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Animal shelter hosts grand opening

June 20, 2012|Journal staff report | news@jessaminejournal.com

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Friday at 1 p.m., and an open house will be held Saturday from 1-4 p.m. Light refreshments will be served during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Jessamine County Animal Care and Control office will mark the grand opening of the new animal shelter with two events set for Friday, June 29, and Saturday, June 30.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Friday at 1 p.m., and an open house will be held Saturday from 1-4 p.m. Light refreshments will be served during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“The new shelter is the culmination of a lot of hard work and planning,” public-services director Mike Cassidy said. “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to give chamber members, state officials and grant donors the opportunity to get a close-up look at the facilities during the ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 29.”

The celebration will kick into high gear with the Jessamine County Animal Shelter’s open-house event June 30 with hot dogs, chips and drinks, adoption specials, demonstrations and an information table with volunteer and e-mail-blast sign-ups. The open house will also include an “Ask A Vet” booth, a stuffed-animal check-up (vet techs will check stuffed animals and give them a certificate), face painting and more.

“The open house is a great opportunity for the community to get acquainted with the new shelter and meet our adoptable animals,” Cassidy said. “It should be a really fun and informative event for both adults and children, and everyone is invited.”

The new shelter is located behind the former shelter building that on the City-County Park property near Longview Drive.

The front of the new facility faces what will be the eastern bypass.

The new shelter is significantly larger than the old facility (9,000 versus 1,600 square feet); it includes dedicated office areas as well as public holding areas for dogs, cats and other animals that have been vaccinated and have been evaluated as “adoptable.”

Non-public areas in the shelter hold animals that are waiting for evaluation and/or those animals that have been evaluated as vicious or diseased.

“The new building was designed to be extremely accessible to the public,” Cassidy said. “We incorporated a multi-purpose education room where we’ll do staff training and offer community-education classes on pet care and other related topics. Sam’s Club has donated a 50-inch flat-screen ‘smart’ television with surround sound, a wireless laptop computer, and three iPads, so our education room is equipped and ready to go.”

The facility also includes a “meet and greet” room, cat room, isolation area, surgery room and a food preparation area. It also has three restrooms instead of one unisex restroom, a laundry-room area and a break room for employees.

For more information, call the Jessamine County Animal Shelter at 859-881-0821, visit www.jessamineco.com or “like” Jessamine County, Kentucky on Facebook.

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