About MWHS

An advocate for animal welfare, MetroWest Humane Society focuses on the well-being of cats in the MetroWest Boston area by finding loving homes through adoption, providing life-long care, educating our community, and reducing the feral/stray cat population. MWHS is a volunteer-led, non-profit, no-kill shelter reliant solely on charitable donations. MWHS has been helping needy cats and kittens for over 48 years.

We no longer have walk-in adoption hours at MWHS. Adoptions are by appointment only. Please go to our website for more information.

30 Pond Street (Route 126)
Ashland, MA 01721

At MWHS, we believe that every cat entering our shelter deserves a second chance. Finding a proper home for each cat is one of our most important functions. When we consider adoption applications, we pay strict attention to the needs and personality of the cat and we carefully screen prospective adopters so that we may ensure a proper placement for the cats in our care.

Pregnant cats and most kittens coming into our care are placed into pre-screened, volunteer foster homes. Because kittens are extremely fragile, they do best under constant supervision in a home environment. Feral kittens have additional socialization needs for the public to consider them adoptable. MWHS provides food and medical care, and the foster family provides time, love, and socialization until the kittens are old enough and sufficiently socialized for adoption. We also have a great need for fosters that have experience socializing timid or feral cats, and for fosters that can provide quiet, loving homes for senior cats whose owners can no longer care for them. By fostering these special cats in your home, you will be giving them the very best chance to find a loving family!

There is high demand from the community for this service and MWHS is one of the few shelters that will do the trapping. We receive several calls each week asking for our assistance in trapping feral cats and kittens. The kittens are put into foster care, while most of the adult cats are brought to the shelter once they have been medically treated and spayed or neutered.

TNR is a full management plan in which stray and feral cats already living outdoors are humanely trapped, evaluated, vaccinated, and spayed or neutered. Kittens and tame cats are adopted into loving homes. Healthy cats too wild to be adopted are returned to their familiar habitat under the lifelong care of volunteers. TNR is a lifesaving and permanent solution to the growing problem of feral cats.

There are several cats at our shelter that may never be offered a home and who will be in our care for the rest of their lives. One way to ensure that these cats, as well as the more adoptable ones, receive the care and comfort they deserve is by sponsoring a cat or a room at the shelter.

Hunger is a real problem for many individuals and families in this area, and it includes their pets. Our community food outreach program is designed to reach out to assist families in need of food for their pets. Families and individuals benefiting from food assistance from the designated pantries can pick up cat and dog food while selecting food items for themselves. It’s our way of supporting these animals and preventing families from having to make the difficult decision to surrender, abandon, or simply give up their pets because of their inability to feed them.

Everyone wins when you volunteer! We are always in need of caring volunteers to help clean the shelter, feed the cats, and spend one-on-one time socializing our timid cats. Please note that you must be at least 17 years old to volunteer at the shelter. We love our volunteers!