Fairhaven Animal Advocate Creates Initiative to Help Local Animal Shelter

A Fairhaven woman was distraught over the lack of funds for local animal shelter, so she decided to do something about it. Anne Soares hosted her first “Home for Paws Pet Photo Day” on Sunday, and she hopes it will grow into something much bigger.

Soares has been volunteering for the Humane Society and Shelter SouthCoast for several years, while also pursuing a career in real estate. In 2020, she combined her two passions under the name “Homes for Paws," where she donated a portion of every commission check she earned on home sales to the society.

“I am back at the humane society this year to volunteer, and I learned that they are still struggling,” Soares said. This didn’t sit well with her, so she came up with an idea.

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She decided to construct a fundraising event from the ground up. Outside of her real estate office, she set up a photo booth alongside five local vendors and invited the community to bring their dog for a photo shoot. Dog owners donated $15, and $10 went straight to the humane society. She also set up bins to collect donations for the Acushnet Pet Food Pantry.
About 20 dogs showed for her fundraiser, which fueled Soares’ desire to make her mission even bigger.

“I am seriously considering taking ‘Homes for Paws’ to a non-profit level where I can help rescues locally,” Soares said. The sad truth is that smaller rescue shelters simply don’t have the manpower to raise funds. Soares hopes to make her fundraiser an annual event and is currently in the process of putting together a small committee of people to expand her ambitious cause.

Soares was thrilled to have a successful inaugural fundraiser and hopes this is a sign for a brighter future for the animals in need on the SouthCoast.

Need your daily dose of cuteness? Check out the adorable dogs that stopped by for Photo Day.