Gala Dinner Event at Village Inn in Lenox
to Benefit Berkshire Humane Society Programs

April 11, 2008 Pittsfield, MA …The Village Inn in Lenox will host a gala dinner to benefit the Berkshire Humane Society’s Ken Freeberg Fund for Special Needs Animals and SafePet, a cooperative program with Pittsfield’s Elizabeth Freeman Center. The event will take place on Sunday, April 27th 5 to 9 p.m. Guests will enjoy an open bar and sumptuous passed hors d’oeuvres; select a gourmet beef, chicken, fish, or vegetarian entrée; choose one of several wines presented by the sommelier; and delight in a selection of the chef’s specialty desserts.

The cost of the evening is $100 per person. This includes open bar, hors d’oeuvres, dinner, wine, tax, and gratuities. Billy and Pat Soto, owners of the Village Inn, are very generously donating all proceeds from the event to the shelter’s Ken Freeberg Fund and SafePet.

The Ken Freeberg Fund, named in memory of a longtime friend of the shelter, helps pay some or all of the costs of caring for animals who come to the shelter with extraordinary medical needs. SafePet is a program that helps women in crisis situations by placing their pets in temporary foster homes. Many women are reluctant to leave their abuser for fear that the pet they leave behind will also be abused. By placing the animal in a safe foster home, BHS removes that obstacle. This program has enabled many women to take a needed first step toward a new life.

Reservations for the evening are limited and must be made in advance. For reservations or further information, call the shelter at 413/447-7878, Extension 31 or 413/229-8579.

Capital News 9 Covers BHS Food Bank Plight

April 3, 2008, Pittsfield, MA Capital 9 News reporter Ryan Burgess visited the BHS shelter recently to cover the plight of our seriously depleted food bank.

You can read Ryan's news story by clicking here.

While you are on the Capital 9 News website, don't forget to click on the video that accompanies the article (in the right-hand column next to the article).

Hill’s Pet Nutrition presents the 6th Annual Humane Race
To Benefit the Berkshire Humane Society

March 28, 2008, Williamstown, MA…Run or walk, with or without your dog at the Humane Race and Dog Jog presented by Hill’s Pet Nutrition while benefitting the Berkshire Humane Society. The 6th Annual race will take place on Sunday, May 4th, at Mt. Greylock Regional High School, 1781 Cold Spring Road (Route 7) in Williamstown, MA. Hill’s 6th Annual Humane Race offers both a 5K-trail run as well as a 1-mile fun run for kids 12 and under. Dogs are invited to participate with their owners in either distance category, but we suggest visiting the website, www.HumaneRace.org for “dog Jog” safety rules. Race day check-in and registration is from 8:00 – 9:30 A.M., the 1 mile fun run begins at 9:30am and the 5K starts at 10:00am. Hill’s 6th Annual Humane Race will also feature music by “D.J. Feel the Love”, Mark Santella, dog agility demonstrations by Sugar Bush Farm of Stephentown, NY featuring BHS alumni “Ziggy” and his owner BHS staff member Cheryl Truskowski. Also scheduled is a special visit from K-9 Officer Michael Ziemba and his famous bloodhound, “Blue”, as well as great prizes, refreshments and more!

Registration and pledge forms are available on their website, www.HumaneRace.org, or you can register on-line at www.active.com. Forms are also available at the Berkshire Humane Society in Pittsfield, Greylock Animal Hospital in North Adams, the Mountain Goat and theBrowns in Williamstown and The Arcadian Shop in Lenox. Fees are $20 to pre-register, and $25 to register on race day for the 5K, $5 to pre-register, and $10 on race day for the 1 mile Fun Run for Kids 12 and Under. The first 100 people to register for the 5K receive a Humane Race T-shirt, every 1-mile fun run participant will receive a small race keepsake, and all dogs will receive a doggie bandana. Prizes/medals will be awarded to the top 3 finishers in each 5K-age category.

This year, Hill’s Humane Race is also asking participants to raise additional funds through pledges to help support The Berkshire Humane Society. Pledge sheets are also available on the Humane Race website. Prizes will be awarded to the top pledge earner in both the “20 and Under”, and “21 and Over” categories.

All proceeds from the 6th Annual Humane Race go to support the Berkshire Humane Society and its many vital programs such as a pet food bank for economically distressed pet owners, free educational visits for local school children, and with the Elizabeth Freeman Center, to provide foster care for the pets of women in crisis. The Berkshire Humane Society is open Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 4pm, Thursday evenings 5-8pm, and Sundays 1-4pm. The phone number is 413-447-7878. For more information or to become a member, please Click here.

The 6th Annual Humane Race and Dog Jog is generously sponsored by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Greylock Animal Hospital, theBrowns, The North Adams Transcript, The Advocate Weekly and iBerkshires.com. For more information, please contact Race Director, Alix Cabral at info@humanerace.org
or call (413)441-3677, or visit our website, www.HumaneRace.org.

