Animal Shelter Design

[DaisySunshine]

I work for an architectural firm that is going to be starting a large project in Los Alamos, NM. Part of that project is the design and construction of the new county animal shelter.

Let me tell you I am totally estatic to be working on such a project. My team members know how I feel about critters so the animal shelter is going to be my own personal project. Yeah!!!! This will be the project of my career!

But neither my firm or our consultants have ever done work on an animal shelter. We are going in mid-January to interview the volunteers at the shelter for needs and requests.

I thought I would get a jump start though by asking you what you have found successful in the shelters that you volunteer at or work at.

From the ground up:

sizes of cages,
two sided cages,
dog exercise areas,
cat play rooms,
visitation rooms,
bathing facilities,
adoptions rooms
pick up and recieving areas

as well as

types of finishes that help in the clean up. Flooring, walls...etc. Is ceramic tile a good surface or is a sealed concrete floor better?

Even the flow of work would be helpful. How do the critters get from receiving to adoption?

What can we add that will make the critters more comfortable, healthier, happier. I don't want to build a puppy prison. I will avoid grey concrete block walls at all costs!!!!! COLOR, COLOR, COLOR!!!

I downloaded a bunch of information of the HSUS website on shelter design.

Yes, these are really general requests but I need to start somewhere!

Thank you!

Plus if you know of any resources, books etc that would be helpful to me!

[flyndog]

Daisy, One of my vets and the executive director of the local humane society go to shelter design conferences at the HSUS conference every year. They have been studying state-of-the-art shelter design for years and have a fantasic new shelter building planned. I'm sure they will be happy to talk to you about what they've learned and maybe send you in the right direction for more details. Call the Jeff Davis County Humane Society and ask for Laura (432) 426-3385 or find an email address at http://www.jdchs.us/ . Tell them Kathie Compton sent you.

[DaisySunshine]

Originally Posted by flyndog

Daisy, One of my vets and the executive director of the local humane society go to shelter design conferences at the HSUS conference every year. They have been studying state-of-the-art shelter design for years and have a fantasic new shelter building planned. I'm sure they will be happy to talk to you about what they've learned and maybe send you in the right direction for more details. Call the Jeff Davis County Humane Society and ask for Laura (432) 426-3385 or find an email address at http://www.jdchs.us/ . Tell them Kathie Compton sent you.

Thank you for the url. I will definitely follow that up. There is a nice synopsis of their plans on their site.

Thank you!

[mulroony]

A good shelter will be flexible. The one I volunteer at can go from 100-300 cats over the course of a couople months, and back down. Because of this they have found themselves putting cats everywhere possible. One great idea is a communial cat room. You can fit 20 cats with no cages into a room much easier then 20 cats in individual cages in a room. These rooms need little more than a couch, a few cat toys, water and food, and lots of toys. They are much more attractive then the rooms filled with cages as well. Some sort of double door would be smart because a single makes it easier for cats to get loose.

One thing I saw at our animal control is cages that can be doubled in size simply by openning a door to a neighboring cage. This gives the dog much more room, and can make it much easier to clean the cage. Thionk about cage cleaning when you design the dog areas. Sometimes you have to do it a few times a day and if not well designed can take a lot of time. Is there someway to work water to each run so people do not have to haul around heavy water bottles?

Think about the future of shelters using technology more wisely. Personally I am starting ona web based system that will much more appealing to visitors, staff, and volunteers. I had planned to put webcams above every run so you can get a live video of each dog, instead of the standard picture.

Do not forget about confinement areas. Most shelters need areas completely removed from the general population for containment. Some afre simply new animals that have not been tested yet, and some need to be completely contained, like those with ringworm. A dedicated room for euthanasia is very important. This room should be removed from the rest of the complex so it can be relaxing and calming for everyone involved. A lot of shelters do euthanasia for community people who want to be there when their pet is put down. W/out this room it is impossible and makes everyone life more stressful.

Hope this helps

[DaisySunshine]

What I have been reading is what you have described. Large cat rooms with scratching posts. The double sided cages seem to be prefered as well. Where the back of the cat cage is actually the public viewing side. Plus the caging area has central aisle with cages on the perimeter the keep daily cleaning out of public sight.

Also larger dog areas where 2-3 dogs can be kept in the same kennel. Rooms where mothers can stay with their pups until all are adopted. Even putting a single puppy with a calm adult dog to help keep the puppy calm and relaxed as well as to teach much needed social skills.

Epoxy floors seem to be the thing as well. Epoxy flooring wrapped up the side of the walls atleast 16 inches just in case some one lifts his leg.

One thing that has me concerned is the location of this building on the site. As the site is laid out now, the public will have to go through several parking lots and around several other buildings to get to the animal shelter. I brought this to the architects attention. People who throw away animals are not going to go to the trouble of driving through all of that to surrend their animals . People who throw away animals are lazy. The shelter needs to have direct public access from the main road. I hope I made that point clear enough.

And yes, containment areas are something we will need be very careful with. Not just lay out, but plumbing and mechanical systems. I didn't think about a room for euthanazia.

Thanks for you ideas!

[My_Baby_Loves_Me]

I have seen a few that have a living room where they are able to sit down with the dog to interact with it ( more of a home setting ). And after they've chosen their pet and are able to take it home the shelter gives them the contents of the cage the animal was in ( bedding, toys, food and water dish along with a bag of pet food that the animal has been eating since they've been there. I feel it would help the new pet to adjust to it's new home if it had something familiar ( with it's scent already on it case being the bedding and toys ).

[mulroony]

If a shelter is going to euthanize, a room for it is crucial. It should be located in a place that can be accessed by staff fairly easily from the dog's run w/out parading them in front of the staff to do so. If the general staff has to watch every dogs final walk it will be extremely tough on them.