Reading Resident Helps Those Who Can't Help Themselves

There are some jobs where taking your work home with you isn’t such a bad thing.

Reading native Sue DiMeo has one of those jobs.

Sure, the President of Protection of Animals in Wakefield Society (PAWS) doesn’t draw a salary or collect any employment benefits, but in terms of time expenditure, her position is full-time and then some.

The organization, founded in 1982 by Esther Nowell, sees at least 500 animals come through the door per year, according to DiMeo, and facilitates as many as 300 adoptions.

So how many animals reside at the DiMeo household?

“Too many,” she says, with a smile. “I’m one of the major foster homes.”

The 20-year resident of Reading, who currently lives on Prescott Street with her husband, got her start with PAWS about 12 years ago after a stray cat in her yard touched off an odiferous turf war with her own indoor cat.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

“We had a stray in our neighborhood that no one knew where he came from or what he was doing,” recalled DiMeo. “I started feeding him, couldn’t find his owner and he started hanging out on my porch. The cat I had inside started peeing at the doorway and the outdoor cat started peeing on the porch.

“I asked my vet what I should do, because obviously I couldn’t put up with that, and he said ‘I really don’t know, why don’t you call Esther Nowell of PAWS.’”

12 years later and DiMeo has never looked back. She says the most gratifying part of her work is seeing an animal matched up with a good home. She proudly showed off a , a sweet little dog who was recently adopted, as evidence. In the video, Gizmo is clearly taking to his new home. This, she says, is what it’s all about.

“I’ve done a lot of things, but working with animals ... Seeing that video of Gizmo, seeing what a great match it was going to be,” she said. “He walked into that home and was like ‘okay, here I am.’ The family loves him ... You know, hearing the stories we get back from people that tell us everything is going really well, that makes you feel good.”

PAWS works with animal control officers throughout the area. The organization focuses mainly on Wakefield, Reading and Lynnfield, because, as DiMeo points out, there are no other organizations in the area, but they are branching out. PAWS also works with some of the groups in the Woburn, Stoneham and Saugus areas, and “unless an animal is really sick or a danger to humans, we take them on and try to get them adopted,” DiMeo said.

Given the growing network of PAWS resources, DiMeo urged any pet owners whose furry friends go missing to call and see if they have been dropped off to them.

“Every animal that comes in, we assume first that it got away from its owner somehow,” she said. “We try to find the owner, and, if we can’t, we use the 10 day criteria, and, after that period, the animal is open for adoption.”

UNFORTUNATE CASUALTIES

With the recent economic downturn, and the current slow recovery process, PAWS is busier than ever. While adoptions typically decrease in slow economic times, the number of abandoned animals, or animals in need of rescue, usually goes up—especially with animals that are older.

“We take pride in the animals we work with and we try to make the best matches,” DiMeo said. “Sometimes people get overwhelmed and they can’t take care of the bills. Thankfully, a lot of them come to us.”

She also noted a spike in cases of people moving and leaving there animals behind to fend for themselves.

For DiMeo, who also works as a consultant from her home, and her network of 50 to 60 volunteers and foster homes, sometimes taking the animals in isn’t the hard part. That comes when it’s time to give them up.

“We fall in love with almost all of them,” she said. “I could just tell you stories about all of them ...Gizmo was really hard for me to give up. He got away from his owner and walked into our yard. My husband was out raking leaves and saw his little tail, though it was a cat and went over to get it. He saw it was a dog and we ended up taking it in.”

DiMeo stated that when a pet owner has their animal “chipped” it makes it much easier to reunite owners with missing pets. In this process, a tiny tracking microchip is inserted under the animals skin—a procedure that is relatively painless—and links the animal to its owners contact information.

PAWS “chips” every animal that comes through their doors.

PAYING THE BILLS

The organization is primarily funded through a combination of grants, fundraising, membership dues, adoption services and private donations, and while DiMeo recalled the lean years earlier on with PAWS, she said things are looking up.

“When I first came into PAWS it was very lean,” she recalled. “But now we have enough where we can feel like if an emergency comes along we can take care of it and figure it out later.”
While grants make up an important part of PAWS’ funding, the organization is also very active with fundraising, and won an MSPCA grant last year based, in part, on its participation in Subaru’s Share the Love event—an event hosted by Subaru of Wakefield to promote adoption.

Also, PAWS now has items for sale at its Wakefield headquarters in an area known as “Esther’s Nook,” in honor of the organization’s founder, who passed away in 2010. Items include animal-related crafts—often handmade—from local artisans, many of whom are PAWS volunteers.

There are also pet supplies, given out free of charge, to those who need them.

Although PAWS has a healthy network of volunteers, the general philosophy is the more the merrier. DiMeo urges anyone who would like to help out to call or come by for more information.

Contact PAWS at (781) 246-6111 or PAWSwakefield@yahoo.com.