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Animal shelter to hold first off-site adoption
By Heather M. Goodwin, hgoodwin@acnpapers.com
For the first time, the Lewisville Animal Services will host an off-site pet adoption event in the hopes of increasing the number of adoptions.
"Paws in the Park," will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the northeast parking lot of Toyota of Lewisville Railroad Park. The location is across the street from the new Lewisville Animal Shelter and Adoption Center location, currently under construction.
"The main reason we're doing this off-site adoption is due to economy," said Laura Wise, animal services supervisor. "We're also trying to draw awareness for our future location. We've seen a decline in adoptions recently, and we know our current location plays a role in that."
The adoption event will feature various sizes and breeds of dogs. Wise said for this event will only feature adoptable dogs, but in the future there might be other animals available. The dogs will be in crates or pins, but the public will be able to interact with them.
"We encourage people to bring pets to see how they interact with the new animals," Wise said. "This is also the best situation for people who have never had a pet because they'll get to see the differences in adoptions and be able to interact with the dogs. These are adoptable pets that have been well screened."
Under the current adoption procedures, animals undergo a veterinary exam and rabies vaccination prior to an animal going home with its new family. The shelter also requires sterilization for adult animals, in accordance with State law. Adoptions fees are $20 per animal, plus $8 toward the rabies vaccination and $5 for the first-year pet registration.
Wise said other animal rescue organizations and local municipal animal shelters have been invited to the event.
"We felt like this might be great opportunity for us to work with other rescue groups and other cities," Wise said. "This also helps give all of us more exposure because of the location of the event. We'll be across from the dog park and in front of the future shelter."
The new animal shelter has been under construction for five months and is expected to open in June. The $4.5 million project will result in a 14,000-square-foot facility. The new facility will include a get-to-know-you outdoor courtyard and room for potential adoptions. Wise said it will also have an indoor courtyard, which is a new feature for the shelter. It will also have an outdoor run for dogs that is connected to their indoor cages.
"This will give people a chance to see the progress on the new facility," Wise said. "The outside is pretty well constructed and over the next few months, they'll be working on the inside."
Wise said animal services will also begin taking names for future volunteer opportunities with the shelter.
"At this point, we're still working on creating the actual volunteer program itself, but we anticipate needing a lot of help in the spring," Wise said. "We want to get the names of people who want to volunteer ahead of time, and we're hoping to do an orientation process in late-winter. We want to have volunteers in place when we open the new facility, and we feel this is a good opportunity to meet people who are interested in volunteering."
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