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The Current Shelter: |
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The Proposed Shelter: |
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Financial/Fundraising Questions: |
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General Questions: |
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Q. Why does Kalamazoo County need a new shelter?
A. The current facility was built for animal control, not
as an animal welfare center. The current Kalamazoo County Animal
Shelter was built in 1984, and was not built to house animals for
more than a few days at a time. The current shelter does not provide
adequate space for a spay/neuter clinic, expansion, or a safe out
door exercise area. The facility was fitted with stainless steel
cages of various sizes instead of pens, designed to serve as a
temporary holding areas that are too small and unsanitary resulting
in a multitude of health hazards for any animal or pet that enters
the shelter.A better designed
and well located facility is needed to create an animal welfare
center with a greatly increased adoption rate. Studies show the
longer an animal stays in a shelter, the less "adoptable" it
becomes. The likelihood of disease goes up and the psychological
impact on the pet living in a cage is substantial, requiring
training, socialization and adequate staff, both paid and volunteer,
to ensure the pets remain healthy and adoptable. In addition to the
animal health issues, these factors also negatively impact the
visiting public and the overall operations of the shelter in a
substantial way.
Keeping the pet population under
control is possible through the operation of a successful animal
welfare center. This will require the development of an aggressive
spay/neuter program and an educational program. The current facility
does not provide adequate space for the delivery of these essential
programs, nor is there room at the present location to expand the
existing building.
The only opportunity we have to
solve these problems and serve our mission is to design and build a
new facility that addresses these issues while providing adequate
space for the increase in our population that is anticipated over
the next ten to twenty years. |
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Q. What major problems does the existing shelter have?
A. Here are just a few more reasons not already mentioned:
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The
dog cages are not properly designed to make cleaning easy |
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The
drainage system encourages the spread of animal diseases instead
of preventing it. |
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The
heating, cooling and ventilation system is outdated and is not
capable of providing the critical fresh air exchange and air
purification necessary to maintain the health of the animals |
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Noise
levels are exceedingly high creating a stressful environment for
the pets and staff |
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The
lighting and lack of natural light in the building not only
affects the mental and physical well being of the animals, but
it creates an atmosphere that is not inviting to the public |
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Q. Is it possible to add-on to the existing shelter?
A. The property on which the current shelter resides does
not have room to accommodate the much-needed expansion. The parking
lot is too small and difficult to get in and out of, and there is no
room to create a safe exercise area where volunteers and staff can
walk and exercise the dogs. A change from cages to pens alone would
increase the required square footage to more than the current
property can handle.It has
been shown that an important factor for increasing the adoption rate
of shelter animals by getting people into the shelter is the
location of the shelter. The shelter needs to be in a very visible
location, not hidden away near jails or landfills. These are the
customary locations of most county shelters. |
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Q. What are the adoption and euthanasia statistics of the current
shelter?
A. The euthanasia rate has fallen from 64% of all the
animals in 2000, to 48% of all the animals in 2006. A comparison of
2005 and 2006, dogs and cats is as follows:
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Dogs |
2005 |
2006 |
| Adopted |
643 |
605 |
| Returned to Owner |
692 |
632 |
| Transferred to
Rescue |
142 |
134 |
| Euthanized |
477 |
408 |
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Cats |
2005 |
2006 |
| Adopted |
559 |
521 |
| Returned to Owner |
77 |
61 |
| Transferred to
Rescue |
240 |
176 |
| Euthanized |
1295 |
1521 |
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Q. What groups will be a part
of the new shelter and what purpose will each group serve?
A. Three years ago we met with all of the larger local
animal welfare organizations and began talks to see if we could all
work together out of one building. This approach made sense
logistically and financially. As time went by, several of the
organizations dropped out of the talks with a desire to pursue their
own agendas. The groups that are left at the table willing to work
together out of the same building, are the Kalamazoo Humane Society,
the Kalamazoo County Animal Services and Enforcement Department, the
Kalamazoo Animal Rescue, and the Kalamazoo Dog Training Club.
The Kalamazoo Humane Society will continue to provide low income
spay/neutering programs, educational programs, the emergency food
bank, and various other programs aimed at lowering the pet
population in our community.
The Kalamazoo County Animal Services Department will continue to
pick up and take into the shelter, the stray, lost, sick, and
injured animals in our community. They will continue to provide the
enforcement of all State, County, and local laws and ordinances,
including animal abuse and neglect cases. They will continue to
offer low cost euthanasia for owner animals, and will assist the
Humane Society with aggressive educational programs in the local
schools.
The Kalamazoo Animal Rescue will continue to rescue and foster stray
animals rescued from the shelter, and owner animals turned over to
their organization for a second chance at a forever home. They will
have office space within the new shelter to assist Animal Services
when foster homes are needed for 'at risk' animals.
The Kalamazoo Dog Training Club will offer obedience classes to the
public for first time dog owners, new adopters, and current dog
owners. They will also maintain a club membership and help their
members to advance in their training and show goals. They will
assist with the public's training questions and can assist with
rehabilitating 'at risk' dogs that may have behavioral problems. |
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Q. Will the groups involved turn into one organization,
or stay separate?
