Pet Reprieve: Animal Shelter Spins Sad Situation Into Success Story
Jim Hickey

At the same time many Vineyard businesses are succumbing to the recession and closing their doors, the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard in Edgartown is taking in more money than it is spending, allowing it to expand hours and raising hopes it will continue to operate through next year and beyond.

“It’s a Vineyard success story, and there aren’t a lot of those right now,” said Dukes County manager Russell Smith, who oversees the shelter’s finances. “Things are going better than we hoped.”

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County to Act For Pet Shelter
Jim Hickey

Moving quickly to fill the potential void created by the loss of the Island’s only animal shelter, the Dukes County Commission voted without dissent on Wednesday to take over the Katharine M. Foote memorial shelter in Edgartown after the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Animals pulls up stakes and leaves the Island May 1.

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County Plan for Animal Shelter Will Need Some Financial Aid
Jim Hickey and Mike Seccombe

The Dukes County Commission this week unveiled a financial plan for the takeover of the Island’s only animal shelter, the Katharine M. Foote memorial shelter in Edgartown, after the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals pulls up stakes and leaves the Island at the end of this week.

The plan would use a mix of contributions from the towns and fund-raisers to keep the facility, already renamed the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard, in business.

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MSPCA Hands Over Keys to Shelter
Jim Hickey

The newly created Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard opens today at the site of the Katharine M. Foote memorial shelter in Edgartown, quietly taking over where the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which ran the facility for the past 50 years, left off.

The old MSPCA sign came down early yesterday morning, and the last remaining animals — which included a German Shepherd mix and several cats — were adopted over the past week or sent to the MSPCA shelter in Centerville.

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Borrow a Beagle: Animal Shelter Sharing Benefits of Dogwalking
Holly Nadler

Studies have shown, and plenty of them, that pets of the canine variety are so good for our health, happiness and longevity that if medical science could have seen it coming, they would have found a way for doctors to prescribe dogs.

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Animal Shelter Event Raises $25,000
Phyllis Meras

The Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard’s fourth annual fundraiser added more than $10,000 to shelter coffers on Sunday, with an additional $15,000 received from shelter supporters unable to attend the event.

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Back from Brink, Animal Shelter Stands Secure on Nonprofit Paws
Ivy Ashe

On the surface, not much has changed at the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard in the past few years. The unassuming building on Pennywise Path in Edgartown still draws Vineyarders old and young searching for the perfect new friend. Inside, shelves of pet care books line one side of the front office, next to a stand of colorful collars and leashes.

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Animal Shelter Becomes Independent Organization

As of Jan. 1, the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard became a fully independent, federally chartered, not-for-profit organization.

Since 2009, more than 300 dogs, cats, guinea pigs, bunnies and other Island pets have found a home through the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard.

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