$250,000 donation helps Truckee animal shelter with building plans

A married couple who wishes to be unnamed recently bolstered the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe’s animal shelter campaign with a $250,000 donation.

The donation is the second $250,000 donation from an individual or family foundation for the new shelter. To date, the organization has raised about one-half of its $3 million goal.

The current 1,000-square-foot kennel was built in 1998 as a temporary holding kennel for abandoned, seized, and rescued dogs and cats. Through a partnership with Truckee, HSTT houses a limited number of animals at the shelter, and many more dogs and cats are in volunteer foster homes.

Heavy snows during a recent storm caused the roof of the current kennel’s office to collapse, leaving the building unusable until it can be repaired.

The current kennel can only accommodate about eight dogs and 30 cats, although at times, there are upward of 30 dogs and 80 cats in need of shelter. Such limited space can terrify animals, often causing aggression and fights among dogs and stress-induced illness in cats. The kennel also lacks adequate space to quarantine sick or injured animals, and because of its location in the Town Corporation Yard, it is only open to the public two hours per week for adoptions.

HSTT has partnered with Truckee to share the cost of construction and operation of a new shelter. Approximately 1.5 acres of land have been secured at no cost to HSTT. However, in order to maintain the agreement with the town, HSTT must raise i5w portion of the funds before starting construction. While the recent donations have helped, the economic downturn has made fundraising more difficult than originally anticipated, and the organization is looking to the local community to help make the shelter a reality.

The new shelter was designed to accommodate current and future needs by an architect who specializes in shelters and veterinary hospitals. The facility will include real-life rooms for dogs and large, colony-style cat rooms, with perches, windows to the outside, and natural sunlight.

The building will include an education and training center, allowing HSTT to expand its humane education, dog training and pet assisted therapy programs. Open daily to the public, the new shelter will provide a convenient location for people to meet and adopt their future pets.