Good news for the animals of South Florida... the MD Commission just agreed to purchase a bigger and better facility for Animal Services. They definitely need it, as do the animals!!
Miami-Dade Commission OK’s new animal shelter property purchase.
BY ELINOR J. BRECHER
Miami-Dade took a step closer to leaving its antiquated animal shelter on Monday when the County Commission gave officials the go-ahead to spend about $6.6 million in bond money for a property in Doral.
The 33-year-old industrial-park warehouse at 3651 NW 79th Ave. originally a post office, would be customized to replace the existing Animal Services Department complex at 7401 NW 74th St. in Medley, which a distemper outbreak recently all but shut down.
Most services have resumed, although the shelter still isn’t accepting dogs and puppies from the public or free-roaming strays. It will accept strays that members of the public have caught and confined.
“After removing cage banks and finding nests of cockroaches and mice in open cinderblocks, we were forced to demo concrete slabs under the cages,’’ director Dr. Sara Pizano said in a recent e-mail. Those conditions have “slowed our progress. This is being done so cage banks can be placed on wheels…’’
Floors in adoptions and surgery had to be demolished as well, she said, so “once the slabs are removed and concrete floors done, we will be able to paint and then get back to ‘normal.’ ’’
Plans to replace the old shelter, built in 1969 as a veterinary clinic, have been in the works for more than six years. The county’s General Services Administration has examined several other sites, none of which proved viable.
The GSA reported that the building in Doral “has been well maintained and is in good condition [and] should have a 40-year additional lifespan with proper maintenance.’’
At nearly 70,000 square feet on a 5.05-acre lot, the proposed new kennel/office/clinic complex is 26,000 square feet bigger than the existing space.
It was built to withstand a Category 3 hurricane, and will be equipped with emergency generators. Officials estimate that customizing it to create a state-of-the-art shelter will cost about $7 million.
No plans have been drawn for the proposed space, but the new site “would have the appropriately designed animal spaces conducive to cleaning and disease control,’’ Pizano stressed.
The recent distemper epidemic was blamed partly on the old shelter’s ventilation system and the overcrowding of animals in pens and cages.
Before the demolition, the existing shelter had 374 spaces – 132 for cats, 242 for dogs – and was often overloaded.
Last year the county-run shelter took in about 37,000 lost and unwanted cats and dogs. Of those, 17,900 were returned to their owners, found new homes or went to rescue groups. Last year, more than 20,000 animals died in the euthanasia room, a statistic that has spurred some in the animal-welfare community to call for Pizano’s resignation.
She said that even in a new facility, it would be “impossible’’ to care for 37,000 animals a year “humanely without overcrowding.’’
The shelter is “open admission,’’ meaning it must accepts any cat or dog that comes through its doors, no matter how sick, injured or vicious.
Even in a new shelter, “overcrowding will be an issue unless intake decreases,’’ Pizano said.
Animal services is working on initiatives aimed at decreasing the shelter intakes by reducing the county’s stray population and length of shelter stay, increase spay/neuters and the importance of ID tags or microchips.
“We will always struggle with infection, as does every shelter,’’ Pizano acknowledged. “In fact, two days after our population was saved’’ – 500 dogs and puppies adopted and rescued during the outbreak – “a puppy not from the shelter came in with distemper to be euthanized. It’s in the community because not enough people are going to their vets to have their pets vaccinated against distemper and parvo virus.’’
Distemper is easily prevented with a vaccination; however it can be deadly to an unvaccinated dog and is especially deadly to puppies.
The original pup was saved; four more sick dogs came in afterward that are now in the respirator clinic.
On Monday, the commission voted 10-2 for the purchase, with Bruno Barreiroand Rebeca Sosa opposed. The deal awaits a traffic study that the City of Doral requested. Once the deal closes, a new shelter would open in about 18 months.
For current information about conditions at Animal Services, call 311 in Miami-Dade or visit miamidade.gov/animals.
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