Animal Welfare United States Project #51759

Keep 250 Pets Out of Shelters

by Second Chance Animal Services, Inc.

Project Report | Nov 22, 2021
Keeping Pets with the People they Love

By Diane Tillotson | Marketing Director

Roxy in post-op recovery

Anyone who's ever owned a pet knows just how strong the bond between a pet and their owner can be. On a good day, your pet is there to bring even more joy to your life...and on a bad day, they are there to comfort, snuggle or lend a sympathetic and non-judgemental ear.

The emergency veterinary crisis is challenging this bond, making it difficult for many to get urgent veterinary care for their pet. Second Chance is also on a mission to help pets and pet owners get the help they need now and establish a long-term solution to the emergency veterinary care crisis. We are prioritizing emergency and critical care so we can save more pets. This fall we opened a fourth Community Veterinary Hospital in Southbridge. This hospital will provide care for even more pets and is an educational hospital in collaboration with Bay Path Regional Vocational/Technical High School to teach the future of animal welfare.

Second Chance is one of the few veterinary hospitals in Massachusetts that currently offers subsidized rates for critical care. Other veterinary hospitals and clinics offering financial assistance programs remain limited or suspended, and some have closed altogether. Meanwhile, many pet owners are facing serious financial struggles. If their pet gets sick or injured, it can be the tipping point for a limited budget.

Everyday, we are helping pets like Roxy pictured here. She was so sick when she arrived, she had to be carried into the hospital. She was suffering from a life-threatening uterine infection. Her family was ecstatic when she was able to walk on her own after surgery.

As the emergency veterinary care crisis continues to limit care options, it’s more important than ever to be there for all pets. We are hiring. We are expanding service. We are pulling out all the stops for pets in need, but we can’t do it without your help. The demand for emergency care is incredible. To keep up, more equipment and supplies are needed. We are so grateful to all our supporters who make this life-saving work possible.

Links:

Grand Opening of Second Chance's First Educational Hospital

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Jul 30, 2021
How We're Keeping Pets in their Homes

By Diane Tillotson | Second Chance Marketing Director

Our project to keep 200 pets out of shelters in and with the people they love could not have come at a more critical time. As we update you on our progress, there is a very serious emergency veterinary care crisis, not just here in Massachusetts but across the country.

The effects of the pandemic have created a perfect storm, this time on land. As COVID-19 took hold here in Massachusetts, residents took advantage of all the extra time at home to welcome a pet into their family. While many veterinary practices were forced to reduce services or temporarily close, other vet hospitals like Second Chance were determined to be there for pets. They embraced a new curbside procedure and quietly became the essential workers for pets across the state. They worked long hours to see all the pets that needed help immediately and had nowhere else to turn. They were there for the pets that needed them, but it’s taken a toll on their spirit.

The country was already facing a veterinarian and vet tech shortage before the pandemic. Now we have more pets that need care and veterinary hospitals and practices are seeing their staff numbers dwindle due to burnout. Current wait times at some local emergency hospitals are lengthy while some other emergency hospitals have decided to temporarily or permanently close.

Second Chance Animal Services, no strangers to saving pet lives, are meeting the crisis head on. Since the pandemic broke, we have been here for pets without a pause, caring for the urgent and critical needs of pets in our communities. Now the situation is dire. Our colleagues at emergency veterinary hospitals tell us they are doing their best to keep up with demand, but they are strained and operating beyond capacity. Wait times often exceed 12 hours at some facilities and others have made the decision to close for the remainder of the summer.

We have adjusted our surgical schedule to help pets with nowhere else to turn. Day after day, pet owners are bringing pets to us in critical need of emergency surgical care. Without our help, these pets would die, suffer needlessly, or be put to sleep because surgery cannot be scheduled in time to save the pet.

We are grateful for your support to help as many pets as possible. Thank you

Your support has already helped pets like Layla

Layla was diagnosed with a suspected pyometra - a life threatening infection of the uterus. Faced with a daunting estimate at a local Connecticut veterinary hospital, Layla's owner reached out to Second Chance for help and we were able to make room in our schedule for Layla's surgery at our Springfield vet hospital. Layla is doing much better now and her owner tells us she values what we did to save her dog. She plans to continue to use Second Chance as Layla's vet, despite the travel.

Second Chance is committed to keeping pets and their families together whenever possible. We offer competitive rates at all our Community Veterinary Hospitals, subsidized rates for qualified households to keep care affordable and low-cost spay/neuter services that are open to all.

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