Pet Help in the Worcester Area
In Worcester and need help now? For an emergency, go to a 24-hour hospital below and tell them if cost is a barrier. To lower costs, start with the spay/neuter programs and low-cost clinics. For a bill you can’t cover, get a free funding plan.
Want what’s closest to you? Search by ZIP code or your location. Nearby: Boston. Cape Cod.
Spay, neuter and vouchers
- Luke and Lily Lerner Spay/Neuter Clinic (Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University)
55 Willard Street
Tufts student-teaching clinic that spays/neuters and vaccinates cats and dogs of low-income Massachusetts residents and accepts Massachusetts Animal Fund vouchers (SNAP, WIC, SSI, TAFDC and similar benefits may qualify). - Sterling Animal Shelter On-Site Veterinary Clinic (Low-Cost Spay/Neuter)
17 Laurelwood Road · (978) 422-8449
The Sterling Animal Shelter's on-site veterinary clinic offers low-cost spay/neuter to the public for dogs, cats, rabbits, rats and mice, specializing in pediatric spay/neuter (pets 12+ weeks and 2+ pounds). It also offers cherry eye, eye entropion and eye removal surgeries, other minor surgery, distemper, rabies and bordetella vaccines, microchips, feline leukemia/FIV testing and heartworm/tick-borne disease testing. It works with the Massachusetts Animal Fund's free spay/neuter vouchers (vouchers are obtained from the Fund directly). The clinic does not replace annual, wellness or sick care from a regular veterinarian. - Worcester Animal Rescue League - Low-Cost Cat Spay/Neuter and Mother Spay Program
139 Holden Street · (508) 853-0030
WARL partners with MSPCA-Angell, Fido Fixers and the BISSELL Pet Foundation's Fix the Future program to host a mobile spay/neuter clinic at the shelter on Mondays and Fridays. Through MSPCA-Angell, low-cost cat spay/neuter is offered to Worcester residents and people receiving public assistance. Through the Mother Spay Program, WARL spays a mother dog or cat at no cost once her litter is weaned, and the puppies or kittens are surrendered to WARL for adoption while the mother stays with her family. The MSPCA package includes the spay/neuter surgery, rabies and distemper vaccines, a microchip, a vet exam and a nail trim.
Low-cost clinics and vaccines
- Second Chance Animal Services - Community Veterinary Hospitals (Community Healthy Pet Initiative)
831 Main Street · (774) 243-1234
Full-service hospitals (wellness, sick visits, surgery, X-ray, ultrasound, dental, weekly vaccine clinics) with reduced rates for households under 150% of the federal poverty level, verified with pay stubs, benefit letters or tax returns (SNAP/WIC cards are not accepted as proof). - Worcester Animal Rescue League - Low-Cost Vaccine and Microchip Clinic
139 Holden Street · (508) 853-0030
WARL holds a low-cost vaccine and microchip clinic once a month, usually on the last Tuesday of the month from 2pm to 5pm. Services are rabies vaccine (required by the state for dogs and cats over 6 months), feline distemper, canine distemper (without leptospirosis) and canine bordetella vaccines, and microchips, while supplies last and at the veterinarian's discretion. It is first come, first served; owners fill out paperwork on arrival, dogs must be leashed and cats in carriers. Payment is by cash or credit card.
Veterinary hospitals and clinics
- Foster Hospital for Small Animals (Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University)
55 Willard Street · (508) 839-5395
Tufts' full-service teaching hospital for dogs, cats and other small animals, with 24/7 emergency care; it offers CareCredit financing but lists no income-based discount. - Tufts at Tech Community Veterinary Clinic (Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University)
1 Officer Manny Familia Way · (508) 751-7670
Reduced-cost wellness care, stable urgent care, diagnostics, surgery and dentistry for Massachusetts residents with limited means; you need a photo ID plus a WIC card, SNAP card, Worcester Housing Authority resident card or Worcester Technical High School student card.
