A New Home Away From Home

This cat is one of many animals adopted from the Humane Society of Huron Valley. Photo by Katie Siskonen

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Old with the old and in with the new.  In this case, more room for animals equals more animals with the chance to find new homes.  

 The dark and dreary facade of the Humane Society of Huron Valley's outdated former shelter is dwarfed by a new, more stylized shelter that just opened its doors today.

A spacious lobby greets visitors with warm, cheerful tones of orange, green, and purple. Just beyond the lobby are a series of glass rooms filled with kittens climbing and playing. A walk down the hallways reveals two larger glass rooms, one called "Meow Meadows" and the other called "Purr Plaza," where adult cats can lounge and interact.  Here cats come up to the glass to take a closer look at who is watching them. More rooms contain individual cages for recovering or less outgoing cats. Loftier ceilings add to the feeling of more space.

The dog section is a U-shaped hallway through a set of double doors where natural light filters in from numerous skylights. The dog kennels are much larger and more colorful than the yellowed cinderblock kennels of the old shelter, and each contains its own dog door to a personal outdoor area.  Most dogs lounge on hammock beds, fixing visitors with searching gazes.

The 110-year-old Huron Valley Humane Society has been at the current location since the old shelter's construction in 1951, according to their Web site.

Deb Kern, the HSHV's marketing director of 2 1/2 years, said the need for a new shelter first became known at least 15 years ago.  At that time the funds were unavailable.  Kern said the plans for a new shelter began about four years ago when an anonymous former adopter came back with a donation of $1million. Among other things, the new shelter needed to be much larger.  In fact, it was built about three times larger.    

"The space has increased from 11,000 to over 29,000 square feet," said Kern.

The added space has fixed some of the problems that could not be solved in the old shelter. Cats in the old shelter who were quarantined for injuries and upper respiratory infections were in a cramped room next to barking dogs. Those afraid of dogs were forced to hover in the backs of their cages.

"The new shelter has individual isolation, quarantine, and adoption rooms," said Kern.

A geothermal air system circulates much healthier air throughout the shelter. The glass for the cat rooms is sound resistant, which lessens the stress of loud noises and chaos for the animals. Everything goes toward promoting the mission of "keeping animals well."

"It is so much healthier and more social here," said a shelter volunteer and pet foster parent of 6 months who was taking her first walkthrough of the completed shelter since its opening.

"I feel better bringing fosters back to this shelter than to the old one. It feels more like it could be a home."