Our Pet Project
Building for the next 100 years
The APA is dedicated to bringing people and pets together, advancing humane education, and creating programs beneficial to the human/animal bond. 2022 marks our 100th year of making a difference in the lives of pets—and people. Over the past century, our adoption program has successfully created literally tens of thousands of new beginnings for pets—providing them a second chance in a new, loving, and forever home. Today, we are expanding our pawprint to create even more of these new beginnings. We hope that you will make a contribution to Our Pet Project campaign to help the APA connect even more people to more of our furry friends.
Phase 1: Kennel Renovation
The first phase of our plan centers on our dog and cat kennels: making them safer, more comfortable, and more welcoming. For many years we stayed focused on the pets in need, growing the number of animals we served. Unfortunately, we just can’t ignore the necessary maintenance and improvements our kennel needs anymore. The Kennel Renovation will include:
A total update of our dog kennels
Our Dog Kennel could be an oasis for dogs that need a fresh start. With investments in our infrastructure, design, and layout of the kennel, we can make every dog’s time with us more relaxing and the adoption experience easier. Our plans include:
Updating our infrastructure
Our kennel is long overdue for a refresh and some of the systems that keep the space clean and bright are aging. The updated space will have new drains and trenches, solving the problem of sluggish draining. There will be wall-mounted hoses for easy access to water, ending the need for our animal care techs to lug a long, heavy hose around the space. We will be painting the room from top to bottom with heavy-duty and easy-to-clean paint, ensuring the paint no longer chips from the walls and ceiling. We will refresh the kennel lighting to ensure every adorable face and tail wag is easily seen by prospective adopters. Finally, we will update our HVAC which will increase the fresh air circulating throughout the kennel, creating a healthier environment for every pet.
Making the kennels more comfortable
Our current kennel layout has been in place since the Adoption Center was built. Each one is made of cinder block and has a tiled surround. With a tendency to chip and harbor bacteria, these materials are not ideal. We plan to install new solid paneling kennel dividers, which will give us more space and make them easier to clean. Every kennel will have a guillotine door to its neighbor, making it possible to double the size of the kennel for our larger guests and clean them more easily. New epoxy flooring will be put down to ensure that each kennel is fresh and bright. The glass fronts will remain for easy pet viewing.
Increasing quality of life
While our average length of stay for a dog in our care is less than a week, we want to make sure that the time spent with us is calm and low-stress, especially after the harrowing journey many pets take to our doorstep. We will be adding sound batting to decrease ambient noise in the kennel. A new sound system will be installed to pipe-in soothing sounds and music during the day. Each kennel will also have more space and privacy for the dogs, allowing them to decompress and show their best side to potential adopters.
A Refresh of Our Cat Kennels
But it won’t be just the dogs who get new digs. We have worked with a cat behaviorist to identify the best, coziest, and safest cat room we can create, and it will include necessary systems upgrades alongside new and reimagined kennels that are quieter, cleaner, and just more fun. Our cats and kittens are also in need of a new and fresh space to improve their stay, make the space easier to clean, and ensure the public and potential families can see our feline friends in the best light. Our cats will be purring for the improvements, which include:
Improving their stay
Cats on average spend longer periods of time waiting for their family to find them. While they stay with us at the Adoption Center, we aim to make the time comfortable and fun. The first step in making our cats feel zen is adding much-needed soundproofing between the cat “get acquainted’ rooms and the dog kennel. We don’t want the noise of their boisterous neighbors affecting our more reserved guests. We will also be adding a sound system, like the one in the dog kennel, to provide soothing music all day. We will update the drop ceiling, which can be a safety issue for our especially curious cats. Finally, we will re-epoxy the floor for easier cleaning and paw traction, for our roaming kitties.
Making the condos cozier
We will be refreshing our cat condos to give the cats more unique spaces to play and lounge, improve public visibility for faster adoptions, and ensure the kennels are safe and clean. We will be updating the cat kennels in the center of the room to grow the shared cat spaces available, and make the kennels more comfortable, including increasing the accessible square footage. Finally, we will add new lighting, which will help visitors see every adorable cat and kitten better, no matter where they might be!
Phase 2: Clinic & Animal Care Expansion
The second phase of our plan focuses on the “behind the scenes” work at the APA. By expanding the building’s footprint, we will be able to deliver more and better care to adoptable and community pets. This expansion and improvements are essential for ensuring that every pet who comes through our door receives exceptional medical care and the opportunity to heal. Our plans include:
Expanding Our Clinic
Each year our clinic not only serves the nearly 4,000 adoptable pets that we care for, but also 6,000+ community pets in need of affordable and accessible veterinary care. Our clinic was last renovated more than 20 years ago when we were serving just 1,000 pets in total every year. While we have been “making do” it is essential we increase our capacity and systems in the clinic, which includes adding a designated surgical suite for the thousands of spay and neuter surgeries we do, improving our radiology capabilities, and upgrading our exam rooms.
Growing our nursery
We need more nursery space to give our tiniest friends a healthy and peaceful start. Many of the transfer animals we receive are pregnant or nursing moms, and these ladies and their babies are especially susceptible to disease, so they need their own safe, quiet, and designated space. Our new nursery will have separate indoor and outdoor spaces to ensure that the puppies in our care are not exposed to the other shelter pets, while they grow big enough for vaccinations and foster homes.
Increasing our quarantine space
Each year the APA transfers in more than 2,000 pets from across the state, region, and country. These are pets from areas where a second chance is often hard to come by. We partner with shelters after disasters, storms, or crises to ensure pets get a chance at a family. These pets often come to us needing extra care to recover from illness or injury. Our current quarantine space is much too small for the number of pets we care for. If we grow our quarantine space, we can grow the number of pets we save.
Moving our administration offices
To make room for these critical clinic and animal care expansions we need to find more space. Our building and lot don’t have room for moving out, so we’re moving up! We plan to add a second-story addition at the back of the Adoption Center, enabling us to move our offices upstairs and use the entire first floor for pet care.
We can’t do it without you
It’s people like you who care about the little guys, the left-behinds, the down-on-their-luck gals, the ones who can’t speak for themselves who make our work possible. Your belief that pets deserve a second (or third or fourth chance) is what makes this lifesaving work possible. Your gift in support of this transformational renovation will mean every puppy, kitten, dog, cat, or pocket pet that comes through our door can sleep a little easier, get the care they need, and find the home they deserve. Thank you for being a part of this. Your kindness will echo in our first century and our next.