Yard Sale Benefits Springfield Humane Society

By Chris Frost
Eagle Times News Editor
SPRINGFIELD, VT — It was a yard sale with a purpose: Supporters could shop good deals and help save the animals at the Springfield Humane Society.

This particular humane society serves Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish, Chester, Grafton, Londonderry, Ludlow, Springfield, Weathersfield, Weston, Windsor and beyond. It’s such a large territory that the nonprofit was just shy of receiving 600 animals in 2022.

“If the Police find a stray dog, they bring it here,” said Lisa DeBartolomao, a member of the humane society’s board of trustees. “If somebody brings a stray cat, we try to do the same thing.”

If they receive an injured animal, the shelter provides veterinary care.

“We have animal cruelty calls, so we take care of abused animals,” she said. “We get them healthy and in good shape, and they eventually get adopted.”

DeBartolomao also said they also get emails from high-intake, high-kill shelters, and those shelters cannot refuse an intake despite space issues.

“They don’t spay and neuter like we do and have an overabundance of animals,” she said. “They can’t adopt them; they have to euthanize them. We are one of many shelters in the North that takes in animal transports from the South and adopts them to good homes. We do that on a regular basis.”

The funds from the Memorial Day Yard Sale will go a long way toward helping the animals.

“The money goes into our general budget so we can pay for veterinary care for animals that come here that may be ill,” DeBartolomao said. “It pays for their food; we use wood pellets for litter, and it helps pay for that, electricity, heat and staff.”

Brenda Lacroix adopted her cat, Autumn, from the shelter and bought some yarn at the sale to support the nonprofit.

“I knit for the VA Hospital in White River,” she said. “I love Autumn, and you have to have an animal in your life because they love you unconditionally.”

Emily Kolov is an exchange student from Macedonia and loves volunteering at the shelter.

“Macedonia is smaller. There aren’t enough people who want to help animals there, so I do my part and learn how to help them when I go home,” Kolov said.

One of the animals waiting for adoption is Fats Domino, a tuxedo cat that Shelter Manager June Howarth said was abandoned in an apartment.

“He’s sweet and awesome with other cats,” Howarth said, who also mentioned that Fats is great with children. “He would probably be best in a home with other cats so he’s not lonely. He has a lot of energy, but he also loves to cuddle.”

Executive Director Anne Eddy said the shelter has a one-page; two-sided application available on its web page. She said the shelter will ask for the vet’s name and number and call to ensure they didn’t bring an animal in once to be euthanized, but instead had a regular routine of proper vet care.

“We’ll make sure they’re good pet parents,” Eddy said. “If someone has never had a pet, they’ll put down personal references, which we call, and we’ll talk with them and help them find a good first pet.”

When prospective pet owners meet and greet a dog or cat, she said they get a good sense of what kind of owner they’ll be.

“We try our best to make sure it’s going to be a good match. If it’s not, we take the animal back,” Eddy said. “If it’s something like I want to bring my cat back because he’s 18 and he’s got kidney failure, that’s when we will help in other ways. We have a Rainbow Bridge Fund, and if they can’t afford to euthanize their animal, and it’s truly that time, then we’ll help them pay for it. We try to help them keep their pet in other ways, too.”

As a last option, they’ll take the animal back and rehome it if needed.

“If there was trouble, we’ll call animal behaviorists, two of them, to help us set up a treatment plan, and we’ll use medications, if necessary,” she said. “We’ll do everything we can.”

The Springfield Humane Society, 401 Skitchewaug Trail, is open from 12 to 4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. Visit spfldhumane.org for more information.