Berkshire Humane Society’s John Perreault has as many stories to tell as animals that have come through his Cadwell Road doors in the past nine years. At 2,500 or so per year, that’s a lot of stories.
But the big news for Berkshire Humane and for the thousands of cats and dogs they help, is that their new state of the art facility on Barker Road just broke ground Tuesday. That means there will be no more floods in the shelter when it rains a lot and no more sharing one sink both to wash dogs and do dishes. It also means, when the 25,000-square-foot facility is up and running, that some of the cats will stay in a “colony room†rather than individual cages, and dogs too. Conditions, Perreault said, will be better for everyone: animals, adopters and staff.
The current facility — the basement of a barn — has been a shelter since 1963. Prior to that and since 1936, the ASPCA ran the shelter in Cheshire. Berkshire Humane took over the running of this shelter in 1993, one year after they formed. The current usable space on Cadwell Road is much too small, says Perreault. Increasing their space will allow them to triple the animals they help.
Berkshire Humane Society doesn’t turn animals away, which means they also take strays.
The adoption program is the most visible part of its work, along with spaying and neutering services. But they also have an emergency food bank which Perreault says allows owners to keep a pet during a tough financial period, when he might otherwise have to give it up. They provide funds for spaying and neutering at various times of the year, and they make 140 annual trips to Berkshire classrooms to educate kids about caring for pets. Behavior classes at the shelter are offered, and such events as a Pit Bull conference are offered as well.
Funding for the shelter comes from donations and contributions. So far the Society has raised $1 million of the needed $4 million. As they build they will raise money. Perreault says the campaign has slowed a bit since Sept. 11, but he’s certain they’ll meet their goal.
The new shelter will also have larger cages for animals, making conditions for humane, says Perreault. Instead of the 18-inch-wide cage for a cat, a cat cage will be three feet. Some cages will join to others, allowing cat families to mingle; some cages will be dividable, allowing staff to clean half without taking the animal out to do it.
Adopting families will be able to view the animals in a living room type situation, behind a window, making the situation less stressful for animals and more pleasant for people too, he said.
Perreault says that due to the efforts of the Humane Society their numbers are down for dogs, but not so for cats. Of the 1,800 cats that came to their facility last year, 40 percent were strays. Not enough people are caring for animals and not enough pet owners are spaying and neutering, he said.
Recently he was asked to come to the house of a group of people who started with three unneutered cats. After three years they had 53. Older pets are often given up for adoption after a family crisis.
Perreault said divorce and death are common reasons that mature pets end up at Berkshire Humane's shelter. He recently placed a 12-year-old Scottish terrier after its owner had died.
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Letter: Let's Prioritize Investment in Public Education in Massachusetts
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:
Across the 1st Berkshire District, our schools face a unique set of challenges. Declining enrollment, rising transportation costs, workforce shortages, increasing special education expenses, and growing student mental health needs are placing significant pressure on local districts and taxpayers alike.
We need to continue to strengthen the connections between our primary schools, higher education institutions, career training programs, and local employers so that more young people can build successful futures right here in the Berkshires. Whether it's early college programming that has been spearheaded and highly successful right here in the 1st Berkshire District with MCLA, new trades training like the HVAC program at McCann, or the high demand certifications and trainings in healthcare now being built and operated at BCC, MCLA, and within our K-12 system. Each of these represents an example of how we do things well right here in our region, and lays the groundwork for how we can continue to advance educational support.
A strong public education system is directly connected to housing, childcare, transportation, workforce development, and economic opportunity. If we want to retain young families, attract new residents, and build a stronger regional economy, we must continue investing in educational excellence at every level.
I support continued and enhanced investment in public education, career and technical education, and early childhood education. I also support policies that recognize the unique challenges facing rural and small-city districts, particularly around transportation funding, the imbalance of special education costs and state funding formulas, and educator recruitment and retention. When local students' needs change, we need to be aggressive in advocating and designing policies that remain agile to the cost-of-service impacts and be willing to change existing practices such as the Chapter 70 funding formula. Together, we need to foster a culture of equitable education investment that lifts up our students and families, not one that measures their value based on standardized tests that have proven to be determined more heavily by median household income, and not the quality of our educators, the commitment of our students or the support of our communities.
Every student deserves a pathway to success, whether that pathway leads to a college classroom, a skilled trade, military service, entrepreneurship, or a career right here in the Berkshires. As your State Representative, I will work collaboratively with educators, families, school leaders, higher education institutions, workforce partners, and state agencies to make sure that the Berkshires have a strong voice in shaping the future of education policy in Massachusetts, and will ensure that our communities get the tailored support we need and deserve.
Sincerely,
Andrew Fitch North Adams, Mass.
Candidate for state representative, 1st Berkshire District
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