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SOUTH BEND – A new home for a local animal shelter could mean more lost and abandoned animals find their new home.
Pet Refuge has been working to raise money for the last 27 years to buy a new building. That building is bought, and they say it will be much better for the animals that live there and the volunteers who maintain it.
A big sign is out front announcing the transition. It’s right off the bypass in South Bend, so much easier to get to.
Their current facility is in Mishawaka in the middle of a residential area. It’s old and in some places cramped.
Board members say after renovations, they hope to be in the new building by the end of this year.
It will give them double the space. It will be more up to date, efficient, healthier for the animals and safer.
“We will be able to start fresh – much more room,” said Pet Refuge Vice President Nancy Whiteman. “5,000 more square feet than we have now, and everything will be clean and fresh and new rather than the old cement floor, and all that. It will be nicer to keep clean and much cleaner for our animals, too.”
With that renovation and new larger space comes a lot of great features.
There will be 30 indoor/outdoor kennels, so the dogs that are staying at the shelter can go in and out at their leisure.
Those kennels will also be easier to clean with a power washer. They use mops and buckets in their current location.
The new building will have 10 cat condos, and the dogs and cats will be more segregated, so that will cut down the stress level.
There are a lot of great new features, but they still have some money to raise to make it possible.
Their annual auction is coming up on March 9.