Sonsini Shelter to Benefit from Great Barrington Kennel Club Grant
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Thanks to the generosity of the Great Barrington Kennel Club (GBKC), a local member club of the American Kennel Club, the dogs residing at the Eleanor Sonsini Animal Shelter should soon enjoy a little more privacy and be a bit calmer as a result. Through the efforts of Gloria and Mike McClay, owners of Canine Connection in Cheshire, along with GBKC members and friends of the Sonsini Shelter, the GBKC agreed to fund the $2,000-plus cost of installing aluminum paneling on two of the shelter’s eight 55-foot outdoor runs.While some dogs enjoy the company of their canine neighbors in the outside runs, others find the presence of a strange dog visible through the chain link fence to be stressful. With the paneling in place, dogs in paneled runs will no longer be face to face with the dog in the adjoining run, reducing the stress and making life easier for both dogs and shelter staff. Lowering stress makes the dogs calmer and easier to train, and training makes it easier to find them permanent homes.
The paneling, to be installed by All American Fencing of Lee, continues Sonsini’s improvements to the surroundings of the several hundred cats and dogs that pass through the shelter each year on their way to new homes.
The shelter is located at 63 Downing Parkway (in the Downing Industrial Park), Pittsfield. For more information call (413) 448-9800 or e-mail eleanorsonsinishelter@yahoo.com. General info and pictures of animals currently available for adoption can be obtained from its web site, www.pittsfieldanimals.org.
