It is exciting times at the Brown County Humane Society!  A brand new animal shelter will soon be underway.  Strauser Construction in Bloomington has been hired to oversee the construction and it won’t be long until action at the site will be underway.

The new shelter will be built right next to the existing shelter.  Fortunately, that means that there will be no disruption to humane society services during construction.  The first several weeks will be spent preparing the ground for a building.  Lots of dirt will need to be moved and compacted before a structure can be erected.

The new facility will be around 9000 square feet, up from the current 3900 square feet.  The humane society has simply outgrown it’s current 30+ year old facility.  They currently care for three times the number of animals than the original shelter was built for and animal welfare services have changed dramatically in the 30 years resulting in the need for a different design.

Some of the features in the new building include isolation areas to segregate sick pets from healthy pets and state of the art air handling systems, much like a hospital, to ensure a healthy environment for pets and people.

Many of the cats will be housed in free roaming community rooms instead of the current cages.  And some of the free roaming rooms will have catios so that the cats can enjoy fresh air when they want to.   The dog kennels will no longer face each other thus ensuring a quieter, less stressful living situation for them, their caregivers and visitors.

There will be dedicated rooms for food preparation, food storage and grooming.  Another wonderful feature is cat and dog meet and greet rooms where adopters can meet pets one on one to really get to know them before they adopt.  A multi-purpose education room has been included in the design to provide for community outreach activities.  And finally, the humane society staff will have actual space to do their jobs!

This new shelter will be a healthier more efficient space for all concerned – the pets that stay here, the staff that take care of them, the volunteers that give their time so generously, and visitors who need services.

Donations for the new building are still needed and may be sent to PO Box 430, Nashville, IN 47448 or online at www.unleashbc.com/donate-today/. To keep up to date on the construction progress, stay tuned to www.unleashbc.com.  Updates will be posted frequently.