FAQ’s

Thank you for thinking of us! We have an informative Wish List page that supplies you with our downloadable wish list and a few shopping sites to visit for needed items. The lists are always being updated.

Please feel free to use photos of our adoptable animals to promote your drive/event.  

If you do have a fundraiser for us please be sure to tag us on social media and we will share it!

Please let us know how you helped Baypath by filling out our donation drop off form so we can thank you!

We are fortunate to have so many great offers from the animal loving community; however, it’s just not possible to promote each one and we need to focus our social media on promoting adoptable animals, our signature events and helpful tips on animal health to our community.

You are welcome to use our logo for an event to benefit our animals and our shelter.

Click here to download

For safety reasons, we are not able to bring our dogs to events outside of the shelter.  Dogs often arrive here under a lot of stress, having had a lot of upheaval in their lives.  We provide them with many enrichment activities and a routine schedule to help them during their time here. 

These routines can bring comfort and security to our dogs until we find them a loving home.  We know people have wonderful intentions in meeting our dogs and we greatly appreciate that.  However, transporting them to another location with a lot of new people puts additional stress on the animals.  We hope you can understand.

Thank you for supporting us. Please visit our Wish List page for needed items.

We have a donation table set up everyday from 9-5.

Our address is:
500 Legacy Farms North
Hopkinton, MA 01748

We are able to accept unopened and unexpired food and treats.

We are grateful to accept all types/brands. Anything that we can’t ultimately use we will share with our local and transport partners so nothing goes to waste.

We are unable to take open or expired food or treats. 

However, don’t let open food or treats go to waste! Our local food pantry partner, Project Just Because, is able to take open bags of food and treats. Please consider reaching out to them.

Yes, we take unused cat scratchers!

Yes, we can use clean and gently used pet beds.

Absolutely! Please fill in our Donation Drop Off form and you will receive a tax receipt for your records. Thank you!

We are able to take clean blankets, sheets, bath towels, hand towels and dog beds. Please see our Wish List page for more information.

We are unable to take down comforters, pillows, pillowcases, cushions, car ramps. Please see our Wish List page for more information.

We would love to thank you for your support! Please fill out this donation drop off form.

Don’t forget to brag and share photos of your drive on social media and tag us so we can repost!

We applaud your child for wanting to help the animals in need!

Safety is always of utmost concern for our volunteers and animals; therefore, you must be 18 years old to volunteer on-site (regardless if a parent is present or not).

We highly encourage our young animal lovers to take a look at our Youth Opportunities page. They can make a big impact on the animals with these great ideas.

To provide consistency for the handling of our dogs and cats, we require everyone to go through a comprehensive hands-on training with our experienced staff and volunteers.

We do require a minimum 6 month commitment of a two hour weekly shift due to the onboarding process and training and to help with consistency for the animals.

Please see our Volunteer page to learn more, including some FAQs.

To provide consistency for the handling of our dogs and cats, we do require a minimum 6 month commitment. Volunteer shifts are scheduled from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. in two-hour increments. Volunteers work every day of the year, in all weather conditions. We hope you can understand this is an expectation of your commitment.

Yes! We have several different roles that do not require you to be on-site.

We have a wonderful outreach program that has events all throughout the year. Please see our Outreach Program page for more information.

We rely on our wonderful team of transporters to take the animals to their critical vet appointments in the region. Please see our Volunteer page for more information.

We also have a comprehensive foster program for our cats and dogs, which allows us to care for hundreds more animals a year. Please see our Become a Foster Family page for more information.

Thank you for your interest in adopting! All of our currently available animals are listed on our website and our website is updated throughout the day.

Please go to the animal’s profile pages and click the “Apply for Adoption” button to complete the adoption questionnaire and start the adoption process.

Check out our available Cats!

Check out our available Dogs!

Adopting a new family member is quite an exciting time. Please know that the animals you are adopting from us are all spayed/neutered, up to date on available vaccinations, microchipped and have been seen by our veterinarian.

Please see our About Adoption page for more information.

Our site is constantly being updated! The moment an animal is available for adoption we add them to our website and when an animal is adopted they are simultaneously removed from our website.

Check out our available Cats!

Check out our available Dogs!

In order to give our adopters an ideal experience, we are using an appointment model to facilitate our adoptions. Once you fill out our adoption application an adoption coordinator will reach out to you and discuss the best possible match for you and schedule a one-on-one appointment with you.

Check out our available Cats!

Check out our available Dogs!

