Animal Welfare Professionals

We are in the initial stages of talking about building a new shelter. We are planning on making a separate building adjacent to our current building. We are planning on having it set up for cats/ferals and soft and furries. We want to also have some office space for our officers.

We want cat area to include viewing/adoption area, cat room, feral holding/ lost & found cats,quarantine, medical room and all the other necessary rooms.

A list of every area needed would be fantastic. We are planning on about 5000 sq feet.

Does anyone have sample plans for this type of facility? We want to have all our ducks in a row before sitting down with an architect.

You might ask Treehouse Humane in Chicago for their blue prints, Good News in Marietta GA and the Cat Depot in Sarasota, FL are possibles. 

Good mews has a nice virtual tour on the website. Let me know if you want specific contact info. 

Thank You

Hi Joanne,

We are registered architects in most states around the country.  What state are you in? Do you already have an architect?  If not,  We work on animal shelters big and small everyday and can assist you.  Would be glad to reach out to you if you want to reply with your contact information. Or, feel free to text your contact info to me at my cell below. 

Thanks,

Alan Nelson, Architect

682-429-8352

Alan We are in Nevada. We do not have an architect at this time. We are a city shelter so things will need to go through the city even though someone is donating the funding. thank you for your reply.

I don't have any personal experience designing a shelter but I have a few random thoughts over the years. When you say 'soft and furries' do you mean puppies and kittens? If so, having a nice space with natural light and access to an outdoor play yard would be great for people who want to play with the babies. You might want a place for people to take off their shoes and wash their hands.

I've always thought cat cafes were a great idea. You have to keep the animals separate from the food area (health codes) but if you had a place where a little coffee and sandwich cart could be set up just outside of your meet and greet area, people could come hang out with and socialize the animals while they eat lunch or have a coffee.

If you built a modest 2 bedroom apartment over the facility, you could offer recent vet graduates or dog trainers free lodging in exchange for their services and have a person on call for after hour emergencies. I've never done the math but this investment might pay for itself in a few years. If the apartment was set up for fostering, they could look after tough cases at home.

Lots of fresh air, natural light and ways to dampen the noise will go a long way to making it pleasant for everyone. Perhaps a speaker system so you can play relaxing music and nature sounds, both of which have shown to reduce stress.

If you make this new space enjoyable to be in and make it easy and fun to interact with the animals, I bet people will come visit just because the like being there.

That's a big task you've got. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out : )

thank you for your input.  When I said soft and flurries I was referring to rabbits and the likes of those small animals. Sorry I did not explain myself better.