Angels Helping Animals and the Black Dog are teaming up for their annual Doggie Adoption Day on Saturday, Sept. 10, from 10 am to noon at the Black Dog General Store in Vineyard Haven. If you’re on the fence about getting a dog, prepare to not be.
Angels Helping Animals (AHA) is an Oak Bluffs–based shelter founded by local publisher and businesswoman Leslie Hurd, who has been committed to finding animals a safe and happy home for 40 years. This is the sixth year that the Black Dog has sponsored a doggie adoption day, and the fourth year that AHA has partnered with them. Black Dog General Stores all over the Northeast and nearby local shelters are partnering up to get dogs homes through the month of September.
“The Black Dog is a great place to do it — a lot of people come through,” Ms. Hurd said of the Vineyard headquarters for Doggie Adoption Day. “And we’re always actively looking for volunteers, foster homes, dog walkers, and people to adopt our dogs. It’s an opportunity to meet people we’ll continue working with, both short- and long-term, placing them with the right dog for their situation.”
Ms. Hurd has five puppies coming in from St. Thomas this week, and two adult dogs already up for adoption. There are a total of 100 dogs that can arrive by the end of next week if the match is right. AHA takes in strays from all over the U.S. as well as on-Island, but according to Ms. Hurd, Martha’s Vineyard does a pretty good job managing dog populations. Other islands such as St. Croix and St. Thomas don’t take care of their strays as well.
“It’s a horrendous situation with the overpopulation. In St. Thomas, they easily have 150 dogs in their shelter at all times,” Ms. Hurd said, “Ninety-nine percent of those dogs are placeable, adoptable dogs, but many of them have to be euthanized for space.”
AHA partners with the Humane Society, American Airlines, Cape Air, Falmouth Animal Hospital, and the Black Dog to make a dent in saving some of those lives. Since 2014, AHA has taken in over 300 dogs and successfully placed them into homes. It’s not an easy process, but it’s one Ms. Hurd has mastered.
“We meet every protocol. All the dogs need to go through the procedural things like security, being quarantined, and getting their health certificate. All the paperwork,” Ms. Hurd said. “People also have to be approved before they adopt. There’s an entire application process.”
Sometimes AHA will cover the cost of surgeries and medical bills. So before the pups move on in the world, Ms. Hurd makes sure they’re totally ready.
The dogs are usually mixed breeds, and many that come in from St. Thomas are referred to as “coconut retrievers.” Ms. Hurd describes them as short-legged dogs with a basset hound body, yellow Lab coloring, and a yellow Lab head.
“That’s the one I couldn’t resist,” she said of one of her rescues. “Her name is Calliope, and I call her the Mother Theresa of the rescues. When I foster the animals, she’ll always teach them her rules. It’s very cute.”
Ms. Hurd has been involved in animal rescue since college, and has a degree in psychiatric counseling. She completed a psychotherapy program with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and went on to teach humane education in elementary schools. She was also on the board of directors of Pet Adoption and Welfare Services for 20 years. In 2014, she took advantage of an abandoned animal shelter in Oak Bluffs and turned it into the perfect headquarters for AHA.
It’s a small group, made up of only three or four volunteers. Lynn Shepherd is her right-hand woman, and there’s a handful of community members who help keep the program running.
“The combination of help between our partners and the community is what makes it work. It’s a team effort,” Ms. Hurd said.
The Black Dog donates 20 percent of dog-product sales for the month of September to the local shelter, as well as 10 percent of total product sales on the day of the event. For more information, visit angelshelpinganimals.com or theblackdog.com.
