Georgetown Animal Shelter kennels get a face-lift

The Georgetown Animal Shelter is moving forward next month on an extensive and necessary project – resurfacing all 29 dog kennels – and needs the community’s continued support.

Disease control is a major consideration at animal shelters to prevent the spread of harmful and contagious bacteria and viruses. Animal shelters require surfaces that can be cleaned effectively.

“Some of our kennel surfaces are peeling, largely due to dogs scratching or chewing on them,” Animal Care Supervisor Melissa Sheldon said. “Bacteria and viruses can adhere to the openings and pass disease from dog to dog.”

The project is expected to take 28 days. During that time, only half of the dog kennels may be used while the other half is worked on, which means a maximum of 12-14 dogs can be housed without doubling up. That’s where community support comes in.

“It is crucial that people continue to adopt and work with us on strays and surrenders, so that we don’t have more dogs than we can safely handle,” Sheldon said.

The resurfacing project is being largely funded by donations to the animal shelter over the past few years. Donations will cover 60 percent of the cost, while the City will cover the remainder.

“We are beyond grateful for the incredible support of all the animal lovers in our community,” Animal Services Manager April Haughey said.

The resurfacing project coincides with the Clear The Shelter campaign, a national campaign that encourages people to adopt from their local shelters in an effort to “clear the shelters.”

This year, the campaign will be a month-long virtual adoption campaign to prioritize shelter and adopter safety during the pandemic. Animal lovers can donate to individual shelters at cleartheshelters.com through a partnership with greatergood.org. Clear The Shelters is spearheaded by NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, a division of NBCUniversal.

The Georgetown Animal Shelter is the open-intake municipal shelter for Georgetown and has been serving the community since the 1970s. It recently celebrated its fifth consecutive year of achieving a live outcome rate above 90 percent, which means it is considered a no-kill shelter.