Demonstration part of ARL’s annual Too Hot for Spot summer safety campaign This week, the Animal Rescue League of Boston (ARL) and Massachusetts State Police welcomed members of the media to ARL’s Dedham Campus for a hot car demonstration as part of ARL’s annual Too Hot for Spot® safety campaign, which has educated pet owners about summer safety for over a decade. ARL is marking 11 years of the Too Hot for Spot campaign, but unfortunately, we are still seeing plenty of instances where an animal’s life is put in danger due to being left in a hot vehicle, several

Read More

Animal welfare organizations collaborate to lobby for animal-protection legislation This past week, the Animal Rescue League of Boston’s Advocacy team joined other animal welfare organizations at the Massachusetts State House for Lobby Day for Animals, to help citizen animal advocates make an impact by meeting and encouraging their elected officials to prioritize animal-protection legislation. ARL presented briefings on current pieces of legislation and also offered guidance to those in attendance on how to effectively lobby their elected officials to help garner support for these proposed bills. Priority bills included: An Act to maintain stable housing for families with pets (H.1559);

Read More

Why Fireworks and Furry Friends Don’t Mix Fireworks and July 4th go hand-in-hand; however, they can cause stress and anxiety in our pets. Many dogs already struggle during thunderstorms, and while both storms and fireworks are loud, there’s a key difference: Dogs can sense an approaching storm through changes in barometric pressure. Fireworks, on the other hand, are sudden, unpredictable, and startling. “When storms happen, the barometric pressure will tell them that it’s coming; not with fireworks—and it’s so detrimental,” says Laney Nee, ARL’s Shelter Behavior and Enrichment Manager. Fireworks can lead to anxiety and long-term behavioral issues in pets.

Read More