Schuyler starts moving animals to new shelter

    MONTOUR FALLS—The Humane Society of Schuyler County has started moving some functions into the new animal shelter in Montour Falls at 124 Marina Drive (the former Kurtz Enterprises).
    Work is still being done on the facility, though. President Georgie Taylor explained the first animals to be moved in will be cats. She said a trailer on-site is being converted to house them. The structure has been completely renovated and will now serve to provide housing for the county’s homeless felines in a comfortable, home-like surrounding.
    “It is our expectation that the time spent in this environment will help the cats and kittens adjust to their new permanent homes easily once they are adopted. We are working hard to dispel the belief that shelters are dark, crowded unhappy places that people don’t want to visit,” said Taylor.
    The new facility will accommodate dog and cat housing, spay/neuter services for the pets of income eligible residents of Schuyler County, dog and cat adoption services, and educational programs and fundraising events. The humane society purchased the property in October with plans to consolidate its operations into one centrally located facility. The society will sell the building it owns on County Route 10 in Alpine and the county will close the current Animal Shelter (the dog pound) on Van Zandt Hollow Road once renovations to the new facility are complete. The humane society assumed the responsibility for the management and operation of the dog pound in August of 2009 for the county.
    Renovations to the main building are expected to start this spring with anticipated completion sometime this summer. The main building will house the dog shelter, a surgery suite, an adoption center, a meeting room and additional cat housing.
    “This is truly a giant leap for the organization and a much needed resource for the community. We are thrilled to see this project finally becoming a reality. As much of an improvement as this is over current conditions we will still have limited space and have to deal with limited human resources as we are still largely volunteer based,” said Taylor. “We will likely need to continue to stage our intake on occasion. The real key to stemming the problem of over population is spay/neuter which will serves as the cornerstone of the organization’s mission to promoting animal welfare in Schuyler County.”
    The Humane Society is undertaking a capital campaign to raise $350,000 for the cost of renovation. Thus far, the group has raised approximately $220,000 including a grant from the John A and Jane T. Wiederhold Foundation for the purchase of the dog kennels.
    The humane society will be holding an open house at the new facility this Saturday, March 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will also serve as the annual meeting. The open house will be an opportunity for the public to tour the facility, to see the plans for renovation of the main building and to view the renovations to the trailer (The Kitty Caboose) which will serve to house stray and abandoned cats awaiting permanent homes.
    For more, call The Humane Society of Schuyler County at 594-2255 or visit www.schuylerhumane.org.