Seattle Humane Society announces $25 million campaign for new shelter & teaching hospital

Last Saturday the Seattle Humane Society kicked off its capital campaign at the 26th annual Tuxes & Tails gala with a surprise announcement: the nonprofit is raising $25 million to build a new shelter and veterinary teaching hospital opening in 2017. 

Impressively, Seattle Humane raised $21 million for the new facility before publicizing its plan to build it.

Artist’s rendering of Seattle Humane Society’s new facility which is scheduled to be completed in 2017. Image from Seattle Humane Society.

The special “Fund-A-Need” project was the highlight of the auction and raised $4.7 million for the new facility which pushed the campaign past the $21 million mark and  propels Seattle Humane into the public stage of its campaign. The organization will launch an advertising campaign this summer.

In 2014, Seattle Humane placed more than 7,000 pets, rescued more than 3,500 pets from other shelters, and spayed and neutered 2,300 pets belonging to low-income families,

“The demand for our resources continues to grow, and Seattle Humane’s aging facility is less and less up to the task,” said CEO David Loewe. “A safe, efficient, and modern new facility would allow our organization to adopt 3,000 more animals each year, and spay and neuter 5,500 more pets each year to reduce pet homelessness.”

The new facility will also provide high-quality veterinary care for both Seattle Humane animals and outside rescue organizations and shelters with limited resources.

In an alliance with WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, fourth-year vet students will continue to do rotations at the shelter as part of their training. Their participation expands Seattle Humane’s capacity to provide medical care to shelter pets.

To learn more about Seattle Humane’s campaign to build a new shelter and teaching hospital, watch this video about the “Fund a Need project.”