Montrose - Daily Press

John Deneen

MONTROSE - Three years of planning and more than $400,000 were realized Friday with the grand opening of the expansion onto the Montrose Animal Shelter.

The shelter officially opened its doors with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Speakers at the ceremony included many of the people who played crucial roles in making the expansion happen.

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"The writing was on the wall. (The old shelter) was just way too small," said Don Stoutt, president of the Montrose Animal Protection Agency board of directors. "The community really came through."

Stoutt offered his gratitude to all the members of the community who helped with MAPA's portion of the fund-raising, which amounted to $90,000 in cash and in-kind donations.

Stoutt listed many people and companies who helped, including Alpine Bank, which was one of the largest contributors.

Those who helped contribute were also recognized on a wall of plaques in the shelter's front office. Many of the 23 new kennels were also named after those who contributed.

Although their contributions may not have been the biggest financially, three elementary school children were among the most praised. When Cameron LeBlanc heard about the fund-raising effort, he broke open the piggy-bank and donated it all to the shelter fund. Alisha Neal and Makenna Terrel asked for donations to the animal shelter fund instead of asking for birthday presents.

For many MAPA volunteers, the expansion is the culmination of years of hard work.

"The grand opening is what we've all been looking forward to," said Liz Holcomb, who volunteers with MAPA.

Mayor Erica Lewis Kennedy and acting city manager Mary Watt provided words of praise and appreciation from the city, which provided for $310,000 of the funds.

Also speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony was Joan Casey, program officer of the Denver based Animal Assistance Foundation, which "provides fundraising for animal welfare organizations in Colorado," she said.

"I see lots of shelters, and this is very impressive. It is very state of the art," said Casey, who has been involved with improving the lives of animals for 30 years.

Animal control supervisor Mike Duncan compared the ceremony to the Academy Awards with so many thank yous.

"A special thanks goes to the city crews. They came out and did a lot of work. Any thing they saw that needed to be done they did," said Duncan.

Other notes of gratitude were sung to all of the volunteers of the shelter, which include about half a dozen regulars, and 20-30 occasional volunteers, said Duncan.

The new expansion will be a big step forward for the shelter, as now there are many things that can now be done which could never have been done before.

"A huge thing about an animal shelter is keeping everything sterile," said Duncan.

Many of the features of the new addition will cater to that idea.

In the old kennels, all animal waste ran to the drains in the middle rooms, which all people and animals then had to walk though, which was very unsanitary. In the new kennels, the waste drains under removable shelves, so not even the animals will have to stay in their own waste.

The new shelter also features a power washer with hose outlets in nearly every room, making speedy, thorough clean up much more feasible.

Separation is also a key element in the new expansion, as sick cats and dogs will be kept in entirely different rooms from the healthy ones. In addition, those pets up for adoption will be kept separate from those who aren't, which will avert expecting children from getting their sights set on dog which they couldn't adopt.

Other features of the expansion include an employee room with lockers and clean-up facilities, grooming facilities, an education/training room, sally-port, and a food room.

The new food storage will be very beneficial, as storage outside in makeshift dumpsters was always prone to rodent infestations, said Duncan.

Amidst all the top of the line feature, according to Duncan the benefit to the community is rather simple.

"The biggest benefit will be no diseased, feral, aggressive, or wild animals are going back into the community," he said.

The original animal shelter was built in 1988, when the population of Montrose was just under 9,000. The town's growth precipitated the need for the expansion.

John Deneen will be a senior at Montrose High School. Contact him via email at johnd@montrosepress.com.

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