Park County Animal Shelter Gets a New Home!

by Executive Director Megan McLean

It’s been several years in the making but Park County Animal Shelter officially has a new home. While there are still some finishing touches--the construction of a new shed and landscaping work--to be done later this spring, the organization’s new, 6,972 square-foot facility opened on Monday, March 15th .

The vision of a new shelter began in 2013 when PCAS received a combined contribution of $320,000 to renovate the existing shelter. After realizing what it would take to renovate, the board of directors hired a fundraising consultant to assess the organization’s ability to raise enough funds to build a brand-new shelter. The result was a $1.7 million fundraising goal. PCAS formed a Capital Campaign Steering Committee which included board and non-board members, and raised almost half of the fundraising goal before publicly announcing plans to build a new shelter. In the end, the committee exceeded the original fundraising goal and raised more than $2 million to design and build a new shelter.

“The old shelter, back then, was a great advance for PCAS,” said Ken Markert, former PCAS board president and active leader in the organization’s efforts to build a new shelter. “It was better than anything we’d ever had. This new building symbolizes a continuation of our progress as an organization. It shows that we’re here to stay and that we’ll be doing this for a long time, and doing things in a better way.”

The new shelter was designed and built to withstand the daily activities of shelter life – exposure to disinfectants and water – and also includes acquaintance rooms for potential adopters, improved ventilation to reduce respiratory illness among cats, sound-mitigating ceiling tiles in the dog kennels, and larger outdoor dog runs. Additionally, the new building has a community room that will be utilized for training employees and volunteers, educational programs, board meetings, and more.

“Thanks to the hard work of MANY, we have successfully achieved our goal to build a modern and efficient facility that will enable us to do our best for thousands of pets to come,” said Lani Snyder who played an active role on the Capital Campaign Steering Committee. “I am overwhelmed by and grateful for the generosity of so many individuals and organizations that made this dream a reality.”

The new facility can house a maximum of 24 dogs and can comfortably accommodate 60 cats. There is space to accommodate more cats in emergency situations such as hoarding and other high-intake events but 60 is the number of Wyoming Coalition for Animal Protection Spring 2021 newsletter v 1.2 Powell Tribune cats we can intake while ensuring that each feline gets either a double compartment cat condo or is one of four felines assigned to a cat apartment.

“We are looking forward to re-engaging the community in our work now that we have the space to safely allow adopters and volunteers into the building,” said Megan McLean, Executive Director of PCAS. “Our top priorities as we move forward at the new shelter will be expanding our foster, volunteer, and spay/neuter programs. We have ambitious goals but ambition is what led to the successful completion of this project, and we’re excited about the future.”

Park County Animal Shelter is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that strives to provide excellent care and find good homes for its animal guests; promote responsible pet guardianship; reduce the overpopulation of feral cats and companion animals; and run an organized, efficient shelter with a no-kill philosophy.