ACO Core Competencies 2026 Session II: Dedham, Massachusetts

Animal homelessness is a problem that causes animals’ lives to be lost to euthanasia, poses a public safety concern, and costs taxpayer money to pay for services for stray, abandoned, and feral animals and their offspring. It has been proven that sterilization of animals decreases not only the number of homeless and feral animals born each year, but it also decreases unwanted behavior in owned animals, including roaming and aggression, which are both factors that can lead to the surrender and euthanasia of animals. One solution to this problem is investing in spaying/neutering animals. Another is standardized and required animal control officer training that creates uniform enforcement of animal control laws. On October 31, 2012, a law took effect that, in part, created the Homeless Animal Prevention and Care Fund (Massachusetts Animal Fund). The Fund is administered by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources with assistance from an advisory committee and seeks to end the problem of animal homelessness in Massachusetts. This program is solely funded by the voluntary tax check-off (Line 33f) on the Massachusetts resident income tax form and by monetary donations.