The T.J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center takes in over 4,000 animals a year and places 97 percent of them.
Savanna Stebbins of Enfield, Conn., celebrated her 10th birthday at theThomas J O'Connor Animal Control & Adoption Center Saturday. At right is Jessecah Gower, the center's volunteer and special projects coordinator and her dog Cosmo, an American Staffordshire terrier, also known as a pit bull. Savanna is using old technology, like posters, and new communications methods, like social media, to collect both money and supplies for the center.
SPRINGFIELD – On a recent Saturday, about 45 people of all ages gathered in a large room of the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center on Cottage Street in Springfield for a party.
A child sat on the floor with a turtle in her lap, a young velvet-gray kitty greeted visitors through a wire cage, and a gray and white dog wagged his tail next to a table piled with pet items.
Amid all this stood a little slip of a girl named Savanna Stebbins, of Enfield, Conn., who had decided to celebrate her 10th birthday with a party to benefit homeless animals.
She got the idea last winter. “I was in the car with my mom and she asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday,” said Savanna, dressed in silver sandals and a turquoise-and-lime-green dress with lace and sparkles, acquired especially for the occasion.
“I told her I had so much stuff that, instead of getting more stuff, I wanted to collect things to give to needy animals,” she said.
Savanna’s mom, Jenn Stebbins, arranged for the party at T.J. O’Connor, which serves Springfield, Chicopee and Holyoke. The Stebbins family had adopted a dog there before moving from Springfield to Enfield five years ago.
Jessecah Gower, special projects and volunteer coordinator at T.J. O’Connor, said this was the first time a birthday party had been held on the premises for that purpose, though donations have come from home-based parties in the past.
“We take in over 4,000 animals a year here,” said Gower, “and we have a 97 percent adoption rate.” The center also rescues lost pets for owners to reclaim.
The agency gets some funding from the city, said Gower, but it relies on donations for such items as canned food, bedding and toys. The pile of gifts at the party included all of those, as well as spray cleaners, laundry soap, grooming utensils, training pads, dog biscuits, leashes, latex gloves and more.
“I think it’s a worthy cause,” said Patsy Mastrobattista, of Springfield, who was one of those to donate gift certificates. He is a friend of Savanna’s father, Steven Stebbins.
Linda Talbot, Savanna’s grandmother and a paraprofessional at Meadowbrook School in East Longmeadow, said she put up fliers about the event at the school and was overwhelmed by the response. “I ended up with four cartons full of supplies,” she marveled.
Savanna, who has a brother, is a second-grader at a performing arts magnet school in Hartford, Conn. She was voted – here she flaps open her arms – “Student of the Month.”
“She’s a wonderful kid,” said Cory Day, a friend of the family who lives in Enfield and volunteers regularly at T.J. O’Connor.
“For her to be 10 years old and not want presents…..She’s awesome,” said Talbot.
For information on how to host a birthday party at T.J. O’Connor, contact Jessecah Gower at (413) 886-5188.