海角大神

To build trust with pet owners, this animal outreach team hits the road

To save Missy the cat, Alyssa Krieger had to gain the confidence of his owners. The tomcat had been spotted wandering with a wound on his chest. So Ms. Krieger went door to door in Missy鈥檚 Boston neighborhood until she found his home. The cat鈥檚 owners each worked 80 hours a week. They had been worried about Missy but didn鈥檛 have the money 鈥� or a car 鈥� to take their pet to a veterinarian.聽

鈥淚 basically said, 鈥楬ey, why don鈥檛 I take him to do that for you? And then I will bring him back,鈥欌�� Ms. Krieger recalls. 鈥淭hey did not know me at all, but they were like, 鈥極K, I trust you.鈥欌��

Ms. Krieger heads a Boston-based team of seven outreach workers for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA). The team has a proactive response to the number of pets from disadvantaged areas ending up in shelters. Many owners have had bad experiences with the MSPCA. Its former adoption policies, such as requiring references or asking to see pictures of a prospective owner鈥檚 yard, upheld a system of class and racism, Ms. Krieger says. The MSPCA鈥檚 Boston community outreach team takes a nonjudgmental approach to building partnerships.聽

鈥淭rust goes both ways,鈥� says Ms. Krieger. 鈥淲e trust them to care for their pets.鈥�

The team is careful not to admonish owners if they forgo spaying or neutering their pets. But it will happily support and facilitate those procedures, if asked. The MSPCA鈥檚 clinic also does microchipping, rabies vaccinations, and nail trims. And the outreach team鈥檚 pop-up pantries 鈥� blue vans stocked with pet food 鈥� have distributed more than 10 million meals since 2020.聽

That visibility in the community is key. Ms. Krieger鈥檚 team members aren鈥檛 outsiders coming into the neighborhood. 鈥淔olks will flag down our van, or honk at us, or wave,鈥� she says. 鈥淓verybody knows us.鈥澛