Pet food
- Ginny's Helping Hand Food Pantry (pet food when available)
52 Mechanic Street · (978) 537-1387
A Leominster food pantry serving North Central Massachusetts that gives households up to two pantry pick-ups a month of fresh, frozen and shelf-stable groceries. Pet food is sometimes available as a Specific Supply that guests can request, along with diapers, toiletries and cleaning supplies, when in stock that day. The pantry follows the Federal Emergency Food Assistance income guidelines but does not require proof of identity, citizenship or residence. It does not deliver; a neighbor or friend may pick up for a household. - Worcester Animal Rescue League - Pet Food Pantry
139 Holden Street
WARL's community Pet Food Pantry gives pet food to local community members in need, such as people who have lost a job, are recovering from an illness or are in financial hardship. Food depends on donations, so specific brands and types are not guaranteed. WARL also supplies pet food to partner pantries and agencies including Boys and Girls Club of Worcester, Catholic Charities, Kibble Kitchen of Central MA, Project New Hope, St. Paul's Elder Outreach, Worcester Senior Center and El Buen Samaritano.
Keeping your pet, end-of-life care and pet loss
- Clinton Animal Control
242 Church Street · (978) 779-9981
Clinton's animal control officer, appointed by the Board of Selectmen, as reported on the Commonwealth's official list of animal control officers. - Holden Animal Control
1370 Main Street · (508) 210-5649
Holden's animal control officer and animal inspector, under the Holden Police Department, as reported on the Commonwealth's official list of animal control officers. - Lancaster Animal Control
1053 Main Street · (978) 365-3326 ext 1013
Lancaster's animal control officer, under the Lancaster Police Department, as reported on the Commonwealth's official list of animal control officers. - Leominster Animal Control
25 West Street · (978) 514-2381
Leominster Animal Control, part of the city's Department of Health, handles animal control, lost and found animals, dog laws and dog licensing, and adopts out animals in its care (the city posts available animals and an adoption application). - Rutland Regional Animal Control (Rutland, Barre, Princeton)
242 Main Street · (508) 886-4033
Rutland Regional Animal Control, under the Rutland Police Department, provides the municipal animal control officers for Rutland, Barre and Princeton, as reported on the Commonwealth's official list of animal control officers. - Sterling Animal Control
135 Leominster Road · (978) 422-7331
Sterling's municipal animal control officer, as reported on the Commonwealth's official list of animal control officers. - Sterling Animal Shelter (Animal Shelter, Inc. of Sterling)
17 Laurelwood Road · (978) 422-8585
A nonprofit animal shelter in Sterling that adopts out dogs, cats and small animals and runs a Seniors for Seniors program, puppy and transport programs, pet surrender (Giving Up Your Pet), small animal rescue, koi fish rescue adoptions and surrenders, dog training and a pit bull resource center. It has an on-site veterinary clinic offering low-cost spay/neuter to the public. - City of Worcester Animal Control (Worcester Police)
9-11 Lincoln Square · (508) 799-1211
Worcester Police Animal Control enforces local ordinances and state laws on unlicensed dogs, leash law violations, unvaccinated animals and animal bite quarantine, and handles animal complaints. It takes reports of stray and lost animals; strays that cannot be identified go to the Worcester Animal Rescue League at 139 Holden Street, and injured animals go to a local veterinarian. Sick or injured coyotes are reported to the police non-emergency line at (508) 799-8600. - Worcester Animal Rescue League (WARL)
139 Holden Street · (508) 853-0030
A nonprofit, no-kill animal shelter in Worcester founded in 1912 that cares for cats and dogs from across Central Massachusetts. It runs adoptions, a foster program, a working cat program, lost and found pet services and pet surrenders, and is the intake shelter for stray animals picked up by Worcester Animal Control. It also runs low-cost community vaccine and microchip clinics, spay/neuter programs and a pet food pantry.
Paying for a bigger bill
Ask any hospital about payment plans, CareCredit or Scratchpay, and apply to more than one assistance program. Ways to pay a vet bill in Massachusetts lists the programs that are open now, and a free funding plan puts them together for your pet, with a free fundraiser page if you want one.