Kittens play in an enclosure during October's PetaPalooza hosted by the Douglas Animal Welfare Group at the Fairgrounds.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
There’s still some string to unravel in the construction of a cat cottage at the Douglas County Animal Shelter.
The Douglas Animal Welfare Group has committed to raising $100,000 to pay for building materials in what is estimated to be a $500,000 project.
In an early Christmas present, Douglas County commissioners increased the budget $100,000, in addition to the $40,000 set aside last spring for the project.
“Your initial infusion of $40,000 has leveraged into another $500,000 in private donations,” Group President Katherine Dodge said on Thursday. “I think that’s a heck of a good payback.”
Commissioners also authorized the county manager to approve additional expenses of up to $48,000 from animal services donations and a contract with CORE Construction, which is donating project management and contract administration, and TSK Architects is donating design and planning for the cat cottage.
Dodge said the funding will help the Group’s mission of bettering the lives of the county’s pets.
“One of the ways that we look forward to doing that is to create a new cat facility at the shelter that provides a better space for meet and greets, better space for cats, better quarantine, and gives the dogs a cat-free zone to live in,” she said. “This will allow the county to replace a decrepit temporary cat cottage with a new quality cat cottage.”
She thanked Bill Iverson for designing the floor plan and elevations that helped start the project, commissioners Mark Gardner and Danny Tarkanian for their support, and CORE and TSK for their donations, which is valued at around $250,000.
County commissioners also approved a proclamation thanking Core for their support on the project.
Douglas Animal Welfare Group was founded by Cherie Owen in 2000. Over the last quarter-century, its support of the Douglas County Animal Shelter has included donations and other services.
The present cat cottage is a dozen years old and was also funded largely by donations. It only has room for six cats, Dodge told commissioners at their May meeting.
