LEVERETT — A shelter for unwanted and homeless pets established on Montague Road in 1995, creating a small campus for the adoption of dogs, cats and other small animals, is currently closed, and it’s possible that the site may not reopen.
The Dakin Humane Society of Springfield, which owns the building and property that began as the Dakin Animal Shelter, is in the midst of determining the future for its Franklin County location, though for the time being intends to keep the site vacant as the region emerges from the pandemic.
“We have a multitude of programs and services, many that require a medical component that the Leverett building does not have the space or construction to provide,” Dakin spokeswoman Lee Chambers wrote in an email.
Dakin’s board of directors explained in a May letter that the pandemic has prompted changes to its service to the region.
“As a result of the pandemic dramatically impacting the normal course of business for virtually all organizations, our Dakin leadership implemented the closure of our facility in Leverett, Massachusetts,” the letter states.
Chambers said Dakin is soliciting community feedback on what might happen with the facility. Input can be provided at feedback@dakinhumane.org.
The organization was founded in 1982 as Friends of Amherst’s Stray Animals by Janet Wilder Dakin.
For many years, there was no place to protect stray dogs and cats in the area, prompting Dakin to gather women around her kitchen table out of concern that dogs spending the maximum 10 days in the town’s care would be euthanized.
Dakin died in 1994, just as the organization was purchasing the Leverett kennel that would become its shelter.
In 2006, Dakin Animal Shelter and the Pioneer Valley Humane Society merged, and in 2009, the organization extended its reach to the entire Pioneer Valley when it bought the Springfield building owned by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as the MSPCA pulled out of western Massachusetts that March.
At the same time, the growth into Springfield meant the closing of a shelter Dakin operated in Greenfield, but also service to more animals.
Leverett Select Board Chairman Tom Hankinson said many residents have been disappointed in the decision that led to the shelter’s closing, in part because they were pleased Dakin was part of the community. Many residents, he said, would like to see Dakin come back.
“The extended closure of Dakin has imparted a collective sense of sadness for the loss of an effective, community-based animal welfare organization,” Hankinson said.
Chambers said Dakin is not abandoning the upper Pioneer Valley.
“Our ties to Franklin County remain strong,” she said, and the letter also notes that “the Leverett facility represents an important part of our history.”
In late July, Dakin worked with the Franklin County animal control officer in an intake of more than 70 cats from a Franklin County home, and continues to partner with organizations in the county through its Pet Food Aid Program to assist people facing challenges in keeping pets fed.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
