Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Societyinc

Since its opening in 2009, dakin's community spay/neuter clinic has protected and cared for over 134,000 animals throughout massachusetts and northern connecticut by providing affordable, high-quality spay/neuter surgeries in following the humane alliance model of high-quality, high-volume affordable spay and neuter surgery to under resourced clients, the general public, animal-control officers, and other rescue agencies. In 2024, 8,745 total spay/neuter surgeries were performed on cats and dogs of which 495 were for feral cats. Of that total, 6,307 were for owned pets, the others were adoption center animals.

In july of 2022, dakin launched the pet health center, which is a non-emergency veterinary resource to better support the pets and people in our community and lessen the barriers to veterinary medical care. In 2024, 6,377 animals received services through the pet health center. Dakin's pet food aid program provides food assistance for pets whose people are facing temporary hardships. In 2024, our pet food aid program distributed over 58,849 pounds of pet food, which equals 522,556 meals for dogs and cats, providing peace of mind and maintaining lasting relationships between people and their pets while also partnering with our human-service partners such as survival centers, animal-control officers, and a number of local social-service agencies to dispense food directly to families in need. In 2020, dakin launched the kitten street team, a program to address critical need in our community. The goal of this team of specially-trained volunteers is to assist in controlling feral (wild) cat populations in the pioneer valley. Tnr (trap, neuter, return) is a humane and effective way to prevent unwanted litters of kittens born outside year after year. Cats and kittens trapped through this program are spayed and neutered at dakin and returned to their colony or placed up for adoption. In 2024, the kitten street team helped 637 cats and kittens through tnr.