(If you got this directly from MAC, you are already on the list)
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AniMatch for Cats Celebrates Success!
AniMatch for Cats has celebrated its first adoption! After months of planning, we launched our pilot program and have transferred our first cats (though we've been helping cats unofficially for a while now). Our first official AniMatch Cat - and first official adoption - is Prince. This 14-year-old boy was transferred from Attleboro Animal Control to MSPCA Nevins Farm in Methuen and quickly found his perfect new home. His adopters were in the market for a senior cat in need of a great home, saw his face online and drove from Sandwich to Methuen just to meet him. It was love at first sight for all parties involved and we are proud to say that this stunning senior boy is in a loving home and our first success story.
We are still working out glitches and kinks in our processes and will soon be ready to help even more cats on a broader scale.
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Over 2,100 Dogs Served through
AniMatch for Dogs
We have helped over 2,100 dogs through our innovative program, which connects shelters, animal control programs and rescues, giving dogs a better chance at finding their forever homes! Visit our website to learn more about
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Shelter Stats Task Force Update
The Shelter Stats team had sent out a survey in the fall to shelters and rescue groups, and has been working on analyzing the results. The questions were designed to find out how organizations collect, analyze and use their data. The results are very interesting and we will share at a future date. In the meantime, keep working at collecting your data! It's important for us to know how we are doing. The public, in addition to donors, will also find these numbers to be significant.
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Whole Cat Workshop: The Cat's Meow!
We had a huge crowd for the Whole Cat Workshop on March 20th. The theme was Busting Myths, Building Bridges, Saving Lives, and you can find the presentations on our website. Attendees left with great tools and ideas for helping even more cats. Our speakers, Becky Robinson (Alley Cat Allies), Stacey Price (Spay Worcester) and Bonney Brown (Humane Network) were wonderful and we thank them for making such a supreme effort to enlighten and inform our members and friends. And we had a great panel of Massachusetts animal welfare professionals - Mike Keiley (MSPCA Methuen), Alyssa Krieger (MSPCA Boston), Erin Starja (Berkshire Humane Society), MaryAnn Regan (Animal Rescue League of Boston) and Karina King (Dakin Humane Society) - who talked about how different sheltering is now compared to the "old days", especially in that shelters today are able to help cats with behavioral and medical needs. In closing, Mike Keiley offered to talk to everyone and anyone about the work he and his team do. Below is Mike's open invitation:
Hi everyone,
During the panel portion of the Whole Cat Workshop we touched briefly on the subject of trust amongst the various cat groups and especially an inherent distrust of the larger shelters. I hope that some of the things we discussed illustrated that the larger shelters are just as committed to the well-being of cats as smaller rescues/shelters. Ultimately we all have the same goals in mind for cats and I have always believed that we are a stronger movement if we are united, rather than separated. I think in order to make that unity a reality,
we need to find a way to trust and respect each other and in order to do that we have to start by having a conversation with one another. I really hope that everyone in the room accepts the challenge that I issued at the end of the panel by making a commitment to pick up the phone or send an email to meet each of the groups that were at WCW by next year's meeting. I think we all have an opportunity to make things better for cats by collaborating and I think we will find that by knowing each other better we may be able to find ways to help each other out. I intend to send an email out to each of you when I receive the contact list and hope that we can find some time to talk cats! I hope you all do the same with one another!
I look forward to seeing you each next year and hopefully we won't even have to wear name tags if we meet this challenge.
Michael Keiley
Director
MSPCA at Nevins Farm
Cell-
(978)361-6471
Fax-
(617)989-1698
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"All About Dogs" Provides Tips on Working With Fearful, Reactive, and Aggressive Dogs
Our All About Dogs meeting on April 3rd was a great success! Our speakers were Seana Dowling (Center for Shelter Dogs, Center for Animals & Public Policy, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University - what does the research say about food guarding?) and three Certified Professional Dog Trainers: Kim Melanson (how to work with dogs with guarding issues), Debbie Jacobs (working with fearful dogs) and Jean McCord (teaching NoseWorks for fearful or reactive dogs).  We had a packed day filled with lots of useful information and the energy in the room was very exciting! The dogs in our shelters and rescues will benefit from the wisdom these four ladies shared, and so can you! To view the presentations, please click here.
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MAC On The Move
Facilitating Discussions with Animal Advocates Across Massachusetts
Meeting of Animal Advocates "South of Boston"
In an effort to reach out and learn more about some of the challenges animal advocates in Massachusetts face, MAC organized a meeting of people South of Boston on February 25th. About 45 people attended the meeting at the Animal Protection Center of Southeastern Massachusetts in Brockton. (Thank you, APCSM for hosting!) The area has many challenges but there is no question that the people there are very committed to helping animals. We look forward to more meetings and to getting to know more about the good people who are working tirelessly to help animals
in the area. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, May 19th. If you are interested in attending please send an email to [email protected] for particulars.
Worcester Service Providers Meeting
The MAC board facilitated a meeting of Worcester animal service providers on March 8th. The goal was to generate a better understanding of what issues exist and to discuss what work is going on for animals in Worcester (a lot!). Worcester's network is extensive after many years of hard work, as described in this very informative article in the Tufts magazine. MAC and the License Plate grant program were mentioned.
MAC at N.E. Federation of Humane Societies Conference in Nashua NH
MAC was represented at the New England Federation of Humane Societies conference in Nashua NH April 9th thru 11th. We had an information table and talked to many great people. As always it was a fantastic conference where we connected with many old friends and made new friends. We are excited that next year's conference will be held in Springfield, MA! Save the dates - April 8th through 10th, 2017. 
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MAC Members Rock! Join Us Today and Make a Difference for Animals
If you're not a MAC member, please consider becoming one and help support the work we do. Individual memberships are just $10/year! Joining MAC is a great way to become more involved in animal welfare, meet others who are doing similar work, make friends and connections, and hear from experts in the field. For more info visit our membership page.
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