Denton to replace city animal shelter

by Amber Arnold of North Texas Daily

Quorum Architects, Inc. designed the plans for Hickory Creek’s new animal shelter and the city is now awaiting bids from contractors.

The current animal shelter will be torn down to make way for the Interstate Highway 35E expansion.

“We’re not only getting a new shelter, we’re getting a world-class shelter, and it’s not being paid for with tax dollars,” city councilman Chris Gordon said.

The new shelter will be about three times the size of the current building at 2,700 square feet.

The city council said it hopes to begin the groundbreaking by 2010, and the estimated cost is about $760,000.

The Texas Department of Transportation bought out the existing building from the shelter.

The new building will be across the highway, next to the Public Works building at 970 Main St.

Jeff McSpedden, director of Public Works and Animal Control, said he was surprised to hear the money from the department would cover the cost of the building.

However, he said this has been a great benefit to the animal control department, because residents voted against the proposition to have the shelter paid for by a bond.

“I think the reason that it didn’t pass is because people were stunned that it would cost that much to house some pets,” animal control officer Ken Lowrie said.

Both McSpedden and Lowrie said they agree that it is time for a new shelter, because the current building is about 15 years old and small.

“It’s going to be fabulous as far as adoptions go,” McSpedden said. “I see them increasing dramatically.”

To keep facility operating costs down and less of a burden to taxpayers, McSpedden said, the shelter will begin advertising for sponsorship.

“We’ll have naming rights for funds to operate the shelter, and we’re looking for a big donor to name the entire shelter after.”

Lowrie said the animal shelter also relies on volunteers and fundraising to keep costs low, and he is excited to get the community involved in the project.

The small size of the shelter forces it to rely heavily on volunteer foster homes. McSpedden said with the construction of the new building, the use of foster homes will decrease, which will give people a better chance to see all of the animals in one place.

All of the policies of the shelter will remain the same. It has a low-kill policy and pet adopters will pay a flat fee of $100, which will include tests for diseases, spaying or neutering, and shots.

Bids for contracting the shelter are being collected and will be presented to the council on Dec. 8 for a vote.

“This will be a turn-key building,” McSpedden said. “Whenever they are done, we’ll be able to put animals in that same day.”