No-Kill Animal Shelter

By GAMIN SUMMERS
Special to the Arizona Daily Sun
Oct 29, 2004

As you haltingly creep through the doors, you are immediately greeted by life-sized mummies and a line of rubber rats on the window sill. The many Halloween decorations suggest that you’ve arrived at a spook alley, but don’t be fooled. The animal world would tell you this is one of the safest places to be.

Today’s celebration at the Second Chance Center for Animals culminates a week of festivities hailing the official grand opening of the Doney Park clinic and shelter. Activities will include a blessing and ribbon-cutting ceremony; a performance by the Goofy Goldens, a club of golden retrievers who perform silly routines in costume; a precision performance by the Canine Drill Team; and a costume parade and contest for kids, adults and their pets for which prizes will be awarded.

The celebration marks the completion of the 20,000-square-foot, “no-kill” animal shelter six miles north of Flagstaff Mall on Highway 89. It can hold between 150 and 200 dogs and cats at one time. Adoption fees are $75 for dogs and puppies, $50 for cats and kittens. The fees include spay or neuter procedures before adoption and a first round of immunizations.

The center provides another opportunity for adoptable animals that are destined to be euthanized at other shelters that have run out of room. Non-adoptable animals — aggressive dogs, feral cats, and animals with terminal or non-treatable diseases — will not be accepted.
Second Chance has agreements with the Coconino Humane Association and other shelters locally and on the Navajo Reservation to take animals and aggressively seek to place them with local families.

Diane Jarvis, director of public education, said 80 percent of the animals at the Second Chance Center will come from other shelters, with a limited number of admissions from the public. Strays will still go to the Coconino Humane Association, which has a contract with the city and county animal management offices. By law, CHA must take all animals brought to it from these jurisdictions.

This leads to space constraints, particularly in the high-volume summer months, said Dennis Pugh, executive director of CHA, which has a shelter off East Butler Avenue. “I’m excited about the Second Chance Center for Animals,” he said. “I feel it’s going to be a benefit to the animals and to the staff here at the shelter.”

He explained that his employees are typically animal lovers who choose to work at the shelter because they want to be near to and provide care for the animals. The employees become attached to the critters and are greatly saddened when adoptable animals must be euthanized.
“Our responsibility is to have cages (available), and we must be prepared for all emergency situations,” said Pugh, referring especially to busy months. “The new center will offer animals a second chance to be adopted.”

The Second Chance Center is a state-of-the-art facility offering spay/neuter surgeries, adoption programs and educational workshops and outreach programs. The atmosphere is that of a modern hospital, with surgical suites, recovery rooms and even a pharmacy and gift shop.

Cats are housed in “Kitty Condos” with plenty of room to roam, and dog cages are sizable and provide a platform and fleece blanket to keep dogs off the cement floor. A few see-through, fully-enclosed cages are set aside for dogs who bark too much or are over-stimulated.

Visitors to the center who might impulsively want to adopt every cute animal they see will be in for a surprise: The adoption process is thorough and designed with the well-being of the adoptee in mind.

Potential “Pet Guardians” must first fill out a questionnaire to determine if the time is right for them to consider adoption. Adoption counselors want to know about a household’s last six months and next six months. If events such as pregnancy, marriage, death of a pet or even graduation from college have occurred, the time might be too stressful to allow for a new responsibility.

All members of the household must meet with the adoption counselor to determine if the arrangement is the right fit. A special carpeted and fully furnished “Get Acquainted Room” provides a home-type atmosphere where the animal and adoptive family might meet, including any existing household pets, to ease the transition.

Free educational programs at the center will include the upcoming “Pets Behaving Badly” workshop, Nov. 18 from 7 to 8 p.m. Dog obedience classes and a pet loss support group are coming as well.

Executive Director Steve Wilson says Flagstaff is fortunate to have this new facility, the funding for which has come mostly through Dick and Jean Wilson of the Wilson Foundation (no relation to Steve). Wilson hopes to make a difference through the aggressive adoption, education and veterinary work the center will do.

“We want to reach as many people in as many parts of Northern Arizona as we can. The problems are widespread, in fact some of the more severe problems are more prevalent outside of Flagstaff, and we want to go where we can make the most difference. We intend to cover most of Northern Arizona, traveling over an area the size of the state of Illinois with our mobile veterinary clinic. We will be adopting out animals through our facility, PetSmart and in Phoenix through our cooperative arrangement with the Arizona Humane Society.”