Funds allocated, possible sites identified for new GC Animal Outreach shelter

MOSES LAKE —There definitely is funding — and some tentative ideas about a design and location — for a new animal shelter to be operated by Grant County Animal Outreach.

Animal Outreach board president Sara Thompson Tweedy said the project was awarded a $500,000 grant from the Paul Lauzier Foundation earlier this month, which will be paid over time, to buy new indoor-outdoor kennels for the facility when it’s built. The Moses Lake City Council voted May 14 to award $1 million from the city’s American Rescue Plan funding to the project, with the provision that the city would have space in the facility for 20 years. The Grant County Commissioners also are considering awarding $1 million in ARPA funding to the project. 

The GCAO board has a tentative design that would provide about 3,800 square feet of climate-controlled space for dogs and cats. Dogs would have kennels with outdoor access, with a separate room for cats.

“One of my favorite features is that our cats will have an outdoor space. It’s called a cattery,” Tweedy said.

There will be a separate space for animals that require isolation, a nursery for new moms and their puppies and a space where prospective owners can meet animals.  

Animal Outreach administrators, county commissioners and Moses Lake officials have been looking for sites, she said, and have found some possibilities.

“The county has identified land that we all agree is the best possible scenario,” she said. 

Under the current plan, the GCAO would continue to provide the animal shelter for Grant County and Moses Lake on a contracted basis, Tweedy said. That’s the existing arrangement.

The shelter is located on Randolph Road across the street from the Grant County International Airport. It dates back to the days the airport was Larson Air Force Base and, said Commissioner Cindy Carter, is inadequate for the current need.

“We just need to update the facility,” Carter said. “We all kind of depend on it.”

Tweedy said the existing building is overcrowded, needs major utility upgrades and lacks outdoor exercise space. She credited the staff for working within the existing space.

“We have a lot of great, adoptable dogs,” she said. “Partially due to the fact the shelter staff love them so much.”

The search for a new location and a new shelter has had its challenges.

“We have been on a winding path,” Tweedy said. 

She credited Carter, her fellow commissioners Rob Jones and Danny Stone, and Moses Lake City Manager Kevin Fuhr with being willing to keep working through the challenges. The GCAO also has received help from Grant County Central Services Director Tom Gaines as well as Chris Young and Jim Anderson-Cook, director and deputy director of Grant County Development Services.

Tweedy said the number of animals coming to the shelter seems to have reached a plateau, at least for now.

“We have not seen a decrease, but we have not seen an increase,” she said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.