Quincy's new shelter 'substantially complete'

QUINCY - The doors and windows are installed, grass outside is growing, new kennels are glistening and soon, dogs and cats will fill the new Quincy Animal Shelter.

Director for the no-kill shelter Rachel Lewis said she hopes the new, larger shelter will help more abandoned dogs and cats find permanent homes.

The Quincy City Council voted to accept "substantial completion" of the $787,000 shelter at its meeting this week. Lewis, her staff and volunteers and 30-40 cats and dogs would be in the shelter within two weeks, city engineer Ariel Belino said during the meeting.

That is good news to Lewis, who said she wished she could be in her new home now.

The new shelter has twice the square footage of the temporary shelter built in 2005 that currently houses Quincy's stray animals.

It can house more than twice as many dogs and cats, in a more pleasant and well-lit environment, she said. Dogs would have kennels with inside and outside access, allowing substantially more roaming room and making clean up easier for staff. Cats would have large cat condos with removable doors to allow them to play with each other or roam around several condos if they are not full, Lewis said. There is also a living room with a lounge chair for the cats to play. It helps prospective owners see how the animals would react in their home.

"That is actually a really big deal," Lewis said. She noted that if a family can walk in, see a cute kitten lounging on the arm of an easy chair, the family would be more likely to take that pet home.

The new shelter also has a get-acquainted room for dogs and potential owners to play.

It is outfitted with a quarantine room and a separate intake/bath tub room so pets that are new to the shelter can get checked out for diseases and properly cleaned to look good for their new homes.

Lewis said she hopes the shelter's close proximity to downtown and the high school would interest more volunteer groups in helping.

A new volunteer/employee bathroom complete with a shower, new washer and dryer and staff kitchen should also help attract more volunteers and get dogs and cats adopted quicker, she said.

The only down side to the new, larger shelter is the potential to manage more animals, she said.

The old shelter can only house 10-14 dogs and seven to 10 cats. As a result, she said she has to decline some animals that were found outside of the city limits, about one per week on average. The new shelter can house 20-40 dogs and 24 cats, so she would likely have more animals to manage.

She said she is excited about a Hound Run 5K that will help to pay for miscellaneous supplies for the shelter. Check-in for the run begins at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 18 at Quincy's Recreation Department, 115 First Ave. SW Oct. 18. The cost is $10 for a dog and owner to participate.