The expanded and renovated shelter opened in 2025 and reduces overcrowding and noise within the shelter, improves animal housing, improves the adoption experience and offers better workspaces for staff.
This project was funded through a combination of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, grants, financing and private donations.
For the animals:
- A dedicated room for small animals like ferrets and rabbits, which reduces stress as they can be separated from cats and dogs.
- Several flexible cat rooms with larger cages and access to a future outdoor space (e.g., a cat patio also known as a Catio) Limiting the number of cats in a space and giving them larger cages reduces stress and sickness caused by stress
- Isolated sick area for cats with larger cages
- Dog kennels with consistent access to the outdoors via fenced runs. This also reduces stress and improves their quality of life while in our care
For the public:
- Larger lobby area
- Small rooms for meet-and-greets with adoptable animals
- Small rooms to say good-bye to an animal being surrendered
- Easier access to adoptable cats and dogs
For the staff:
- Small break and meeting room
- Dedicated surgery room with observation kennels for animals in recovery
- Separate room for Animal Control Officers
- A dedicated animal intake room
Energy efficient upgrades:
- Heat recovery ventilators
- Heat pumps
- Electric water heater
- High efficiency bioler
- 15 kW rooftop solar panels
Future projects
The following two parts of this project are not currently funded. We hope to be able to raise the money to include them:
- Remodel the existing kennels so that dogs either have access to the outside or a separate place for them to potty.
- Add an enclosed port to offload animals when Animal Control Officers bring them to the shelter. This will reduce stress on the animals and reduce the potential for escapes. The latter is especially important considering how close the shelter is to the interstate.
