County moves animals to new center

By T.J. Aulds
The Daily News
Published November 7, 2011

TEXAS CITY — It was hard to tell who was happier. The animals that moved from their cramped quarters in the old county animal shelter to the spacious Galveston County Animal Resource Center or the staff and volunteers.

“You got to be happy to come in here,” Kim Schoolcraft, director of the animal resource center, said while smiling from ear to ear.

Voters approved a county bond referendum in 2008 that included $5 million to build a new animal shelter.

The new facility, scheduled to open to the public Nov. 15, more than doubles the space available for animals and offices and about triples how many animals can be cared for.

More importantly, the center is built to encourage adoption.

Cats find themselves in showrooms complete with play toys and areas to climb. Dogs are no longer in prison-like cages but holding cages that are spacious and allow access to the outdoors.

“When you walk in the front door, you won’t have all the chaos we had,” Schoolcraft said. “It should be a pleasant experience.”

There are outdoor areas for cats called Catios — a play on patios. Dogs can hang out in grassy park areas to enjoy the sun, play with other dogs or get to know possible parents.

There’s space for volunteers and animal control officers to work, an expanded care center for veterinarians to treat animals and even a room to house homeless gerbils, hamsters and guinea pigs.

Dogs and cats can look their best now thanks to a grooming area that comes complete with a drying station.

“I love it,” Audrey Flowers, a retired pet groomer from Dickinson, said as she trimmed the hair of a Schnauzer up for adoption. Flowers is among the 15 core volunteers who donate time to help the shelter.

There’s even a classroom available so the center can offer on-site pet care classes for would-be animal owners.

The center also should cut down on the number of ill animals that are adopted out, a reputation the county shelter had for years.

Air return systems are separated to prevent airborne illnesses from spreading, and contact between animals and human visitors is limited.

The center, which looks more like a pet retail center than the old-fashioned animal shelter, was to have opened in July but problems with the floor application delayed the process.

GALVESTON COUNTY
ANIMAL RESOURCE CENTER

Cost to build: $5 million
(Includes renovation of old shelter as intake center)

Old Square feet: 5,000
New Square feet: 18,840*
(* Does not include square footage after renovation of old shelter)

Old Dog capacity: 40
New Dog capacity: 110

Old Cat capacity: 40
New Cat capacity: 100

(News Media: For more information contact Kurt Koopmann, GCHD Public Information Officer, 409-938-2211 or kkoopman@gchd.org)