SPOTLIGHT: The Little Guild, An Animal Rescue
The Little Guild began as a small operation by a pair of Cornwall residents in the late 1950s. Though the mission largely has remained the same in the decades since, big changes are afoot at one of the country’s most successful no-kill shelters.
Muriel Alvord Ward and Elanora Kleinschmidt began the life-saving efforts out of a local home in the 50s before officially incorporating in 1960. In 1963, a local family helped support the lease of a permanent shelter, which in the years since has served as the home of The Little Guild – which officially took ownership of the property in 1989.
Now, at that same location at 285 Sharon Goshen Turnpike, construction of a bigger facility is underway, expected to be completed by the end of the year. With it comes a wealth of new opportunities. In the interim, the shelter is using Foote Field in Cornwall as a temporary site.
Roughly half of the animals that come to The Little Guild are local surrenders, while the rest arrive from states, many in the south, with the greatest volume of high-kill shelters. They have a 97-percent save rate, which nationally tends to hover around 90 percent for other limited-intake shelters.
Once the animals arrive, the staff ensures they spend enough time with each animal to fully understand their temperament and what type of living situation would best suit them. Once an animal is adopted, the support continues.
“We’re going to have four different pods. We have quarantine capabilities,” Langendoerfer said of the new site. “The dogs and cats in the old facility were really right on top of each other. And, you know, not all dogs and cats love each other. So that was a little bit of a challenge. I think it caused stress for both the dogs and the cats. …
“Now the stress that it’s going to bring down for the animals – they’re going to have separate areas, there’s going to be a lot of light, there’s going to be soundproofing.”
The changes should allow for adoptions to increase by 50 percent, and the improved environment is expected to cut down on the amount of time animals must wait to be adopted.
That's a greatly necessary increase for the region at large. While The Little Guild has heavy emphasis on rescuing and adoption, they’ve also been asked to offer other services, like emergency housing for pets of families in crisis. They also host things like vaccine clinics, which soon will be held at the facility instead of off-site.
They do all this with a staff of about a dozen.
“It’s a pretty small staff, for sure,” Langendoerfer said. “But we have just an amazing staff. I can’t say enough about them. … (and) paying for a new facility for a nonprofit – I can’t say enough about our board.
