A year into serving Fall River it's raining cats and dogs, and ferrets, chickens, mice, rabbits at Forever Paws

The Herald News asked Forever Paws Director Casey Fredette what the past 12 months have been like.

FALL RIVER — Twenty-seven wild animals. Eight chickens. More than 200 dogs and 175 cats.

A tortoise.

Plus one 17 pound rabbit.

It’s been a year of chasing, trapping, scooping up, and sheltering pets and other furry, feathered and wild beasts roaming the streets since Forever Paws took over the Fall River Animal Control contract as the city’s shelter.

The Herald News asked Forever Paws Director Casey Fredette what the past 12 months have been like. He said they’ve been “awesome” and that the city has “somehow managed to surprise” him in the quantity — and variety — of pets and other animals that have been rescued.

What are some of the animals Forever Paws has taken in besides cats and dogs – and that pair of lovebirds in the lobby right now?

Casey Fredette: Hamsters, guinea pigs, ferrets, mice, orphaned kittens, fancy pet rats, rabbits and a fancy pigeon. It was a stray. A bunch of Chihuahuas, nine, all from the same house.

And the other animals?

Casey Fredette: A herd of chickens. Animal Control came in with cage after cage of chickens — Rhode Island reds and Plymouth Rock. We’ve taken in squirrels, baby possums. And, quail. The wild animals are transferred to wildlife rehabilitation centers.

How many animals did you take in total from your contract with Fall River, New Bedford, Westport, plus individual surrenders?

Casey Fredette: We took in 1,100 total and re-homed more than 700. We returned 260 to their owners. Being in the city, we’re usually able to return them in the first three days. The rest were transfers and wild animals. Every year the numbers increase. Just from Fall River, we took in 350 stray animals.

How are animal cruelty cases dealt with?

Casey Fredette: In the last year, there have been some cruelty cases and court cases, and some very disappointing cases of humanity. The city does a lot with going after the cases and prosecuting, and keeping animals out of those homes in the future.

What’s new at Forever Paws?

Casey Fredette: The re-homing program. Rather than have animal surrenders in the shelter when we don’t have space, we put them on a waiting list and enter them on adoptapet.com and petfinder.com. We pay for a program and sync with their software. They’re often adopted out before they even come into the shelter, and the fees are donated to the shelter. We like to keep them out of the shelter when we can. It compromises their immune system, causes stress and behavior problems.

Some of the animals, like hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and ferrets are taken to Pet Smart in Fall River and other locations, where they can be adopted to homes quicker.

What grants did you receive recently?

Casey Fredette: We received a $2,500 grant to remodel the kitten room so it’ll be a newer and more comfortable space.

We got a $500 grant to micro-chip pets that get away from their owners and are picked up by Animal Control. There are some repeat offenders … a few escape artists.

Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com