Micro-chipping and Rabies Clinic to be held April 12TH

March 27, 2008, The Berkshire Humane Society is holding a Micro-chipping and Rabies Clinic for both cats and dogs on Saturday April 12th from 10am until 12pm at the Shelter located on 214 Barker Road in Pittsfield. The cost will be $25 for the micro-chipping which includes registration. Pre-registration forms are available for the Microchip and may be picked up during the shelters hours of operation. The rabies vaccines will be $10, to receive a 3-year vaccine; you will need to bring proof of a previous rabies vaccine. The staff asks that all dogs be on a leash, no flexi-leashes will be allowed. Special arrangements can be made for non-dog-friendly pets. All cats must be in carriers, no exceptions please.

The Berkshire Humane Society has been micro-chipping dogs and cats as part of the adoption process for two years. The Home Again Micro-chip is a small sterile transponder that contains a unique code capable of being read by a scanner and is no bigger than a grain of rice. The registration for the chip is entered into a database that has a 24/7-recovery service. Each pet will also receive a yellow tag, which alerts individuals that the pet has been micro-chipped. The Home Again recovery system has over 7,000 pet recoveries every month.

The City of Pittsfield will be issuing 2008 licenses during the event, to owners of all canines living in Pittsfield. The cost for a spayed or neutered canine is $8 (owners must provide proof of a spay or neuter procedure), and the cost for an intact canine is $20. Massachusetts state law requires that all owners of canines and felines over 12 weeks of age, receive a rabies vaccine for their pet and all cities and towns require that canines be properly vaccinated against rabies, before a dog license can be issued.

For more information please call the Berkshire Humane Society at (413) 447-7878. Business hours are Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 4pm, Thursday evenings 5-8pm, and Sundays 1-4pm.

Berkshire Humane Society Requesting Donations
to Re-stock the Community Pet-food Bank

March 13, 2008, The Berkshire Humane Society is making a plea for donations, especially dry dog and cat food, to help replenish the Community Pet-food bank at the shelter. “Winter can be a difficult time of the year for many Berkshire County families and their pets”, says Karen Karlberg Community Outreach Coordinator at the Berkshire Humane Society. “With increases in gas and heating oil, families find it hard to make ends meet and still be able to feed their beloved pets. Our pet-food bank has been a welcomed resource for over one hundred and twenty five pet owners’ a year since it began in 1992”, added Karlberg.

“The BHS staff is usually able to give a 30-day supply of food to a needy pet owner when they come to the shelter on Barker Road. But supplies and donations have dwindled in the past month and that’s why we need to ask the community to help us restock the shelves”, said Karlberg. John Perreault, Executive Director of the Berkshire Humane Society added, “Having this resource of pet food available for the public is very important because if we can help keep a pet in its home by supplying the owner with pet food, then that means we will have an open kennel available when an animal has to be surrender to BHS.”

The Community Pet-Food Bank relies on donations from visiting scout troops, youth groups, area school children and even local supermarkets that have food drives during the year. Sealed bags of dry cat and dog food or canned food, rabbit and small animal feed, and even treats like dog biscuits can be dropped off at the shelter during hours of operation ; Sunday 1-4pm, Tues – Sat 10-4pm and Thursday 5-8pm. All donations are greatly appreciated by both the staff and the pet-food recipients.

WEBSITE HITS 1 MILLION PAGES VIEWED

January 30, 2008, The Berkshire Humane Society (BHS) announced today that their web site (www.BerkshireHumane.org) has now served over one million page views since tracking began in October 2003. “We are very gratified that this resource has helped so many people in the Berkshires and beyond to learn about the Berkshire Humane Society, our new shelter, the services and programs that we provide, and especially, the wonderful animals that we have available for adoption,” said John Perreault, BHS shelter manager.

The web site is currently serving between 8,000 and 10,000 visitors per month and an average of 25,000 page views per month (meaning that most visitors are looking at two or three pages per visit). “Our most popular page, other than the Home Page, is the page showing the dogs that we have available for adoption,” said Cheryl Truskowski, manager of Feline Operations at the BHS shelter. “Surprisingly, at least to me, the page showing available cats is only visited one third as often as the dog page,” she said. “We hope that more people interested in cats will visit the web site, as we always have many more cats in the shelter than dogs.”

In addition to showing the cats and dogs available for adoption, the web site features a page specializing in small animals, which include rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, gerbils, birds, reptiles, and many other species of pets. “The web site is also just an invaluable way for us to keep in touch with everyone in the Berkshires and beyond who care about the important work that we do here,” Perreault added. “We send out a paper newsletter every quarter, listing shelter news and events, but the web site is always on, always available, 24/7 to tell you what we’re up to, give you information about our animals, our Family Dog School, upcoming events, raffles, auctions, and everything else that we do.”

