Why did DPVHS decide to close this building but keep the Leverett adoption center open?
A. The board and supporters of the Greenfield Area Animal Shelter began the search for land to replace their failing and inadequate building as early as 2001. When Pioneer Valley Humane Society merged with Dakin Animal Shelter in 2006, it was for the express purpose of combining resources to build a regional humane society located on property that was neither in Greenfield nor in Leverett. The effort to make that dream a reality continued right up until the MSPCA announced the closing of their Western New England Animal Care & Adoption Center in Springfield, effective March 31, 2009. With the region’s largest animal shelter–and only open admission adoption center–closing, DPVHS was going to be the only humane society left in the Pioneer Valley. As we prepared to purchase the Springfield building from the MSPCA, we determined that, while we were able to expand services into Hampden County, we would be unable to support two buildings in the upper valley. Because the Greenfield building
