Humane Society announces site for new animal shelter

May 01, 2008 11:28 pm

— By Debbie Robinson
news@joplinglobe.com
A donated eight-acre site at 3423 N. Main St. was announced Thursday afternoon as the Joplin Humane Society’s site for a new shelter.
Diane Sharits, executive director, and members of the board of directors unveiled a temporary sign that proclaims the site, just north of the former Dent and Dings store, as the location to replace the one the organization has had since 1966 at 4400 N. Swede Lane.
About 50 people and several dogs that are up for adoption at the shelter were on hand for the event at the site, which is just north of Joplin and south of Airport Drive Village.
Sixty balloons, representing the number of years since the society’s incorporation, were let go on a blustery afternoon.
“We’re looking to the future,” Sharits said.
She held the warranty deed for the property that has 290 feet of frontage on North Main Street and is 1,000 feet in depth. In response to a Globe question, Sharits said the property was given to the organization by a donor who wished to remain anonymous.
A crew from Crossland Construction Co. has been clearing the property for the past two days, but a construction contract won’t be awarded until the building plan is completed, Sharits said.
Preliminary plans call for construction of a 15,000-square-foot shelter and visitors center that could handle 10,000 animals a year, compared with the current shelter that was built to handle about 2,000 animals a year, according to a news release.
The proposed $5.3 million shelter is expected to incorporate many features found in today’s shelters, such as air-handling and air-purification systems, an education room, a small clinic, and a pet-supply sales area.
Administrative offices would include volunteer work areas, adoption and interview rooms, a reception lobby and front desk, and rooms where prospective adoptees and owners could get together.
The shelter will be financed by the society’s “Give Them a Chance” campaign to raise private donations.
The nonprofit organization initially approached the city of Joplin about property owned by the Joplin Regional Airport on Highway 171, but that proposal proved unworkable for the city.
Consideration of a part of Dover Hill Park was rejected after residents in the Roanoke neighborhood opposed the plan.
Larry Friend, who lives just behind the new location, said no one contacted him about the shelter being built adjacent to his two acres.
Friend said he learned of the plan through a story in Wednesday’s edition of the Globe.
“I’m kind of concerned,” Friend said. “How are they going to control the odor and noise?”
Friend said he would support the project if the noise and odor are controlled.
“Have you ever seen a shelter that didn’t have noise and odor?” he asked. “It just would have been nice if somebody would have told us.”
“The shelter is designed to lower noise,” Sharits said. “Kennel enclosures and vegetation in the courtyard will absorb the noise.”
Closed drains will reduce the odor, she said.
Because the tract is in an unincorporated part of Jasper County, which has no zoning laws, the organization was not required to notify adjacent property owners, Sharits said.
The site is particularly appealing to the organization because of the location on a major roadway.
“On a good day, we might get 100 cars driving by (at the current shelter),” Sharits said. “Today, we’ve already had probably a thousand cars pass by.”
She said the organization is hoping the high visibility of the new shelter will increase adoptions.
In addition to the city of Joplin, the shelter serves Webb City, Oronogo, Carl Junction, Carterville, Jasper, Neck City, Butterfield, Duenweg, Duquesne, Goodman, Loma Linda, Mount Vernon, Purcell and Alba in Missouri, and the Galena and Baxter Springs in Kansas.
The organization also has contracts with the Jasper County Commission, the Jasper County sheriff and the Taney County Commission.


By the numbers

The Joplin Humane Society says the current shelter received 10,879 animals last year, with 73 percent of those being euthanized. About 15 percent were adopted, and 7 percent were returned to their owners.

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