Our new Pet Adoption Center is 1 year old! And after 12 months of caring for pets and working in our spacious and quiet new digs, we can affirm wholeheartedly that it has been a transformative experience and helped us in our livesaving mission. And we couldn’t have done it without you!

A relaxed cat in the new shelter.

If you’ve forgotten, the conditions in our old shelter were noisy and stressful, with all the dogs under one roof in kennels with cement floors and chain-link doors. It was an unpleasant experience for pets and people alike.

“The new building has given pets opportunities for success that they wouldn’t have had in our old building,’’ said Director of Animal Welfare, Sarah Moody-Cook. Dogs and cats both have more space in quieter rooms with better ventilation, noise-absorbing flooring and kennels with glass doors. Right from the start, it was stunning to see how much calmer and more rested the animals became in the new facility. And there’s a lot less barking!

Recently, a sweet but shy dog named Lindor came to the shelter and got to stay in one of our spacious and quiet dog lounges. He was able to relax, settle in and come out of his shell at his own pace, eventually blossoming into a very loving boy.

Lindor benefitted from the new center.

“Without our new building, Lindor would have been housed in a loud, busy kennel environment and would have very likely shut down and regressed behaviorally, instead of improving daily like he did in the new shelter,” Moody-Cook said.

The flexible housing options for pets have allowed the staff to meet the needs of each pet as an individual, which in turn allows a pet’s best qualities to shine when meeting adopters.

People, too, have benefitted from the improved environment. The design and integration of the spaces has resulted in more efficient movement of animals and people, better and more efficient care of animals and improved communication between care teams and with customers.

Here are some impressive statistics on shelter operations since we moved into the new Pet Adoption Center a year ago:

• 4,122 pets have come into our care, including 1,352 dogs and puppies and 2,548 cats and kittens
• 3,352 pets were adopted, including 925 dogs and 2,260 cats and kittens
• 552 stray pets were united with their families, including 384 dogs and puppies and 163 cats and kittens.

Of course, adopters love the new Pet Adoption Center, too! Being in the shelter is much more pleasant now, with shorter wait times and better access to services. Best of all, the animals in our care are less stressed, healthier, and happier — qualities that helped more than 3,300 animals connect with loving forever homes!