7-year-old Moose had the honor of breaking ground for Seattle Humane Society’s new state of the art Pet Adoption Center. Photo from Seattle Humane Society.
Huge Expansion at Seattle Humane Society
With the help of a 7-year-old Labrador Retriever named Moose, the Seattle Humane Society broke ground in Bellevue last Saturday on a new $25 million, 57,000 square-foot adoption center, veterinary clinic and shelter facility.
The new facility will replace old, inadequate buildings on the Seattle Humane campus which have been “retrofitted, stretched and worked to maximum capacity,” said Seattle Humane CEO David Loewe.
The Puget Sound Business Journal reported that SHS Board Chair Chris Falco was a bit more graphic in describing the existing building as “a smoldering pile of dog poop.”
The new building will be located next to the current animal shelter off I-90. It will be constructed in stages so Seattle Humane can continue to operate during the 18-month construction project.
The workers will take special care to mitigate noise and disruption to the animals in their care.
More Adoptions, More Spay/Neuter
Loewe said the new facility will allow the organization to increase its adoptions from 7000 to 10,000 per year.
That’s an increase of about 42% and spay/neuter 5,500 more pets each year “to reduce pet homelessness.”
The new building will also allow Seattle Humane to increase its ability to provide medical care to shelter animals and pets in rescues and shelters with limited resources.
The shelter already has an alliance with WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Fourth-year veterinary students do rotations at the shelter as part of their training.
With the completion of the building this veterinary training program will expand to include all graduating students.
Seattle Humane’s capital campaign – dubbed “Animal People Can” – seeks to raise $25 million for construction of the three-story shelter, adoption center, and veterinary teaching hospital set to open in 2017.
During construction, adopters will still come to the shelter at 13212 SE Eastgate Way in Bellevue to adopt a pet.
Administrative, fundraising, marketing and finance staff are temporarily in downtown Bellevue. It’s Pet Food Bank and facilities crew will relocate to Issaquah in coming weeks.
For more information on the Capital Campaign or to make a donation, visit www.animalpeoplecan.org. To view adoptable animals, visit www.seattlehumane.org.
The Seattle Humane Society has set high goals for the first decade of its new home. Image from Seattle Humane Society.
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