Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter to Break Ground on New Wing

The Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter board members and staff will be holding a groundbreaking next week for their new shelter wing.

Shelter Director Tammi Jourdenais said after a year of fundraising they’re about to realize a longtime dream.

“We are very excited to announce the groundbreaking will take place next Thursday, March 10 at 2p here on the shelter grounds,” she said.

Jourdenais said the current shelter will not close down but instead will be used as an intake facility for dogs and cats.

“The primary purpose will be to have a dedicated area for adoptable dogs. This environment will be more conducive to choosing a future pet. The original building will be used exclusively for all intake and initial evaluation/treatment of dogs. After the dogs have been checked in, vaccinated, dewormed, and housed to satisfy hold times for strays and held a sufficient quarantine time for contagious disease observation, they can be moved to the new building,” Jourdenais explained. “People wishing to adopt a pet will enter the new building and then be escorted by staff to either the cat building or the canine run area in the new building. These runs will be fully indoors with leash walks and designated fenced outdoor exercise areas available.”

The new building will be self-sufficient to minimize the chance of diseases spreading in case of an outbreak, such as parvo, in the other building.

Board member Dr. Pam Stone tells WLHR News there will be strict protocols in place to prevent cross-contamination between buildings, with the intent to keep the adoption building open through an outbreak of contagious disease, like parvo, in the intake building. Currently, when there’s an outbreak of a contagious disease, the shelter must close for 14 days per the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

The total cost of the new wing is estimated to be about $450,000 according to Dr. Stone and is being paid for with donations, fundraisers, and grants.

The Shelter staff has been working for over a year to raise money for the new wing and so far, they’ve raised about half of that – enough to begin construction. However, Jourdenais says the fundraising will continue with a number of events planned for this year.

When completed, the new wing of the Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter will be about 2,900 square feet and will also house new office space.

Again, the groundbreaking for the new adoption wing of the Northeast Georgia Animal Shelter takes place next Thursday, March 10 at 2p, and the public is invited to attend.