Standish Humane Society

I have dealt with (2) individuals in this organization -(1) was extremely helpful, Director of Adoptions, Dawne Goncalves, and the other, Julia Fratalia, Shelter Director, for whom I can not find words to define. I do not know why the SHS Board of Directors allows this woman to remain in this position.
Ms. Fratalia allows a woman from South Boston who takes neighbors’ cats (ones that this woman deems owners as unworthy because they allow their cat to go outdoors) and brings them to this shelter for Ms. Fratalia to put out for adoption. Ms. Fratalia ignores MA Dept. of Agriculture laws which requires all shelters to make a good faith effort in locating the owners as well as meeting a required (7) day holding period. My (8)yo cat was one of these that was stolen and delivered to SHS.
I reported that cat missing to all of the major Boston shelters and had spent weeks looking for him outdoors. I searched Petfinders and was shocked to find him not only in Duxbury but listed as a (2) year old cat whose owner had moved away and left on the street.
Be aware that when adopting a cat from this Shelter that you may not only be adopting a stolen cat but that the age of the advertised animal may be inaccurate. I questioned Ms. Fratalia as to why she was advertising an (8) yo cat as a (2) yo cat on Petfinders and she told me that she did not know how old my cat was. I asked her if she had all of her cats seen by a vet before being put out for adoption and she said yes. I then asked her if the vet had not given her an estimation of the cats age and she said that «there is no way of telling a cat’s age.»
When visiting their website you need to ask why do almost all of their cats fall within an age range of (0 – 3) years given that they take in all cats if space is available –it is a statistical anomaly.

If you don’t want to read all of this just take this: don’t bother unless you’re a crazy cat lady/​man who sits at home during the day and has owned multiple pets in the past.
My girlfriend and I were looking to adopt a cat and found one (Lenny) when walking through PetsMart in Braintree. He took to us right away and we were more than thrilled with him. The application was filled out that day and then online the next day to ensure it was filed.
We got a call about a week later just to say that the application was received and that they haven’t reviewed our information but would. Over the course of the next two weeks my girlfriend left voicemails and emails (every couple of days) asking for an update and if we were approved.
She received an email… not a call… saying we were denied because the vet reference was for a family pet, not one that we owned ourselves, and that a past family cat was let outdoors (it was an outdoor cat when they got it). We are in a complex and stated explicitly on the application and in conversation that the cat would be indoor only. They also did not want Lenny to be left home alone during the work day and must be adopted with a companion.
None of the above was disclosed prior to or during the application process. We had a volunteer with Standish and friends who adopted from there as our references.
Long story short, don’t waste your time if you are a first time pet owner. We wasted almost a month of our time with these people and feel terrible for the cat because we saw that he was recently announced as adopted and then put back up on the site. No conditions in the adoption process are listed and while I love how thorough the process is for finding these animals good homes I feel that this was just absurd.
(We got a cutie from Boston Animal Rescue League and the experience there with the volunteers was phenomenal)
Note: I am posting my review because my girlfriends isn’t on the «recommended review» list.

Don’t bother trying to adopt here if you haven’t had a cat of your own before. This was the first pet I was trying to adopt after moving out but since I only had my family vet as a reference that wasn’t good enough. I had references from other standish adoptees but that didn’t matter. I appreciate that there is a screening process but it’s flawed. After many unanswered emails and phone calls (2+ weeks) they finally started to get the process rolling. I finally learned the cat I was interested in needed to go to a family that would be home all day or have another cat to keep him entertained (which would have been helpful to know in the first place) we decided to move on to give him a chance for a busier family. If they said that from the beginning things would have been different. I had no interest in using them to go find another cat with all the difficulty they caused for us. We instead used the Animal Rescue League in Boston and found a three-​legged cat that could not be places in a more loving home. I would suggest going there! The volunteers are very helpful and make you feel welcomed and happy for adding a new addition to the family.

Such a great shelter. Their volunteers are amazingly dedicated to those cats and finding homes for them. It’s amazing what they accomplish. If you’re considering a cat then they will really take the time to match you with the perfect one for you.
If you’re scoffing at the idea of paying money to adopt a cat, then you clearly should not be owning a cat. Their adoption fees are unbelievably low compared to what it actually takes to give a cat their vaccines, spay/​neuter, vet visits, etc. Seriously, you’re getting an amazing deal adopting a shelter cat (or kitten).
Give them a call and schedule a time to go meet your future pet!

Standish does great things. I have two kitties from here and have since become a volunteer fosterer. They take exceptionally good care of the animal’s health and well being while at the shelter (and in the foster homes) which makes for happier healthier more sociable cats! They do screen potential adopters more thoroughly than your average shelter but that is because they invest more time, money, energy, and love, into their cats than the average shelter.
The main shelter in Duxbury is very clean and welcoming. Cats in the shelter stay in rooms where they are not caged but allowed to roam and play with eachother like a normal pet would. It is the least depressing animal shelter I have ever been in and I think the cats are friendlier because they are made really comfortable there.
They post all of their animals to
so you can check everybody out before you come visit and they really get to know their animals. Often times people come in searching for a paticular personality such as a mouser, a lap cat, a cat that would do well with children/​dogs/​senior citizens/​gerbils etc. and adoptions coordinators can suggest kitties who are a great fits that you should come check out.
They also have an adoptions center at Petsmart in Braintree where there are usually kittens. Volunteers are there twice a day to care for and socialize the kitties, they are all knowledgable and love to let people come in play/​help advise potential adopters. Everyone is spayed/​neutered before adoption and has all their shots.

I might be biased, because I got a kickass cat out of the deal, but this was the easiest time I’ve ever had dealing with an animal adoption. (I should know, I used to process lots of them!)
OK, so I moved into an apartment recently, and while it’s beautiful and affordable and in an awesome location, it’s old and so it has mice. What do you do when you have mice? Get a cat!
Problem: I’m allergic. That didn’t stop me from watching Petfinder like a hawk, though — and I found a low-​allergen Russian Blue cat listed at the Standish Humane Society.
The only hitch in the entire process was that they took a long time (like, more than a week) to return my calls when I initially applied to adopt the cat. However, once they had my information on hand, they got in touch with my landlord and vet within a day and promptly scheduled an appointment for me and my boyfriend to come meet with her. He drove me up in the snow (because he’s awesome) and the staff ushered us into a clean room with no other cats, so I could gauge my allergic reaction. An hour later with nary an itch or a sneeze, we were packing her into a carrier and on our way home. They had placed her «on hold» for us, since a bunch of other people had applied for her, but the woman who took my application said that she was always happy to see someone with allergies be able to live with a pet. That gave me wicked warm fuzzies. :)
Everyone I met here was overjoyed to talk about her and give me tips on care, the shelter is incredibly clean and safe, with lots of quarantine space for new cats. They vaccinate, spay, and trim nails before adopting, and even give the upper-​respiratory infection vaccine — no kennel cough! Whoa! We were also sent home with a huge bag of toys, food, vet records, a collar, and literature on cat care.
Also, the cat killed one mouse and we have not seen or heard from any others since. I think she made an example out of that one. Come here if you want an awesome cat from awesome people.