Two additional buildings in the works
A planned expansion to the Gilmer County Animal Shelter (GCAS) could improve conditions for local dogs and cats.
“It’s going to enable us to house more animals in a more comfortable setting for them,” GCAS Director Kelly Pickering said. “We’re very excited.”
In a special called session Wednesday, July 29, the Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a final design for new animal shelter buildings.
This vote approved a design build bid method for the shelter.
In this method, the county decides what it wants built, then hires a single company to design and build the project.
County Commission Chair Charlie Paris said the commissioners will work toward having a bid on the shelter ready in a few weeks.
The plans for the shelter’s expansion represent a major upgrade to its current building.
Dogs and cats will have more space in the new buildings than in the old shelter.
Architectural drawings call for the creation of two new buildings on the GCAS’s current land.
One building will be a dog shelter, and the other will be a cat shelter.
Together, the new buildings will add 20 more dog kennels and a much larger area for cats.
Currently, a lack of space for cats is one of GCAS’s biggest issues.
“That’s something that has been weighing on me since the first day I walked into that shelter in October of 2023.
Something better has got to be done for these cats,” Pickering said. “I’m ecstatic about that.”
After these new buildings are finished, the old animal shelter building will undergo a renovation.
More space makes animals happier, healthier and more likely to be adopted, TK said.
“We want them living in conditions that are suitable to better health, better socialization and all-around better quality,” TK said. “That will help them be adopted or picked for transport faster.”
Although the plan’s improvements will allow GCAS to help more animals, it doesn’t keep up with the county’s animal overpopulation issues.
“Even if we’ve increased the dogs by 20 kennels, they’re going to be filled up almost immediately,” Pickering said. “It’s never enough.”
Even if the plans examined are a “final design,” that fact doesn’t mean that the completed shelter will look exactly like them.
“It’s not going to be exactly what these things are,” she said.
It’s too early in the process to say exactly what the expansion to the GCAS will cost.
“I’m not even sure when we’re going to break ground, and it’s going to be a long, arduous process,” Pickering said. “Please be patient with us as we’re trying to work our way through it.”