ABOUT US

Who We Are                                                                     

PAWS is an all-volunteer, non-profit animal welfare organization, founded in Wakefield in 1982 by Esther Nowell. We serve many communities north of Boston.

Our mission is to:

• promote and protect the rights and well-being of all domestic animals and wildlife, and
• foster greater understanding of animal welfare and animal rights through education.

What We Do                                                                    

PAWS members and volunteers work with our Board of Directors to provide the following services to our community:

• Humane Response Line-linking our members and the public to our volunteers to help find solutions for animal-related questions and issues.
• Pet Adoptions & Re-Homing-matching pets and people for companionship.
• Low-Cost Spay/Neuter-working with the community to ensure that pet guardians have access to affordable spay/neuter and vet-care options for their companion pets.
• Feral Colony Management-working with the community to ensure that free-roaming cats are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and provided with food and appropriate shelter.
• Community Outreach & Education-providing educational opportunities for our schools and community regarding animal welfare and animal-related issues.

Last Year's Accomplishments                                                 

The following describes some of the ways in which we provided services to our communities and benefits to the health and welfare of our animals and their people during 2007.

General Services and Community Participation

• We responded to over 2700 phone and email messages, resulting in 514 cases handled during 2007.
• We participated in town days in Wakefield, Reading, Stoneham, and Melrose by managing a booth with educational materials on various animal issues as well as information about our services.
• We participated in the Salvation Army's annual Christmas Shop in Wakefield, providing 30 bags of cat food, dog food and cat litter for the low-income Wakefield families serviced by this event.

Adoption Services

• We found homes for 310 cats, 8 dogs, 2 rabbits and 1 guinea pig.
• As of the end of 2007, we implanted 225 pets with HomeAgain microchips.

Medical Services

• We spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and cared for over 500 animals.
• We trapped, sterilized, vaccinated and released 23 feral cats in our communities.
• We provided financial assistance for 15 families whose pets needed care that they could not afford.
• We partnered with VCA Wakefield Animal Hospital to provide a low-cost rabies vaccination clinic.

Educational Services

• We provided all 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students and teachers in Wakefield schools with annual
  subscriptions to the KIND News (a monthly newspaper teaching humane values). This year we are increasing our sponsorship to cover all Wakefield students in Grades 1-6.
• We sponsored the Wonders of Animal Life program for all 5th grade students in Wakefield schools. Last year, this presentation included experts who each provided a 1-2 hour presentation covering the following subjects:

* Eyes on Owls (including live owl demonstrations)

* Living with Coyotes (including a film and slide show about local coyote

 studies), and

* Grey2K Greyhound presentation (including a visit by a couple of greyhounds in the adoption program).