Second Chance Animal Shelter began in 1999 and is a 501(c) charitable organization. Second Chance’s mission is Our Mission Statement is:
TO provide temporary shelter to stray, abandoned, and surrendered animals for the purpose of finding permanent suitable new homes.
TO provide assistance and information to others whose purposes are consistent with the purpose of Second Chance Animal Shelter, Inc.
TO provide assistance and financial aid to prevent overpopulation through spaying and neutering programs.
In 2002, Second Chance transitioned from an all foster home program to a shelter facility built with donations, grants, and community support. With the addition of a shelter facility, the number of pet adopted increased and Second Chance began to offer educational programs.
In 2004, Second Chance started it’s first low cost spay/neuter assistance programs. In the first year, Second Chance provided over 100 low income residents with spay/neuter assistance. Additionally, over 100 feral cats were spayed/neutered through the collaborative effort of Second Chance and Dakin.
In 2005, Second Chance expanded it’s adoption program, increasing it’s adoptions to 472, a nearly 50% increase over past years. Second Chance also added a training program and behavioral assistance available to adopted pet owners. Thanks to grant funding, Second Chance increased it’s spay/neuter programs and was able to provide low cost spay/neuter assistance to a record 395 pets.
In 2006, Second Chance increased it’s adoption program with additional support for new adopters. This included a “complementary first visit” program in collaboration with local vets. This program gives pet owners a complementary first office visit at local participating vet clinics and helps to ensure that our adopted pets get a great start in providing proper medical care to our adopted pets. Several other coupons were added to the package including discounts at local trainers, free behavioral assessments, free CGC testing, free Reiki visit, coupon booklets for local pet supply stores, free pet tags, as well as several other helpful items.
In 2006, the low cost spay/neuter programs was increased to provide additional assistance to low income residents. In addition, a new program called “Helping Hands” provided low cost spay/neuter assistance to animal control officers and other rescues/shelters. The program provided a record 1,023 spay/neuters.
In 2007, the low cost spay/neuter program was again expanded and provided a record 1,781 spay/neuters.
In 2008 a new program called the “Feline Express” was developed to help provide more services to more cats. This program helps to identify available space in adoption facilities and move cats from overcrowded facilities. This helps to reduce overcrowding and euthanasia at other facilities and ensure that all available space for pets are being utilized.
Second Chance has continued to grow each year. We are located in a rural area of central Massachusetts directly between Springfield and Boston. This area has limited access to larger shelters and their programs. Many of the communities that we serve have farms that have limited access or ability to pay for spay/neuter assistance. Therefore, feral and barn cats are in abundance and overpopulation of kittens is a product of this situation. Second Chance has provided a great resource for pet owners in the area and is significantly impacting the pet overpopulation issue with positive results.
