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.
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.
Edgartown attorney Edward W. (Peter) Vincent Jr. is facing legal action after the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals filed suit in superior court, “concerned that Mr. Vincent has absconded with its money.”
At issue is a sum of nearly $200,000 due to the MSPCA from the proceeds of a $950,000 real estate sale in January.
The MSPCA hired Mr. Vincent to handle the sale of a veterinary clinic building and cottage on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, where for 50 years it had operated an animal shelter.
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.”
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.
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.
