Ellen M Gifford Sheltering Home Corporation

At Gifford our care, programs and how we operate revolves around compassion, humane education and an individualized care approach to the rescue and sheltering of cats. We are known as a pioneer in the animal welfare movement and the first no-kill cageless animal shelter in the United States.

We’ve served as a safe haven to thousands of abandoned, abused, and unwanted cats for over 130 yrs with the goal of ending the needless killing of community and companion cats. We do so through rescue, TNR, shelter and adoption of homeless cats.

Once at Gifford, we are their temporary home with no time limit on their stay. We cater our care, treatment and socialization to meet the individual cat’s needs until they are adopted or in some cases live out their life at Gifford. We advocate and bring about awareness for issues affecting cats through outreach and humane education. We teach the importance of compassion and animal welfare to the next generation by being one of the few shelters with no age restriction on younger volunteers. We recognize the importance of the human animal bond and encourage groups such as the Mass Association for The Blind and the Carroll Center to regularly volunteer at our shelter.