🐶 Adopt a pet? Adopt a pet!

It’s Tuesday, Boston.

💸 It’s also an important deadline for a round of student loan forgiveness. The Biden administration is planning a one-time cancellation or credit for some federal borrowers, but you may need to opt-in by today to qualify. See if you’re eligible here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• A wet hot Mass. summer

• More encampment updates

• Two pitches, zero strikes

Up first…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY!

🥳 It’s B-Side queen Emily Schario’s birthday! Whether you know it or not, if you love the B-Side, you probably also love our Head of Content, Emily, who has put her heart and soul into this project from day one. And, on a personal note, she’s also a pretty great boss.

Now, onto our regularly scheduled programming …

LIFESTYLE

This is your sign to adopt a pet

Young people have the pet adoption bug — for better or for worse.

Since it’s national Adopt a Shelter Pet Day, we spoke to local shelters and recent adopters about their experience, and how to know if it's the right time to take the plunge.

Here’s what they said:

🐶 COVID changed the ecosystem of pet adoption. But not necessarily for the reasons you might think. The spike of pet adoptions during COVID and subsequent issues with overburdened shelters was real. But the relationship is less about training woes or returning to the office, and more about people being priced out of pet ownership, according to Cynthia Sweet, founder of Sweet Paws Rescue, a Mass.-based foster and rescue. Her organization’s intake of locally abandoned dogs has increased from 20 or so in 2019 to over 130 so far this year, she said.

🐱 The way some younger adopters look at pet ownership is changing. Part of the rise in younger adopters seems to be the realization that pets can have a positive effect on your mental health, a fact that Gen Z and Millenials are “a lot more emotionally tuned to,” according to Corrine Bourgoin, MSPCA-Angell’s shelter operations supervisor. For 23-year-old Kathryn Cruz, adopting her pup was a conscious decision to help her through a rough time emotionally. Cruz said her dog has changed her life for the better, including improving her mood and exercise habits.

⏰ But don’t get it twisted: Adopting only works if you work it. If you’re adopting a dog, you need to be ready to commit “a couple of hours a day,” to training, exercise, and love, said Sweet, especially in the beginning. So if you have a busy or inflexible schedule, adopting a pup might not be for you. But if you still have the adoption bug, a pet that requires less of a rigid schedule — like a cat, rabbit, or guinea pig — could provide that emotional fulfillment and be a better fit for your lifestyle, Bourgoin said.

💸 Plus: Consider the costs. It’s not always an easy pill to swallow, but pet adoptions are pricey. First-year estimated costs for cats and dogs both top $1,000, but when you take into consideration any unforeseen bills, those furry friends can cost much more. All in, Cruz said she has spent over $3,000 on her pup in the first few months. 

❤️ If it is the right choice for you, adopting can be life-changing. “It's just been a joy to have someone who is ecstatic to see you, and to cuddle with,” Cruz said. “Pets just bring so much joy to your life. Despite the hardships [with training and scheduling], it's just been worth it.” 

QUICK QUESTION

🐱 Do you have a pet? 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🥵 It’s going to be another wet hot Massachusetts summer. Literally. According to a recently released long-range forecast from the National Weather Service, Mass. (along with the rest of New England) is “likely” to see above-average temperatures this summer compared to the past two decades. And if you have painful memories of last summer’s rainy weekends, you might want to start preparing to run it back: The projections are also “leaning” toward above-average precipitation in most of the region. 

⛺ Local college officials are coming down on Pro-Palestinian encampments. At MIT, college president Sally Kornbluth cited violations of campus rules and concerns for safety in a video message asking students to remove the encampments “soon,” while at Tufts, university officials said that the encampment will need to be removed in preparation for their graduation ceremony. However, both groups have made it clear they don’t intend to move unless their demands are met. Meanwhile, at Harvard, administrators have requested that over 30 protestors appear in front of their disciplinary committee in the coming days.

😋 Boston’s got food. We’ve got food news. First up, a closing. Grasshopper, Allston’s beloved vegan Asian spot, is shutting down after 27 years on May 29 due to “leasing disagreements,” but plans to reopen in a new location. In brighter news, Clover Food Lab, the unique farm-to-table fast-casual chain, has emerged from bankruptcy with plans to expand throughout New England over the next few years. And as for openings, Jahunger, an Uyghur restaurant helmed by a James Beard semifinalist, is expanding to Cambridge in early May. 

⚾ Some Sox games are celebrating more than baseball. The team just dropped the schedule for this year’s cultural and identity celebrations, which are tied to different games across the season. They’ll kick things off with an AAPI celebration night on May 1, followed by 16 others over the course of the summer. At each one, you can expect themed entertainment, food, pregame ceremonies, and other types of giveaways. Bonus: If you grab tickets for any of them through this link, you can get the extremely cool merch that comes with them.

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win a $100 gift card to Castle Island Brewing!

We’re giving away one $100 gift card to Castle Island Brewing, the Southie hot spot serving some of Boston’s favorite beer, wine, hard seltzer, and N/A beverages. To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on 5/1. If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. No purchase necessary. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

Two pitches, zero strikes

Two of our favorite New Englanders took to the mound at Fenway this weekend. On Friday night, Maine native and Sexiest Man Alive Patrick Dempsey; and on Saturday, overnight sensation slash Watertown resident Noah Kahan each got the opportunity to throw a first pitch. 

But unfortunately, neither quite managed to get the ball over the plate. 

In Dempsey’s case, he approached the mound with confidence, and his solid wind-up suggested a potential strike. But just before the plate, the ball lost its power and bounced into the catcher’s leg, eliciting a huge groan from Dempsey. 

And in Kahan’s case, between his pre-pitch head shake and (TBH) lackluster form, the throw seemed to be a lost cause from the beginning. The ball came up way short, causing him to immediately crouch down in embarrassment and cover his face with his glove.

— Written by Gia Orsino

⚾ Thanks for reading! We’re not saying we could do better, but Red Sox, if you’re reading, we would like to try. <3

👫 The results are in: 60% of readers say that they haven’t tried friendship-making groups in Boston, but would be willing to give them a shot! One reader said: “Making friends is fr hard, sign me up for group activities.”

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