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NOTICE!! City dog licenses are available (due by April 1st) at the City Clerk's office. For more information on dog license and fees, click here: http://www.northamptonma.gov/cityclerk/Dog%5FLicenses/ for a link to the City Clerk's office.

POISON CONTROL HOTLINE:

Click here: http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc&JServSessionIdr004=2i5v5kfxo1.app28a

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Nancy Graham 

Animal Control Officer

Animal Control #:    413-527-2110 

 FAX #:  413-587-1137

For an emergency, such as a dog hit by a car, contact Northampton Police @ 413-587-1100

Address:      Northampton Police Department
                        29 Center Street
                        Northampton, MA 01060

HOURS OF DUTY: 

Monday-Friday 9-3 

(remainder of time is spent responding to emergency calls,  caring for the animals, maintaining the kennel, report writing and paperwork)

Closed weekends and holidays

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WE ARE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF CREATING THIS SITE. PLEASE CHECK BACK AGAIN FOR NEW ADDITIONS.

LOST/FOUND PETS:

Dogs:

Northampton does not operate a public pound. Loose/stray dogs that are impounded are housed in a private kennel. 

Loose/strays dogs are picked up during on duty hours only. Dogs are also returned to their owners during regular on duty hours.

Lost dogs:  Please call the animal control line (586-3905) as soon as you realize your dog is missing and leave a detailed description of the dog and where you lost it. Please indicate if it is okay to give your number out.

We will make contact with you during business hours to let you know if we have any information about your dog

After business hours, if we are able, we will try to call you if we know anything about the dog's whereabouts. Please be aware that this is not always possible. In addition, impounded dogs will not be released until the next business day.

The longer your dog is missing the further you should expand your search. Make a poster to display and send it to area shelters, animal control departments, police departments, veterinarians and other public places.

Consider placing an ad in the classified section of area newspapers including the Daily Hampshire Gazette @ 586-1700

Found dogs: If you have found a dog, please leave a detailed description of the dog and where you found it on the animal control line @ 586-3905. If you are calling after business hours, please indicate if it is okay to give your number out to a dog owner. Otherwise, we will make contact with you on the next business day to arrange to pick up the dog.

If the dog is wearing tags, note the type of tag and the info on it:

• A city dog license will be brass and will list the YEAR, STATE, CITY AND LICENSE NUMBER.
• A rabies tag will be colored and will list the YEAR, VETERINARIAN'S INFO and RABIES TAG NUMBER on it.
• All the information on the tag will be needed to track the dog.

The following may be able to track a Northampton dog license number;

1. The City Clerk @ 587-1224
2. The Police Department Dispatch Center @ 587-1100
3. The Animal Control Officer @ 586-3905

The rabies vaccination tag usually can only be tracked by calling the Veterinarian listed on the tag. This can only be done during regular veterinary office hours.

Cats: Since there is no shelter or holding facility for cats in Northampton, as a volunteer service, we keep a list of lost and found cats. When calling, please indicate if it is okay to give your number out.

Lost cats: If you have lost a cat, please leave a detailed description of the cat and where you lost it on the animal control line @ 586-3905.

In addition, consider making a poster about your cat to distribute around your neighborhood and to send to area Veterinary offices and animal shelters. Make sure to contact The Cat Hospital @ 586-2287. Due to their exclusive service to cats, many people contact their clinic.

The longer your cat is missing, the further out you should expand your search.

Encourage people to check their garages, cellars and sheds. Cats, being curious, often will investigate a doorway left open for a few minutes while a neighbor pulls out the lawnmower, etc.

Cats become locked in those locations more frequently than you might think and many of these out buildings are only opened occasionally, trapping the cat inside until the door is opened again. 

Consider placing a classified ad in The Daily Hampshire Gazette @ 413-586-1700.

If your cat is an inside only cat, it will likely stay within just a house or two of your home. These cats usually will not come out of their hiding place or respond to your calls. You will have to find them. Look under every porch and shrub, etc. that you see.

