Seekonk’s New Animal Shelter is Under Construction

After years of designing, planning and fundraising (and a few delays), construction is now underway to build a new Seekonk Animal shelter. The project has been a true community effort and could not have happened without the support and determination of many Seekonk residents and town officials who wanted to provide a safe and healthy environment for the shelter’s staff, animals and volunteers.

The new shelter, located across from the current shelter, will provide much-needed space and other improvements. The building will be twice the size of the current shelter, approximately 3,000 square feet and will include two offices, a cat area, indoor and outdoor kennels for dogs, a treatment room, quarantine room, adoption rooms where people can meet the animals, a break room, a car port for the shelter van and more. There will be a glass-enclosed room in the lobby where visitors can see all the adoptable cats when they walk in. “I’m totally ecstatic that the new shelter is underway,” said Pat Cloutier, Chairperson of the Animal Shelter Building Committee and President of the Save A Pet Society. “I can’t tell you how excited I am. It’s going to be such an improvement,” said Sharonlynne Hall, the town’s Animal Control Officer for the past 10 years. “It’s perfect timing. As the town grows, the shelter needs to grow, too,” Hall said.

Construction began in March and a groundbreaking ceremony was held in April. The shelter is expected to be completed by the beginning of 2020. The current shelter has been in need of an upgrade for a long time. The building is 30 years old.  “There is a big space issue. Everything is rundown. We make it work though,” Hall said.

The shelter has no office for the animal control officer, no quarantine room for sick animals and no visiting room. Those wishing to adopt have to visit with the animals in a hallway. “We are going to have a real adoption room where people can sit down and visit the animal and see if it’s a good fit,” Hall said.

The shelter cares for 300-400 animals every year, says Hall. “It’s not just dogs and cats. We’ve had a couple of pot belly pigs. We’ve had a lamb. We had quite a few bunnies and a ferret. We’ve had chickens, too,” Hall said.

Town residents have been extremely supportive of the animal shelter project says Cloutier. “We’ve had overwhelming support from the town,” she said. “This couldn’t have happened without the support of the townspeople,” she added.

The shelter project has experienced some delays. The town originally had plans to build an addition to the existing shelter in order to keep the costs down, but it did not work out.  “The bids on the addition were much higher than expected,” Cloutier said.

Tragedy occurred in January 2015 when Karen McHugh, Assistant Town Clerk and member of the Animal Shelter Building Committee, was killed in a hit and run outside her home. The entire town mourned the loss of McHugh, who was a big supporter of the Save A Pet Society. Eventually the building committee revised their plans, deciding that it made more sense financially to construct a new building for the shelter.  “It made sense to investigate building a whole new shelter and it worked out for the best,” Cloutier said.

In 2017, voters approved a temporary tax increase to fund $950,000 for design, construction and furnishing of a new shelter. In the fall of 2018, town meeting approved an additional $460,000 for the project. Cloutier says she didn’t like having to go back to the town for more money. “There were a few very important things that were not on the original plans that we found were needed such as a generator,” Cloutier said. The bids for construction of a new building were also somewhat higher than expected, according to Cloutier. The shelter is expected to cost approximately $1.4 million.

The town is working with Brewster Thornton Group Architects, Coletta Contracting Company, Inc., Odeh Engineers, Creative Environment Corp. and DiPrete Engineering to design and construct the new shelter. “The architects have been fabulous. The contractors are doing a phenomenal job. They’ve kept us very well-informed. There have been no major glitches and everything is on schedule,” Cloutier said.

The Save A Pet Society has been a huge supporter of the project. Save A Pet is donating $300,000. The organization recently increased their initial $200,000 pledge by another $100,000 and Cloutier, as president of the society, presented selectmen with a check in January. The Save A Pet Society, a volunteer-based, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, raises funds for food, medicine, and medical treatment to help the animals in the Seekonk Animal Shelter. The group also raises awareness of the importance of spaying and neutering pets.  Save A Pet’s biggest fundraiser is the annual Save A Pet auction. The 32nd annual auction was held this past April. This year’s event included the option of on-line bidding for the first time. “It was a huge success. It was only one night, but we did as well as we did in three nights in previous years, Cloutier said.

Cloutier says she is looking forward to the day that the doors to the new shelter are open. “It’s my dream come true. It’s what we have been working towards for years – to get a decent shelter. What we wanted is to have the shelter be a safe and healthy place for people to work, a safe and healthy place for the animals and for the community,” Cloutier said.

A grand opening ceremony will take place after construction is completed, probably next spring. However, Cloutier says the Save A Pet Society’s work isn’t ending with the construction. The group will continue to support the shelter and the animals. “There are always other things to be taken care of for the animals. Our work isn’t done,” Cloutier said.

To join or donate to the Save A Pet Society, visit the website www.seekonksaveapet.org.

The Seekonk Animal Shelter is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 1:00-5:00 p.m., Wednesday 3-6:30 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 12-2:00 p.m. The phone number is 508-336-6663. You can also visit the Seekonk Animal Control website at www.seekonk-ma.gov/animal-control for further information.