Dogs were an integral part of the early years of Standish. Elizabeth Holmes, Standish founder, initially began her quest to help stray and abandoned animals by rescuing and providing shelter for unwanted dogs; she dedicated over 20 years to dog placement. Genny Read lived near Duxbury Beach and had two small sheds in her backyard, which became Standish mini-shelters for stray dogs. Locals would talk about “adopting dogs from the beach”.   Although Elizabeth’s and Genny’s efforts quickly turned primarily to helping cats, they, and several other Standish volunteers, also continued their work to rescue, shelter, and adopt dogs out of their foster homes.

At the time when Standish was officially established, Duxbury and surrounding towns were finally beginning to open dog shelters and hire animal control officers. Standish provided support to these shelters through sponsoring Pound Adoption Days and offering adoption incentives, including free spaying and neutering, hosting annual rabies clinics, financial assistance for heartworm treatment and veterinary bills, and using their connections with The Patriot Ledger to highlight available dogs in the “Around the Pounds” section. Dogs that had previously spent months in shelters were now being adopted soon after the required 10-day waiting period. Standish volunteers often helped out at the pounds by walking the dogs. Not only did Standish aid in the adoption of dogs, but through their reduced cost spay/neuter program, 539 female dogs were spayed, and 263 male dogs were neutered from 1986 through 1989, significantly reducing the dog population.

When Standish was opened as a feline-only shelter, the Officers were questioned why they were not including dogs. Past President Conlon explained that dog shelters were extremely expensive to build and maintain. As a cat-only shelter, Standish was run exclusively by volunteers. Had dogs been included, paid staff would need to be added as dogs require more care such as frequent walking. It was also very difficult to obtain the necessary permissions to build a dog shelter; neighbors were often adamant in their objection to the possible noise from dog barking.

Fun Fact: In 1991, the Standish Newsletter was renamed “Tall Tales” and introduced the new Standish logo of a red dog and white cat walking side by side with their tall tails straight up in the air. Because of Standish’s long and successful history of helping dogs, that is the logo we proudly displayed for many years. We continue to support canine rescue and spay and neuter through vouchers and promotion of our dog-friendly partners