the shelter and soliciting auction items.
“It is truly our volunteers that allow us to operate,” said Ms. Hatt. “Without them, we would not be able to get cleaning done, walk the dogs, perform medical tasks, groom the animals and many other tasks.”
Added Mr. Whitney, “While the physical part of the volunteers’ work is important, just as important is them spreading the word, telling people at Stop & Shop or wherever they go on the Island about the animals that are up for adoption.”
In a visit to the Martha’s Vineyard MSPCA last weekend, family groups crowded the lobby, temporarily home to caged guinea pigs, rabbits, and a ferret. In the cat room to the right of the lobby, felines roamed free, with visitors petting sedate calicos while energetic kittens frolicked past.
“We usually have twice as many cats at our shelter,” noted Mr. Whitney. “We do not have a stray dog problem on the Island, because we have good laws in Massachusetts, such as a mandatory leash law and licensing. Plus, they can’t swim to us!”
Contrary to popular belief, the Vineyard does not suffer from a huge influx of abandoned pets at summer’s end. Many of them are outdoor cats who wandered far from home, hitting the summer visitors’ barbeque circuit, and did not find their way back to their owners, Mr. Whitney said.
Unfortunately, not all shelter animals are adoptable. “We do believe that euthanasia is an integral part of an animal shelter,” noted Mr. Whitney. The shelter euthanizes animals with contagious disease and with serious injuries, as well as pets whose owners seek to end their suffering.
There is a public misconception about what constitutes a “no-kill shelter,” he explained. Some shelters advertising this policy do not count the euthanization of feral cats or aged and injured animals in their statistics. “If you only took into account the animals that are healthy and adoptable, then we could say we have a no-kill shelter,” he noted. “We owe it to animals to make a decision when their time comes, and to do it humanely.”
The Martha’s Vineyard MSPCA chapter was founded in 1955 by Katharine Foote, an Island humanitarian. The new shelter building was completed in 1991.
The MSPCA, founded in 1868, is the second oldest humane society in the U.S. Eighty-six percent of MSPCA donations go towards funding its programs, according to Mr. Giacoppo. Fourteen percent goes for administration and fundraising.
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