Shannon O’Connell
Facility Manager, The Good Dog Spot: Age 32
Shannon O’Connell has always had a heart for animals.
“My mom told me the first time I belly laughed as a baby was when we picked up our puppy; the mom dog started barking, and I started belly laughing,” she recalled. “So I guess I’ve always loved animals, even as a baby.”
O’Connell has been fortunate to turn that love into a career at the Good Dog Spot in Chicopee, which she joined in 2011 just out of high school. There, she’s grown through nearly every role in the organization to become facility manager.
“Shannon oversees daily operations across daycare, boarding, and grooming, while also handling scheduling, client relations, and the health and safety standards that define the business,” wrote Cory Staples, general manager of the Good Dog Spot and one of a whopping 10 individuals who nominated O’Connell for 40 Under Forty. “She leads with both competence and compassion.”
She also manages the company’s social media presence, among other responsibilities. But her favorite role is still daycare, she noted. “I love interacting with the dogs and just watching them interact with each other — the different behaviors, the funny things they do, the joy they have to be there socializing.”
But her journey into animal foster care has been impressive as well. In 2012, a rescue organization reached out to the Good Dog Spot, asking for help boarding some 8-week-old puppies until they could find homes.
“They were adorable. I said, ‘well, I can’t leave them at work. I’ll take them home,’” O’Connell recalled. “And that’s how my fostering happened. It was a lot of fun, so I kept asking for more. I started fostering kittens, and now we do a little bit of everything — mostly dogs and cats. I found it to be very rewarding.”
Indeed, she and her partner have opened their home to close to 300 animals, many from the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center — creating a calm, nurturing environment where they can safely grow, heal, learn to trust, and eventually find forever homes.
O’Connell has also fostered for Canine Companions, which provides service dogs to adults, children, and veterans with disabilities; and facility dogs to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice, and educational settings — all at no cost to clients.
“I love seeing the growth of each foster while we have them and watching them go to their new home,” she said, “and seeing how loved they are after starting out in the shelter.”
—Joseph Bednar
