Northeast Animal Shelter Joins Forces With MSPCA-Angell

SALEM, MA — The Northeast Animal Shelter will maintain its name and Salem headquarters as part of a new affiliation with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Memorial announced on Wednesday.

Under the affiliation, MSPCA-Angell will take on oversight and management of the Northeast Animal Shelter's operations, while combining Northeast's "robust animal transport network" with MSCPA-Angell's veterinary and adoption resources.

Cindi Shapiro, who in 1976 founded the Salem shelter that has placed 145,000 animals in adoptive homes over the past 45 years, said Northeast leadership initiated the affiliation discussions.

"Over the past year, we began to discuss ways we could increase our lifesaving efforts, and joining forces with the MSPCA, with its deep expertise in all areas of animal welfare and its commitment to helping more pets find homes, was a natural fit," Shapiro said. "I couldn't be more excited to be part of this next chapter — which will not only cement NEAS' legacy of compassion, but help so many more animals than we otherwise would be able to."

Amid the coronavirus health crisis, record adoptions have left many shelters in Massachusetts — including the Salem location — low on available pets. This affiliation will allow the organizations to bring in more potential pet adoptions from other parts of the country where shelters remain at capacity or above.

"There's no question that the pandemic's economic fallout has hit some parts of the country harder than others," said MSPCA President and CEO Neal Litvack, "and we know from experience that when people fall on hard times, animals become vulnerable.

"We're stronger together than we are apart— and the real beneficiaries of this collaboration will be the animals we serve."

The MSPCA and NEAS already in the past year coordinated rescue efforts to establish interim housing for 286 pets from eight separate animal transports from Florida, Georgia and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.