We occasionally get purebreds with papers, but far more often our dogs are what we call Heinz 57s – a mix off several breeds – a little bit of everything. And we never really know for sure their ultimate size if young. We have often been wrong when guessing approximate size. The shelter staff will try their best to work with you regarding your needs and the requirements of a landlord.

Thank you for considering adopting a rescue to add to your family!

First, we ask that you look at the animals that we currently have available.

Check out our available Cats!

Check out our available Dogs!

Once you find an animal that matches what you are looking for, please go to that animal’s profile page and select the grey “Apply for Adoption” option to be directed to an adoption questionnaire to begin the adoption process.*

*If you are listing any references, veterinarians, landlords, roommates do make sure they are aware you have listed them and given permission for us to talk to them otherwise this can delay the process of your application.

You will hear back from a staff member shortly thereafter.

If you have questions about a specific animal, please email [email protected].

Thank you for reaching out and inquiring about help for your pet. Unfortunately, we don’t have our own medical capabilities on site. However, we have there are some resources in the community that may be options.

MAC (Massachusetts Animal Coalition) has put together a very comprehensive list of places to go for spay, neuter and vaccination for pet owners. Within their site, you can search for places by your location.

If for any reason you do not have any luck using the above site, we also have a few suggestions on our Assistance Programs page for several low cost, assistance programs in the area.

We have had great luck sending people to these locations to get in for an appointment. That said, several veterinarians and clinics are very backed up now so there could be a wait to get in to see someone for care. Please plan accordingly.

Thank you again for seeking care for your pet.

Yes! Baypath supports science-based humane training methods that utilize redirection and positive reinforcement to shape desired behaviors in companion animals.

Please see our Animal Care Professional page for some great recommendations.

For great articles on general cat and dog care, please see our Caring for your Cat and Caring for your Dog pages.

For more in-depth dog resources, you can email to connect directly with our trainer, Beth MacLeod, CPDT, or you can see our Dog Training & Behavior page for some in-depth dog resources, including an FAQ section and our growing list of preferred trainers and behaviorists.

We have a wonderful resource of dog trainers who support humane training methods that utilize redirection and positive reinforcement to shape desired behaviors in companion animals. 

You can email to connect directly with our trainer, Beth MacLeod, CPDT, or you can see our Dog Training & Behavior page for some in-depth dog resources, including an FAQ section and our growing list of preferred trainers and behaviorists.

Thank you for your concern!

This can be a tricky one because there are different definitions of a stray animal. Interestingly, there are different protocols when it comes to stray cats and dogs in Massachusetts. Please visit our Lost & Found Resources page for the various situations and the appropriate actions that should be taken.

You can also fill out a short form on the page to share pertinent info about a lost or found animal and photos with us.

We are terribly sorry to hear this! Please visit our Lost & Found Resources page with resources and tips to help try to locate your animal.

Please also fill out our short form on the page to share pertinent info and photos of your pet with us.

We are sorry to hear that you have to rehome your pet. We also appreciate you considering us as a resource to help.

Due to limited space and resources, we are not an open intake shelter and do require an appointment.

Please visit our Rehoming Your Pet page to learn more, including some things to consider first and a form to fill out to give us more information about your pet.

Currently, we do not accept animals other than dogs or cats. 

The two organizations that we recommend that may be able to help you are the MSPCA or Animal Rescue League of Boston. They are wonderful larger organizations with several locations.

Thank you for your concerns about suspected abuse. It is very disturbing to hear claims of animal abuse whether it is physical or verbal and is of great concern to us in the animal loving community.  We, unfortunately have no legal recourse, and would need you first to contact your local animal control officer.  

However, if you fear that an animal(s) is in imminent danger of serious harm please immediately contact your local police department or the Massachusetts State police. Other resources you should report animal abuse, neglect or cruelty to are: 

• Animal Rescue League of Boston-Law Enforcement
  • Phone: 617-426-9170
• MSPCA Law Enforcement Department
  • Phone: 617-522-6008 or 800-628-5808

Please see our Animal Cruelty Laws page to learn more. Thank you for your concern.

Thank you for writing to us and expressing an interest to be included on our website

We are happy to be a resource to help answer questions on specific issues and to educate our adopters, volunteers, supporters and anyone that wants to visit our site.

However, as a rule, we only include links or blogs from our own trained professionals or from experts that we know and trust.

Thank you for recognizing us as a valuable resource for the animal community. We do hope you understand our position and we thank you for reaching out to us.

We would love to rescue and help everyone with every animal; however, we already have a long list of vetted partners we currently work with. They count on us to take their animals and we have an ongoing waitlist of animals that need help rehoming at all times. We hope you can understand.