Cynthia Sweet sits with dogs at her house. Photo: Shari Small/WBZ NewsRadio
BRADFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — An animal rescue nonprofit has been working on finalizing the sale and development of an almost 100-acre piece of land, planning on turning it into a farm animal sanctuary.
Sweet Paws Rescue is based in Groveland, and they rescue around 1,000 dogs and 1,000 cats every year. Since 2011, they have rescued around 22,000 animals.
Based in New England, they also work within two of the poorest counties in Mississippi and Alabama to rescue animals. They are a shelter-less, foster-based, and volunteer-based organization.
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The founder said they are planning on expanding the nonprofit into a farm animal rescue site. “If I ever won the lottery, what would I do? I’d buy a farm and rescue all the animals. And so we said, 'Why don’t we do that?'” said Cynthia Sweet.
Around four years ago, Sweet Paws Rescue found a farm in Bradford that worked well for their expansion plan, and since then they have been preparing to move their operations there and develop a farm animal sanctuary.
Sweet Paws Rescues plans on expanding to farmland in Bradford.Photo: Courtesy of Cynthia Sweet
Sweet Paws Rescue was able to beat out developers in the sale of the land. “It’s almost 100 acres in the Merrimack Valley really close to the commuter rail, so this would have been prime development.”
When asked why the sellers chose her nonprofit over a bigger developer, Sweet said, “They’ve been there for 45 years and they’re very proud of their farm. They wanted somebody who could carry on their legacy.”
Also, in their agreement, the sellers will be able to continue to live on the property.
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Sweet said that Sweet Paws Rescue wants “to be a resource for Merrimack Valley kids to come and enjoy green spaces, do some farming, [and] get their hands dirty,” and they also want to “implement and create summer camps.”
She added that “part of our plan was to also save an old New England farm, so we get to do both.”
Sweet Paws Rescue hopes to complete the sale and have the site operational between this fall and the following summer.
WBZ NewsRadio's Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports.
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