Nantucket Island, The insiders look

Nantucket Island, the insiders look.

It is so sad to hear the announcement of the closing of the Nantucket Island only animal Care facility. The MSPCA has decided to close the doors of the Animal hospital. I for one don't know what the financial arrangement was with the the MSPCA but, we need some type of help here. Most of the us here on the island are animal lovers and most of us have an animal or two. We will be left with so few choice and no emergency care of those times of need.

An open letter to the Nantucket community
From Carter Luke, President, MSPCA-Angell

After operating on Nantucket for over 60 years, the MSPCA-Angell has made the difficult decision to close our Nantucket facility effective December 31, 2011.

The MSPCA-Angell’s Nantucket operation has faced serious challenges in recent years.   The seasonality of the island population makes it a complex practice to staff and manage.   We’ve worked hard to streamline operations, and we’ve tried a number of different staffing models in order to provide quality veterinary services with an operation that could be supported by the community, either through veterinary fees or donations.  

For the past several years, our Nantucket branch has operated at a sizeable loss – well over $200,000 per year, not including any administrative costs that are provided by the MSPCA-Angell’s headquarters.     Given these financial challenges, and the fact there are now four additional veterinary practices on the island, we can no longer continue to operate on Nantucket.   We believe the local veterinarians have the experience and capability to serve the needs of island animals and their owners. 

The Adoption Center on Nantucket takes in very few animals.    A large portion of the shelter’s activities involve feral cat spay and neuter services, and we will continue to support those efforts with funds we have received for these purposes.    Any animals that remain in the Adoption Center when we close will be transferred to other MSPCA-Angell facilities. 

We are extremely grateful to those islanders who have supported and helped in our effort to serve.   To our volunteers, we offer our sincere appreciation for all the time and effort you’ve given to island animals and us. 

And we are especially grateful to our dedicated and devoted employees, who have been at the core of all of our efforts to help.   We will assist them during the transition period with financial support and with outplacement assistance.

Sincerely,

Carter Luke
President