Charlestown Pet Group Meeting Minutes February 24, 2026

 David Elder opened the meeting at 11:03. 12 members were in attendance. Minutes from the January Meeting were approved.

Old Business

• Please wear light clothes and carry a light when walking your pets at night.
• All pets are to be on a leash when not in your apartment, taking the nearest exit outside. If your pet creates a mess in the building, please clean up immediately and notify General Services.
• Visiting pets must be maintained on leashes at all times. Please share with your visitors.
• Items are collected for donation to the MDSPCA. If you have any items for donation, bring them to the meeting If you need any items, let us know and we can check the storage bin.
• Cat Clinic- Please call Dr Nesbitt directly (410-869-0800) for an appointment. We currently have no schedule, but Dr. Nesbitt may schedule a time if there are enough requests.
• The updated Resource List is now located at ccicharlestown.org. Select Pets at Charlestown, then select Local Pet Resources.
• There is a google email group for pet owners. You can be added by sending an email to pets-at-charlestown-subscribe@googlegroups.com
• Contact Betty Elder or Hope Tillman for help adding your pet’s photo to the Charlestown Pet Gallery.

New Business

• Nadine Rebeiro, Community Resources Volunteer Director, introduced herself to the group. Nadine is responsible for the Pet Volunteer program that registers pets for visits to Continuing Care. If you are interested, contact Nadine.
• Julie Helms is the new Building Representative for St. Charles.
• Please let your Building Rep know if you see a resident with a pet and no door magnet. We don’t always receive notification in a timely manner from Resident Life.
• Snow related issues – The current company does a good job dispersing ice melt. The issue with the ice melt is that the granules lodge in pet’s paws.
• A request was made for some areas to be shoveled to the grass for use by dogs. We will pass that idea along.  Some owners did not pick up pet droppings during the snow.
• The MDSPCA made a pickup. We had 3 carts of donations. The MDSPCA has a program to give pet food to owners who have trouble affording food.  The number continues to increase. They were happy to get some food from us.
• Will there be a refresh of the dog run by the garden when the Historic area is refreshed? The dog run could use some work. Nadine will find out what the plans are.

The group has 243 residents with 207 pets: 115 cats, 90 dogs, and 2 birds. Exact numbers may vary over time.

NEXT MEETING –  March 24 in Cross Creek Lobby Cafe (near the mailboxes). Meetings are always on the 4th Tuesday at 11AM. (no meeting in July, August and December).
March meeting will be in the Cross Creek Lobby Cafe. All others will be in Brookside Classroom 2.