The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
75°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Animal shelter gets big upgrade

Todd Paty, of Spokane Concrete Cutters, makes cuts for the new kennel drain system at SpokAnimal CARE on Monday. Last Saturday, Comcast volunteers removed the old kennels, and SpokAnimal hopes to have the new kennels installed and housing animals by mid-October. (Jed Conklin / The Spokesman-Review)
By Melodie Little melodiel@spokesman.com
Todd Paty, of Spokane Concrete Cutters, makes cuts for the new kennel drain system at SpokAnimal CARE on Monday. Last Saturday, Comcast volunteers removed the old kennels, and SpokAnimal hopes to have the new kennels installed and housing animals by mid-October. (Jed Conklin / The Spokesman-Review)

SpokAnimal CARE is improving its outdated facility and planning to build a modern shelter in the future.

In addition to replacing 52 kennels in the aging North Napa shelter with new, modular units, the nonprofit is looking for 20-plus acres to build a new facility.

“We have good things in the works,” said Gail Mackie, executive director of SpokAnimal.

Ideas for the new shelter include an adjacent dog park, walking track, training center and agility course. Mackie said there is no set timeline for the project. The cost of land and amount of money raised will determine how long it takes and if fun touches, like the dog park, become reality.

In the meantime, the new kennels being installed next week will help improve health for the animals. The units boast solid walls, which will cut down on the transmission of animal diseases, and feature surfaces that are substantially easier to clean. Combined with a recently installed air filtration system, the changes reduce odors making both pets and people more comfortable.

The modular units can be easily relocated in the future and come in varying colors that Mackie plans to have arranged to designate puppies, strays and adoptable pets.

The $120,000 upgrade was a true community effort because most of the money was bequeathed by a local animal lover. Around 80 volunteers from Comcast worked Saturday afternoon to tear out aging kennels that had seen many dogs in the past 20 years.

Planning around the shelter’s pet population was challenging. Pets were shuffled to two Seattle shelters that agreed to find the dogs homes.

“They have more desire than they have inventory, so we had a perfect match,” Mackie said. The Comcast volunteers adopted out five pets on Saturday and foster families accepted several more.

Four dogs are commuting to spend days at the shelter and nights at an off-site location.

Spokane County Regional Animal Care and Protection Services sent two adoptable pets with the SpokAnimal dogs to Western Washington and are housing two dangerous dogs for Spok-Animal.

Mackie said the shelter won’t accept any owner turn-in pets until the kennel installation is complete, around Oct. 16, and animal control officers are redoubling efforts to track down owners of any dogs they pick up.