2014 was Marblehead Animal Shelter's Best Year for Pet Adoptions

More than 200 animals found forever homes in 2014, thanks to volunteers at the Marblehead Animal Shelter.

The shelter adopted out 89 cats, 136 kittens, 10 dogs, 1 hamster, 1 bird and 2 guinea pigs last year, for a total of 239 animals who now have homes.

This marks the shelter’s best year for adoptions, according to adoption coordinator Linda Greenberg.

Greenberg said she and other shelter volunteers - known as the Friends of Marblehead’s Abandonded Animals - were excited to see a rise in adoptions last year.

“That’s what our work is all about, to find homes for these homeless animals,” Greenberg said. “We believe there’s someone out there for each one of them.”

That belief ensures every animal who passes through the animal shelter eventually finds a forever home. As a no-kill shelter, the Marblehead Animal Shelter will never put an animal down unless it is very ill. Some may stay for only a few weeks, while others have called the shelter home for a year.

Kittens often find homes quickly, Greenberg said, but older cats tend to stick around longer.

“People have to have a chemistry with an animal,” Greenberg said. And sometimes when older animals are cooped up in a cage they get frustrated and won’t show their personalities as well when potential adopters come to the shelter.

“They’re feisty,” Greenberg said of animals who spend a long time at the shelter. “But they have great personalities once they get into a home.”

She believes having animals at home is just as important, and enjoyable, for people as it is the animals.

“I can’t tell you how important these animals are to come home to,” Greenberg said. Her own pets – two cats and a dog – are a joy in her life.

FOMAA volunteers screen all potential-adopters to keep their animals safe, making sure each pet goes to a kind and loving family. Potential adopters can expect to pay a $125 fee for a cat that has already been spayed or neutered and is up-to-date with shots. For kittens who have not been spayed or neutered, the shelter charges $100. In those cases, adopters put down a $100 deposit, which is refunded when the procedure is done.

The shelter recently kicked-off its Sam and Sully Adopt-It-Forward program to encourage the adoption of five cats who have been at the shelter for at least 10 months. The program reduces those cat’s adoption fees to $50.

But the fees are small price to pay for the unconditional love, loyalty, amusement and joy pet-owners get from shelter animals.

Greenberg said she understands why people buy cats and other animals from breeders when they want a specific breed, but that it’s also important to support animals at the shelter.

“They’re homeless,” Greenberg said. “they need a home and they’re just as good.”

To see animals currently available at the shelter, visit FOMAA’s website, Facebook or Twitter page.

Image via FOMAA.