Plans for New Avery Humane Society Shelter Moving Forward

Story by Celeste von Mangan

Plans for a new Avery County Humane Society Shelter have been approved by the group’s board of directors, meaning the dream for a bigger, brighter and better facility will come to fruition very soon. Photo submitted

Good news for Avery County’s homeless pet population: Plans for a new Avery County Humane Society Shelter have been approved by the group’s board of directors. The new facility is expected to be bigger, brighter and better than the current shelter. Blueprint plans are in development at this time by architect David Patrick Moses. Details such as the price tag and exact square footage of the building are still evolving, though fundraising began last year in partnership with the Friends of the Shelter organization. Traversing the journey of Avery animal welfare together are two groups and they are hoping to make the new shelter a reality.

“It’s the Friends of the Shelter and the Avery Humane Society Board of Directors,” said Catherine Morton, a member of the board of directors. “We have a little house across from the site where the shelter will be built and it is going to be a resale store. Profits from the sale of items will go towards support of the new shelter. Once the shelter is built, profits from the resale store will help fund day-to-day operations of the shelter. We’ll have super high quality furniture and clothing—not at retail prices, but really good deals.”

The resale store may be open as early as Saturday, June 13, with a possible ground breaking ceremony for the shelter building sometime this later summer.

“The new shelter will be located on Vale Road, behind Ingles market in Newland,” said Morton. “However, it is our responsibility not to move forward until there is money to pay for it. We probably have about one third of the cost of a new facility right now.”

New housing for Avery County’s homeless and abused population of dogs and cats has been needed for some time and could significantly increase the capacity to maintain both canines and felines who are in need.

“We’ll work in modulars or units as far as design goes, so we do not have to heat all the space if we do not need it. The space for quarantined animals will have separate air so that no illness can be transferred to healthy animals. We are also planning on having a lot of areas set aside for people to spend time with pets, where people can get to know an animal before they choose to adopt. We cannot afford our own veterinarian, but we will have space set aside for a veterinary office.”

Other features include a multipurpose room, a club and group meeting area for community gatherings, a laundry and animal bathing area, plus lots of space for food storage.

“The new building will be designed to be as green as possible,” said Morton. “It will have a lot of natural light, a whole lot of natural light where we don’t have to actually turn on artificial lights. Gray water will be collected from rainfall and used to clean the kennels and flush toilets, but not for drinking water. I’m not sure if we can use solar power or not anywhere, but we’re definitely trying to make it as green as possible, to keep costs lower and also because we care about the environment.”

In the meantime, Avery’s homeless animals have their old shelter and that is still a force for good work.

“We have an extremely successful shelter,” said Morton. “We adopted out 66 animals last month and people came from all over to do so. They came from Rhode Island, Florida and all over the eastern seaboard to adopt. Charlene Calhoun keeps our Website updated.”

Morton is certain the new shelter will happen, though the timeline really depends on access to funds.

“Money always does show up, but part of the delay is that it is just a little county and some folks just do not see the importance of such a facility,” explained Morton.

The humane society is the only primary animal welfare group in the county and government agencies such as animal control—that does not focus on welfare for unwanted pets or adoption anyway—does not exist.

“There is a philosophical tension between voters and the county commissioners,” said Morton. “Avery County residents view such an organization as an encroachment on their individual liberties. It’s very unlikely that county commissioners will find money for animal control. To support the work of the shelter through donations or to help build the new shelter, any help is greatly appreciated. People can come out to pet cats or play with dogs—they’d love that too.”

General funds for operating the existing shelter or donations specifically for the new facility may be sent to: Avery Humane Society, P.O. Box 2474, Banner Elk, 28604.

Donors are asked to specify where they want their money to be spent.

Visit the Avery Humane Society at 1824 Stamey Branch Road, Newland. Click to www.averyhumane.org for a virtual visit.