“One thing that’s extremely important in everything we do is watching our costs,” said Steve Pavlosky, BHS Trustee. “We are very proud of the fact that the Berkshire Humane Society has been rated a four-star charity by CharityNavigator.org, the leading charity reviewer on the web. We’ve maintained our four-star rating for four years in a row, a feat that only four percent of charities manage to do. And if you search for humane societies on Charity Navigator, you’ll find that our ranking puts us in the top 10 of all the humane societies they’ve looked at,” Pavlosky said.

“And a big reason for that is our focus on spending our money on our mission—caring for and placing the animals. Our web hosting service, design services, and maintenance are all donated to us and animal page updates are performed by our staff,” he continued, “so our web site is effectively free to run, which means it is an extremely cost-effective tool in our communications arsenal.”

But the BHS is not standing still. Perreault says, “I’ve got some big ideas for new things that I want to add to the web site. We're going to keep improving it, keep making it better. It’s a critical part of our operation and we know that we need to dedicate ourselves to constantly upgrading it.”

LEARN ABOUT PETS IN THE CLASSROOM
Next Session April 21st - 25th

The Berkshire Humane Society will conduct a week long children’s program called “Learn About Pets in the Classroom” during upcoming school vacations. The new program is designed for kids that just can’t learn enough about animals, and it gives parents an option of sending their child to a classroom learning environment during school vacations.

“Each day we will have a different subject in the world of animals: including household pets, wildlife, and exotic animals from around the globe,” says Karen Karlberg, Community Outreach Coordinator at BHS. The program will include interacting with pets while in the classroom, a variety of Arts & Crafts projects, discussing current animal related topics and events and learn about ways that kids can help animals on their own or as a group. “Furry visitors” will be brought into the classroom whenever possible, so please consider your child's allergies when sending them.

Participants will need to bring a lunch and beverages; we also recommend wearing clothes suitable for playing with animals and arts and crafts projects. BHS will be unable to accommodate early drop-offs or late-pickups for this program. Parents are advised that no students will be allowed in the shelter areas without an adult before and after the class begins. The Learn about Pets in the classroom program is open to students in grades 4 through 6. The next session will run April 21st — 25th, Monday through Friday 10am until 2pm. Children can come for just one day or for all five days; class size is limited to the first 10 children who have paid the $20 per day fee in full. You can download the Registration form (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) For more information please call Karen Karlberg, Community Outreach Coordinator at 413-447-7878 Ext. 29 or email her at bhskaren@berkshire.rr.com.

VOLUNTEER KENNEL CLEANERS ARE NEEDED

We need looking for dependable and caring adults who don’t mind hard work with lots of licks in return as a reward. Early morning Kennel cleaners are very important to ensure the health and comfort of the dogs. The tasks start at 8am and include giving the dogs their first morning walk, washing & drying of kennel floors, walls & drains. It also means helping the staff change the bedding, the water and washing food dishes. All we require is that volunteers be at least 16yrs old to work with the animals directly.

Please call the shelter at 413-447-7878 for an application or come to the shelter at 214 Barker Road in Pittsfield, during our hours of operation: Tuesday – Sat 10am - 4pm, Sunday 1-4pm and Thursday Evenings 5-8pm. Or download and print a copy of the Volunteer Application (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).

.

Volunteering at the Berkshire Humane Society

Help us start a new year of “helping animals and people” by volunteering at BHS. We have opportunities for dog walkers, cat-care givers, front desk reception help, grounds maintenance, fundraising events and mailings volunteers. If you would like to give back to our community, please consider donating your time to our homeless pets.

You need to be 16 years old to volunteer, Parents with children ages 12-14 can volunteer and their children may be able to accompany them. We will be glad to train you; the staff just asks that you can commit to the same hours every week on a regular schedule. For an application, stop by the shelter Tuesday – Saturday 10-4pm, Sunday 1-4pm and Thursday evenings 5-8pm or follow this link and download the Volunteer Application (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).

The Berkshire Humane Society is an open admission shelter, providing refuge for homeless animals in Berkshire County, free educational programs for local school children, a pet-food bank for economically distressed pet owners, and assistance for The Elizabeth Freeman Center in providing women with a safe haven for their pets during crisis. BHS receives no public funding and relies on memberships and donations to continue to help Animals and People.

The shelter is open Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 4pm, Thursday evenings 5-8pm, and Sundays 1-4pm. The shelter closes at noon on the last Wednesday of each month. The phone number is 413-447-7878.

Read the current issue of AnimalInk.

Looking for an older AnimalInk newsletter?

Click here for the AnimalInk Archive.

Looking for an older issue of the Helping Hands newsletter?

Click here for the Helping Hands Archive.

Viewing newsletters requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

BHS Gets 4 Star Rating 4 Years Running

For the fourth consecutive year, Charity Navigator has given the Berkshire Humane Society its highest rating: 4 stars. You can see the complete report here.

We're proud that all the work we do for the animals and people of Berkshire County is being recognized, as is our committment to responsible and transparent fund-raising and fiscal management. Your generous donations make the BHS possible and we are happy to be able to demonstrate that your trust in us is well-placed. Thank-you.