Transition to new Gaston animal shelter to begin in March – Gaston Gazette

Animals who find themselves in the care of the county will soon have a new temporary home, as Animal Care and Enforcement personnel follow up on punch list inspections over the next month.

The finish line is finally in sight, said Gaston County Assistant Public Works Director Dan Ziehm.

All animal services in Gaston County go through Animal Care and Enforcement, currently based in a 64-year-old building at Dallas Park. There, dogs are kept in an enclosed space without climate control and exposed to varying temperatures.

Conversation over a new and improved shelter began about 12 years ago, around the time Ziehm began working for the county.

This is one of the reasons I got into construction, he said. I can see a project go from whats in our minds and on paper to were walking through it, and its an amazing feeling.

Ziehm expects Gaston County Animal Care and Enforcement will begin transitioning to the 21,650 square-feet facility located on Business Park Court in Gastonia near the Interstate 85 and U.S. 321 junction in March.

Once we do those inspections and the general contractor corrects any deficiencies that are noted, and the general contractor obtains the certificate of occupancy from the city of Gastonia, we will be able to occupy the facility, Ziehm said.

The county will phase the current shelter out by accepting new animals at the new facility and adopting out the animals at the current shelter, rather than moving all the animals, according to Ziehm.

Animal Care and Enforcements new shelter will feature indoor and climate-controlled cat and dog adoption malls, two cat play rooms, two get acquainted rooms for adoptable dogs, and four large and fenced-in outdoor interaction spaces. Employees will have access to rooms in the back where animals are cleaned and observed upon arrival, and held before theyre adoptable or for quarantine purposes.

Capt. J. Reid Rollins commands the animal enforcement side of Gaston County Police Department, which includes animal-related laws, investigating animal cruelty and neglect cases and reporting animal bites.

Licensed veterinarian Dr. Kristine Blankenship oversees receiving, housing and caring for animals at the shelter brought in by officers or surrendered by Gaston County residents.

A large part of the shelters operations are devoted to receiving animals, caring for them and preparing them for adoption. Luckily, Rollins said animal capacity is no longer a pressing issue because more animals are being adopted than previous years, meaning less animals die of euthanasia.

Our current euthanasia rate of animals that we bring in, this [past] year, is at 9.5 percent, Rollins said. That is considerably down from what it was many, many years ago.

Gaston County reported of the 5,056 cats and 4,930 dogs taken into the shelter in 2001, 4,644 cats and 4,196 dogs were euthanized. Only 21 cats and 127 dogs were adopted, according to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture.

In 2018, out of the 1,809 dogs and 1,648 cats that were taken into the Gaston shelter, 1,155 dogs and 1,289 cats were adopted. Only 318 dogs and 262 cats were euthanized.

We have come light years, Rollins said.

You can reach Gavin Stewart at 704-869-1819 or on Twitter @GavinGazette.

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Transition to new Gaston animal shelter to begin in March - Gaston Gazette