Municipalities could unite to form regional animal shelter Date: 1/18/2011 Jan. 19, 2011
By Katelyn Gendron
Assistant Editor
GREATER SPRINGFIELD — Agawam, Westfield and West Springfield could have a new regional animal shelter in the near future; putting an end to myriad difficulties they've endured in their efforts to control stray animal populations per state law.
The municipalities are within 40 days of finalizing the terms and legal documents necessary to facilitate one shelter in Westfield, according to the city's mayor, Daniel Knapik. Westfield employs its own animal control officer and operates a shelter on Apremont Way, while Agawam and West Springfield entered into an inter-municipal agreement last year to share one animal control officer, however, neither community has its own shelter.
"The problem that West Springfield had from the very beginning is that they need to get a vet and somewhere to bring the [stray or lost] dogs. They don't have that in place. Any and all other services we are willing to provide." Agawam Mayor Richard Cohen said of the existing inter-municipal agreement.
Agawam houses any lost or stray animals at Southwick Animal Shelter, he added.
West Springfield Mayor Edward Gibson explained that securing a veterinarian has been difficult as well as finding a place to house stray or lost animals.
"You cannot require anyone to do business with you," he said. "It has been worse than a struggle to find a vet that's willing to examine the animals before we can house them. You also need a contract with a vet to euthanize the animal if they are not adoptable."
Dogs unfit for adoption are those who are suffering from incurable illness or are too viscous to interact with people, Gibson added.
Cohen and Gibson said they are unsure if one animal control officer is sufficient to cover the two communities, however, neither is willing to sever the inter-municipal agreement at this point. They did agree that a regional animal shelter would be in Agawam and West Springfield's best interests to keep costs down.
"We could probably save $10,000 or $15,000 that we had been paying TJ O'Connor [to house the animals]," Gibson said. West Springfield had a previous agreement with TJ O'Connor Animal Control & Adoption Center in Springfield to house and care for animals found in town.
Regionalizing Westfield's current animal shelter would require an additional eight or nine kennels, Knapik noted, adding that he'd like the cities to work toward building a new shelter that can house more than just dogs.
"I think the humanitarian in me sees that there's clearly a need and I don't think that it should be shouldered by one particular resident," Knapik said in reference to the non-profit Westfield Homeless Cat Project, operated by Denise Sinico from her home on East Mountain Road.
The city has a five-year lease with the shelter on Apremont Way, which is more than sufficient for a regional shelter at this point in time, Knapik added.
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