A. Each group will maintain their own identity, mission,
and budget. They will continue performing the same services they do
now. By working under the same roof, they will be able to
collaborate their efforts more efficiently, both physically and
financially, to help our community lower the number of unwanted and
stray animals that flow into the County Shelter each year. Working
together, 1+1+1+1=10. The citizens and pet owners in our community
will have one place to go when they have animal welfare needs or
concerns. |
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Q. What are the advantages to working out of one building?
A.
The Kalamazoo Humane Society will have
a surgical wing in the new shelter where they will have a
veterinarian on staff to perform spay/neuters for low income
families. They will also be able to spay/neuter the
shelter animals before they are adopted and the Animals that
Kalamazoo Animal Rescue takes in.
Currently we
transport our adopted cats to local veterinarians to perform the
surgeries. Having the clinic in the same building will
insure that the animals that are adopted from the shelter are fixed,
and will save on gas and the wear and tear on
the trucks. The savings will be passed on to the adopter in the cost
of the spay/neuter.
Having the Dog Training
Club holding classes in the same building will allow adopters to
view the classes and sign up for one all in one
location. There will be many more benefits to each of the groups
involved as we collaborate our services. |
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Q. What new features will be a part of the proposed shelter?
A.
The new shelter will be state of the
art. We want people to come to the shelter often so the building
will
not feel like a shelter. Besides the complete spay/neuter clinic,
and the large indoor training area, there will be an
outdoor exercise area, Education and meeting room, 138 indoor dog
runs, indoor puppy pens, 98 cat cages, an
aviary, and a crematorium. If a large enough piece of property is
acquired, we plan to have a public dog park on the
grounds as well.
The Training room will be used for adopt-a-thons, seminars, and
other events. We want to attract visitors from
outside the county that will come for events and bring additional
revenues into our community. |
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Q. Where will the shelter be
built?
A.
We are seeking 5 to 20 acres between
I94 and Zylman and between
Sprinkle Road and Portage Road. This is a central area to the county's population with high
visibility. |
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Q. What design firm is
designing the new shelter?
A.
We are using the Shelter Planners of
America, out of California to design the shelter. We researched a
lot
of architectural firms and though there are many that have designed
shelters, Shelter Planners of America is the only
architectural firm that we found that only designs shelters. We felt
this was important because they know what
works and what doesn't work. They know the best materials, air
filtration and drainage systems necessary for a
shelter to operate in the healthiest conditions.
Shelters are very
specialized buildings that are more like hospitals
than warehouses. They need to keep animals healthy and to hold up
under heavy wear for a long period of time.
The drawings will be drawn here in Ann Arbor Michigan by a firm that
contracts with Shelter Planners of America. |
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Q. When will the new shelter
be built?
A.
The floor plans and renderings should
be completed by early summer 2007, and the feasibility study should
be completed by the fall of this year as well. Because this project
relies on donations to be completed, the timing of
when the shelter will be built will depend on the speed in which the
money is raised in the capital campaign.
It is
possible that the ground could be broken for the new shelter as
early as the summer of 2008. We are confident the
money can be raised and we are hopeful that it can be raised
quickly. |
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Q. How much is the new shelter
going to cost, and where is the money coming from?
A.
The proposed cost at this time is
between 4 and 6 million dollars. This figure will depend on the
finalized
square footage of the building, and the cost of building materials
when the work begins.
We are seeking donations from foundations, corporations, grants, and
most importantly from the citizens in our
community. We feel this shelter will belong to the community and we
want the community to feel they have a part in
making this dream happen. |
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Q. Why are donations being used to
build the new shelter instead of tax dollars?
A. The State and County have many present and future
financial issues to deal with. The State has a deficit of millions
of dollars that will impact every County budget for the next few
years. Kalamazoo County has a lot of its own issues to deal with
like the need for a new jail and Juvenile Home. We do not want to
burden the tax payers with more tax increases, and we believe that
the Kalamazoo County citizens care enough about how we care for our
animals, that we can raise the needed money without raising taxes.
With the Kalamazoo Humane Society taking the lead in this project
and raising the money for the new shelter, all donations become tax
deductible and can help to save the tax payers money instead of
costing them more. |
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Q. When the new shelter is
built, will it be a no-kill shelter?
A.
Unfortunately the term "no-kill" is
misleading to the general public. Most "no-kill" shelters euthanize
animals they find to be unadoptable. This is the right thing to do,
and it is the humane thing to do.
No Kill shelters,
when questioned, will tell you that their definition of "no-kill" is
that no "adoptable" animal will be euthanized. This
term is misleading to the public and at times could be considered
deceptive. Our goal is the same, that no
"adoptable" animal is euthanized. Unfortunately as a public shelter,
we cannot choose what animals we take into the
shelter like the private groups do, and we cannot close our doors
when we are full like the private rescues.
Working
together in the new shelter, each of the organizations involved are
committed to lowering the number of animals that
come into the shelter, through spay/neuter programs, and education,
so that we can achieve a "no kill" philosophy.
However, we will never use that term because there will always be
the potential that animals have to be euthanized
and we do not want to deceive the public. |
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