Nine puppies at Juneau Animal Rescue — all named after different Paw Patrol characters — were waiting for their forever homes last week. And they weren’t the only ones looking for new homes. The shelter is, too.
Kevin Ritchie, a member of the shelter’s board of directors, said that when the current shelter was built back in the 1980s, it was designed to warehouse animals — not as a place where they could thrive.
“We want the animals in the facility to have as many advantages as possible, keeping them safe and calm and happy so they can have a good experience while they’re here and they can be at their best when people see them to adopt them,” he said.
He said the need for a new shelter became more urgent after the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals inspected the facility in 2021. The group said Juneau’s shelter had extensive problems and didn’t meet national standards.
Rick Driscoll, JAR’s executive director, said the shelter housed more than 420 cats and 360 dogs in the last year alone. It also provides critical medical services, like spaying and neutering. And it houses Juneau’s animal control services.
With limited space for dogs and cats, Driscoll said the shelter often finds itself at or near capacity, especially in the summer.
“We have no housing really for animals that are not a cat or a dog. So we basically use a hallway right now for, you know, birds, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, that sort of thing,” he said. “And that’s a stressful environment for small animals to be in.”
He said the building’s roof needs repairs, and parts of the floors are beginning to sink. The growing number of animals coming into the shelter means less storage space and less separation between types of animals.
The board’s wish list for a new facility includes a larger outdoor area with a roof and better ventilation to reduce the spread of infectious diseases. They also want double-sided cages for easier cleaning.
“To clean an animal’s cage, you literally have to somehow get the animal out of the cage, down the hall into another cage,” Ritchie said. “It can be somewhat dangerous, and certainly time-consuming.”
The estimated cost for a new building is $15 million to 20 million for construction, not including a new site. The land of the current shelter’s site was donated, and Ritchie said they hope that will happen again for the new one — which needs to be at least 2.2 acres.
“Using a facility that exists always sounds like a great idea. But basically, this would be not on the level of a hospital, but that specialized,” he said.
Ritchie said the board plans to fundraise in the coming months and work with the city to find other funding sources. He said the project’s timeline will depend on how quickly it can raise the funds.
