Plans for a new animal shelter may be the light at the end of a dark tunnel for Animal Resources and Care, formerly known as Alachua County Animal Services.
Animal Resources and Care is looking to move into a new shelter within two to four years, said Ed Williams, the shelter’s director.
He admitted the shelter’s current facility is outdated. It was built in the mid-1980s, when stray animals that were brought in would be euthanized within a few days.
“If you could imagine what animal shelters were like in the mid-80s, versus what they're like now, the way that we do business and the ways — best practices — about how we house animals have changed significantly,” he added.
As of Friday, the shelter holds 148 dogs and 46 cats, Williams said, but not all of these animals are up for adoption.
For about a year, the shelter has been coordinating with Animal Arts Design Studios, a consulting firm which specializes in designing spaces for the care and shelter of animals, including vet clinics and shelters. It generated a needs assessment for the new shelter, recommending an increased animal holding capacity of 149 dogs and 61 cats.
Animal Arts Design Studios suggested Williams set aside $23 million for the project.
The county has budgeted $2 million to purchase the land and draft preliminary designs of the facility, said Alachua County spokesperson Mark Sexton.
“They will be looking at certainly building a state-of-the-art facility that will best serve our animal population and the people that are involved in it ー people that adopt animals and people that give up animals,” Sexton said.
Hoping for more friendly, less stressful housing opportunities for the animals, Williams plans to deviate from the current shelter’s dreary concrete kennels.
He hopes to improve the layout of the kennels. Currently, a corridor inside houses 70 spaces, 35 down each side, one after the other, which creates a lot of noise and stress for the animals.
In modern best practices, this concentrated layout would never have been approved, Williams said.
Today, animals reside in the shelter for longer than they did in the '80s, so he recognizes the need for a more comfortable shelter.
“We need to have kennels that don't encourage them to decline while they're in our care, but actually are supportive to their mental health and hopefully prevent them from declining while they're in the shelter,” he said.
The current shelter is too small to accommodate the overwhelming intake of long-stay dogs and is struggling with overpopulation.
The shelter is now located in the remote northeast corner of the city, but Williams said the distance deters walk-in adoptions and volunteer support.
The new location is undecided, but he hopes for a more accessible site that is closer to the heart of Gainesville.
“I think it'll influence the foot traffic that we get at the shelter and help us to increase the number of adoptions,” Williams said. “And I also think it could help with volunteer support.”
Contact Carissa at callen@alligator.org or follow her on Twitter @carissaallenn.
Carissa Allen is a third-year journalism and political science double major. She is excited to continue her work on the Metro desk this semester as the East Gainesville Reporter. In her free time, you can find her scuba diving, working out or listening to a podcast.
