Program helps to find homes for lost and abandoned cats
MMA Innovation Award winner - award presented on Jan. 29, 2000
Mashpee is one of the fastest growing communities in Massachusetts, and the demands for feline animal control services have expanded dramatically over the past five years.
In 1997, the town’s animal control department worked with local residents to develop the nonprofit group CLAWS (Cats Lost and Wanting Shelter). The “Give Us Shelter” cable television program was created a year later. Hosted by Mashpee Animal Control Officer June Daley, the program features abandoned and lost cats available for adoption.
Prior to the first show in June 1998, the animal control department’s feline inventory was steadily rising. Thanks to the program’s success in finding homes for cats, CLAWS was able to increase its feline admissions by 80 percent during 1998, absorbing 69 percent of the town’s rapidly growing feline caseload. The show is available to cable subscribers in 15 towns on Cape Cod, reaching a total of more than 90,000 households.
The program and CLAWS volunteers have enabled the Mashpee Animal Control Department to provide a significantly higher level of public safety and public health in a humane manner without spending additional tax dollars.
Innovation award judges
The MMA Innovation Award judges for 2000 were Mark Morse, president of MMA Consulting Group, and Marilyn Contreas, a senior program and policy analyst for the Department of Housing and Community Development.
Written by MMA Publications/Web Director John Ouellette