Inside cats are not familiar with this outside territory. To encourage them to recognize that this is their home, sprinkle some of their used cat litter outside your home and place an object or two, such as a t-shirt or bedding that has the cats and/or your scent on it. That will offer further encouragement to the cat to stay nearby, especially if they venture out of their hiding place at night.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE BITTEN BY A CAT, DOG OR WILD ANIMAL

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The following is taken from information provided by the Center for Disease Control (CDC):

What to do after a possible exposure
If you are exposed to a potentially rabid animal, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water, and seek medical attention immediately. A health care provider will care for the wound and will assess the risk for rabies exposure. The following information will help your health care provider assess your risk:

• the geographic location of the incident
• the type of animal that was involved
• how the exposure occurred (provoked or unprovoked)
• the vaccination status of animal
• whether the animal can be safely captured and tested for rabies

Steps taken by the health care practitioner will depend on the circumstances of the bite. Your health care practitioner should consult state or local health departments, veterinarians, or animal control officers to make an informed assessment of the incident and to request assistance. The important factor is that you seek care promptly after you are bitten by any animal.

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Please do not wait for you health care practitioner or the hospital to report this incident. Call Animal Control @ 413-586-3905 or the Northampton Board Health @ 587-1214 to report any bite or scratch that breaks the skin (even in a minor way). That way we can immediately begin researching the animal's vaccination status (in the case of domesticated animals).

Any information you can provide about the animal's location and/or owner will assist us in gathering information that will help your medical practitioner in making informed decisions about what treatment may be advisable. 

What happens next? If the animal appears healthy, the domesticated animal will be ordered to be quarantined. This is a ten day observation period. Most times the animal is monitored by it's owner, at home. This is done even if the domesticated animal has a current rabies vaccination since no vaccination, including human vaccinations such as for polio or tetanus, is considered to be guaranteed that it is 100% effective.

After the ten day period the Board of Health will release the healthy animal from it's quarantine restrictions.

If, at the time the animal bit or scratched a person or during the quarantine period, the animal appears ill the Board of Health and the Veterinarian will try to determine if the illness might be from rabies or from some other affliction. Depending on this assessment, the Health Agent will determine whether to quarantine the animal or test it for rabies.

If the animal becomes ill after the ten day quarantine period, the exposed person would not be at risk because the animal would not have been infectious at the time the person was exposed.

In the case of a wild animal, if the animal is captured, it will be tested for rabies. Rabies testing can only be done using brain tissue from an animal. This tissue can only be obtained after an animal is dead.

The animal must be kept cool (not frozen) to preserve the specimen until the test can be performed. Specimens are sent by the Board of Health to the State testing facility in Jamaica Plains (outside Boston). The State Lab will notify the person exposed and the Board of Health of the results of the test, usually within a few days.

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RABIES INFO

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• The rabies virus can lie dormant in the animal's system for a period of time. The virus is not contagious during this period.
• Once the virus becomes active, contact with the saliva of an infected animal can infect another mammal, including humans.
• The virus is usually transmitted through a bite, scratch, open wound or if the saliva of an infected animal comes in contact with the mucous membranes of another mammal.
• Once an animal becomes symptomatic, the virus has entered it's final stage and death rapidly follows.
• You can read a fact sheet from the Mass. Board of Animal Health by clicking here: http://www.mass.gov/agr/animalhealth/rabies/i_was_bitten.htm

What else can be done about  a dog or cat has bitten or scratched someone? 

In the case of cats, there are no criminal laws that govern cats biting or scratching a person (or their pets). Potentially you could sue a person civilly, through the Civil Court Office in District Court, to collect damages.

In the case of dogs, several options may be available.

1. If the dog was off leash, a complaint could be made to District Court for violation of a City Ordinance.
2. If you feel the dog is a nuisance by reason of a vicious disposition, you could request a hearing under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 140 Section 157. See the links section of this web site for a link to the law. For further information about this process, please contact Animal Control.
3. You could pursue a civil lawsuit.

WILDLIFE ISSUES: The State Division of Fisheries and Wildlife has legal control over the wild animals in our State. 

Typically there are two types of issues that residents face in living near wild animals.

