Owner's death clouds future of pet shelter
The phone was busy all afternoon last Friday at the animal shelter on 7 Sheffield St. in Pepperell after a false story circulated on the Internet that all 150 cats at the shelter were going to be euthanized because the owner had died and there was no one to take care of them.
Heather Steinmann did her best to dispel the rumors as she fielded calls from across the country.
Yes, she told the anxious callers, the owner had died, but the cats were alive and well and there were no plans to euthanize them.
But Steinmann, a concerned Pepperell resident who adopted a cat from the shelter 12 years ago, said she was heartened by the overwhelming response. Calls came in from across New England; one person even dialed in from Florida, she said. "It's crazy to see how things travel via the Internet," said Steinmann. "But it's at least good to know people were there and willing to take action."
Still, the Internet message, which appeared on craigslist.org and other sites, has raised concern about this shelter, known as the Fund for Cats and Dogs, a rustic 1800s farmhouse whose direction remains in question after owner and coordinator Terry LaPointe died in March at the age of 48.
Though volunteers involved with the shelter emphasize that no cats will be euthanized, the shelter, which has been in operation since 1994, still needs a permanent replacement for LaPointe, described by friends and volunteers as a one-of-a-kind person with a rare aptitude for working with animals.
Charles Ellis, who lives across the street from the shelter, remembered how LaPointe once coaxed a squirrel out of his chimney and into a cage after he had told her about the problem. Ellis said he has no concerns about the shelter staying, though some residents have complained in the past about its location in the middle of a neighborhood.
"I always had a good relationship with her," said Ellis. "She had a gift for working with animals."
Since the passing of LaPointe, area veterinarians have stepped in and placed more than 20 cats from the shelter in adoptive homes, said Caroline Greco, an animal rescuer who runs Kitty Angels, a cat shelter in Tyngsborough. All the attention on the shelter has helped in one respect, but many more cats still need homes, she said.
Greco said the shelter is staffed with volunteers and is operating under the supervision of a veterinarian.
A cornerstone for LaPointe's charitable outreach into the animal population had been to provide a haven for domesticated cats, dogs, and other animals without a home, said Greco. But her efforts were also aimed at curbing feral cat populations, animals that roam free, in and around local dumpsters, streets, and backyards across the area, she said. This effort involved catching feral cats in live traps, neutering or spaying them, and then ticking off their left ear as a marker to others that the wild cat had already been treated by humans.
The population control program has been opposed by some who deem the method unnatural, but Greco said it is an effective and practical method for minimizing ever proliferating wild cat populations.
"We run into people sometimes who don't understand what we are trying to do," she said. "We are trying to end the needless suffering of unwanted animals."
The Pepperell shelter is overwhelmed with too many cats, and soaring stray cat populations only place a greater burden on area shelters, Greco added.
"If a mother has five kittens with two females, and those female cats have five kittens, then you are going to have 35 cats in six months," said Greco. "You are literally saving millions of lives by spaying or neutering just one cat."
LaPointe would often go to great lengths in order to raise money for the feral cat control program and for feeding the cats in the converted downstairs of her home. Outside near the shelter's driveway, across the street from a Catholic shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary, she held yard sales twice a year, selling old puzzles, appliances, and other household items in an effort to buoy the cause. Other times, she and other volunteers would canvass the town, putting up fliers in local venues in an effort to attract funds for the shelter.
Running an animal shelter is often a thankless job, and government grants for such operations are scarce, said Greco.
"Terry would spend hours sometimes fixing something so she could sell it for $3 at a yard sale, just so she could help the animals," said Greco. "She was a wonderful soul."
Anyone interested in adopting a cat or who needs further information should call the shelter at 978-433-0404.
Matt Gunderson can be reached at mgunders@comcast.net.
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