‘Right there’ on construction of new GCAO shelter

MOSES LAKE — Grant County Animal Outreach directors hope to start construction on a new shelter by the end of the year. Outreach board president Sara Thompson Tweedy said the construction permit is pending approval from the city of Moses Lake. 

“As soon as we get that permit, then we’ll be able to line up our contractors,” Thompson Tweedy said. 

Updating the Moses Lake City Council on the project Sept. 9, Thompson Tweedy estimated it would take about two weeks to start construction once the permits are approved. The permit application was submitted July 27, she said.  

The total project cost will be about $2.5 million, she said, which includes $1 million from Moses Lake and $1 million from Grant County. The project also received about $250,000 through the efforts of 13th District Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, and Reps. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, and Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, Thompson Tweedy told council members.  

The new building, 7401 Randolph Road NE, will be about 6,200 square feet, with an indoor/outdoor space for about 60 dogs. Maximum capacity would be 120 dogs. It will have a laundry, a room for food preparation and a room where prospective owners can meet dogs and cats. 

Cats will get their own rooms, Thompson Tweedy said, with 10 spaces that can hold more than one cat. Animals must be isolated when they first enter the shelter, so there will be 10-20 isolation kennels, Tweedy said. 

“We’re right there,” Thompson Tweedy said.  

Once the project starts, construction is estimated to take eight to 10 months, she said.  

The shelter saw a steep increase in the number of dogs and cats after the COVID-19 pandemic, enough to strain its capacity. Thompson Tweedy said there are still a lot of dogs and cats coming into the shelter, but other factors have lessened the strain.   

“We’re not seeing a decline, necessarily, in numbers. But what we are seeing is an increase in adoption as well as an increase in our ability to transfer (animals),” Thompson Tweedy said. “We have some wonderful staff there who kind of got the hang of partnerships with other shelters in the state to move some of the dogs out to those shelters. Those are the two big game-changers for us. We’re able at this point to keep our numbers at a level that is manageable for the staff that we have and for the facility that we’re in.” 

Moses Lake and Grant County are both contributing to shelter operation and money raised by the shelter pays the rest, she said. As a result, fundraising will still be necessary when the new shelter opens. 

“There are always operating expenses,” Thompson Tweedy said.  

Keeping the shelter open requires a close eye on the bottom line, she said. 

“Inherently, we have a stake in keeping expenses low because we’re responsible for fundraising as well. So, making every dollar count is still a huge priority for us,” she said. 

The project has been in the planning stages since 2023, with, Thompson Tweedy said, a lot of starts and stops. But support has grown along the way. 

“I have noticed a sea change in the support for this shelter that’s coming from people in elected office, in the community,” she said. “I think folks in Grant County and Moses Lake want this and believe in this. When this thing goes up, it won’t be because of (a few people’s) efforts. It will be a true community effort because there have been so many people who contributed to this process. So many.” 

    A cat plays on a cat tree donated to Grant County Animal Outreach. Construction of a new shelter should start by the end of 2025.