1. Nuisance wildlife. Generally nuisance or problem animals are animals that invade or live in our homes or in or under outbuildings and/or cause damage to property.
2. Sick animals. Wild animals can become ill from a variety of different things, just as humans can. Rabies is a disease that is often the primary concern to residents who discover wild animals around their homes. 

1.Nuisance wildlife complaints include wild animals that have invaded your home or are living close by and whose presence presents a problem or is unwanted.

These type of complaints may only be handled by a person who has a permit from the State to handle this type of call. These individuals may charge a fee for their services.

For a list of PAC agents you can call Connecticut Valley  Wildlife, a resource site of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, at 413-323-7632.

Three Northampton area PAC agents are:

Don LaFountain @ 413-586-0890  

Fred Pirog @ 413-584-9202

Minuteman Pest Control @ 413-586-1009

The link for additional PAC agents on the list is: http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfw_pac.htm . Their general website address is www.masswildlife.org/

By law the PAC agents are only able to do one of two things with the animals.

• The PAC (Problem Animal Control) Agent may remove the animal and release it on the property of the complainant. This may be helpful if you have a raccoon or squirrels living in the rafters of your garage or in your chimney or a skunk under your shed. Exclusionary efforts need to be taken or the animal will obviously just return to their home in your home! Most PAC Agents also are equipped to provide these types of services. Ask them what services they offer and what is included in the price they quote you.
• The PAC agent may destroy the animal. We would ask that you strongly consider the first option. Little is achieved by killing the animal. If steps are not taken to exclude animals from taking up residence on your property another animal is likely to just  take its place.

Large areas of land in our area have now been built up with homes and businesses. This has reduced the available food sources for wildlife. Many animals now prefer to live near us since we offer very convenient food and habitat resources for many types of animals. Living around humans may be far easier than foraging for food and competing with other animals for territory in any remaining forest! Bird feeders, trash, pet food and gardens are prime food sources for wildlife living in populated areas.

Chimneys easily replace a hollow tree (yes they can scale your chimney with ease and your smoke shelf offers a lovely den to raise a litter of baby raccoons!) and the space under porches, decks and sheds are prized habitat for skunks!

What can you do to discourage wildlife from taking up residence in or around your home?

1. Secure your trash
2. Place bird feeders in a way that prevents other animals from gaining access to them. Put bird feeders away from early spring to late fall.
3. Feed pets indoors or immediately remove any uneaten food.
4. Place a cap on all chimneys. Caps are available that still allow the chimney to function while excluding wildlife from entering the chimney.
5. Close off access to the areas under porches, sheds and decks with materials such as wire or wood/plastic lattice. 

2.Sick wildlife complaints may be handled by the local police and animal control. The types of animals that may be handled by these departments are limited to sick acting skunks, raccoons, foxes, woodchucks and bats.

If the Officer believes that the animal is sick, their only option is to destroy the animal.

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EMERGENCY VETERINARY CARE:

If your pet has a medical emergency and you are unable to reach your regular Veterinarian, four 24 hour emergency Veterinary clinics are available. They are listed in order by their distance from Northampton.

VETERINARY EMERGENCY & SPECIALTY HOSPITAL:
141 Greenfield Rd. (Rt 5/10)
South Deerfield, MA 01373

413-665-4911

www.veshdeerfield.com

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 BOSTON ROAD ANIMAL HOSPITAL:
1235 BOSTON ROAD
SPRINGFIELD
413-783-0603

·     TAKE 91 TO 291 EAST
·     291 TO EXIT 5A (INDIAN ORCHARD EXIT)
·     CONTINUE ONTO PAGE BLVD FOLLOW SIGNS FOR RT 20
·      CONTINUE UNTIL 4^TH SET OF LIGHTS
·     @ 4^TH LIGHTS, TURN RIGHT ONTO PASCO RD
·     @ END PASCO RD, TURN RIGHT ONTO BOSTON ROAD
·     HOSPITAL 3^RD BUILDING ON LEFT

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TUFTS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL of VETERINARY MEDICINE:

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University
200 Westboro Rd.
North Grafton, MA  01536

 (508) 839-5302

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/sah/clinic.html#c5

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