Gilmer County’s animal shelter will receive an upgrade, mostly with private donations.
Gilmer County commissioners voted unanimously to make the upgrades within a set budget of $1.5 million. The vote followed 40 minutes of animal lovers voicing support for the project.
“It’s going to be a pretty big project,” said Gilmer County Chair Charlie Paris in an interview.
Paris said he was originally approached by Bob Lipman about donating to the shelter. He eventually donated $200,000.
Another donor, Evelyn Hice Griffin, initially offered to match the donation, then added another $1 million.
As part of the agreement, Gilmer County set aside $100,000 for the project to bring the total to $1.5 million.
“Bob is a dog guy, Evelyn is a cat person,” said Paris.
An expansion will address several issues at the animal shelter.
“Room, of course,” said Paris. “We seem to always be operating at capacity.
At the meeting, volunteers from FOGAS and other support organizations, as well as Daniel Laukka, shelter director, described a shelter which is crowded.
Every single room is being used to house animals at this point, including Laukka’s office.
One major change from 2013 when Laukka arrived is the Gilmer County’s shelter is now a “no-kill” facility. He said when he arrived the shelter was averaging 1,800 to 2,000 animals a year with around 1,100 being euthanized.
Animals which aren’t adopted locally are now shipped off to areas where they can be adopted.
“Ninety-nine percent of the animals that come in the shelter now leave the shelter alive, adoptable, healthy,” Laukka said.
In addition, Paris said the HVAC will be upgraded, a dedicated operating area for spaying and neutering will be added, as well as a sick room and an adoption room.
Plans are to upgrade the facility and add an additional wing. The project is still in the conception stage and may be ready for bid in a couple of months.
Paris was emotional when making the motion to accept the money and set the project in motion.
During the discussion, Post Commissioner Karleen Ferguson made an impassioned plea about taking care of the residents of Gilmer County in addition to the animals. She pointed to high school kids needing food for the weekend and houses in Gilmer County which are dilapidated but are still occupied.
“We need to take care of our animals, but we need to take care of our citizens,” she said.