Durham needs new animal shelter, experts say. An ‘urgent situation,’ says commissioner.

Durham County’s animal shelter is “cramped,” in disrepair, and should be replaced, a national group of animal-facility architects says.

The Colorado-based firm Animal Arts presented its report on the animal shelter on East Club Boulevard at a Durham County Board of Commissioners meeting Monday.

The firm recommends the county spend $28.2 million to build a new shelter in a new location.

But with the county budget burdened by the coronavirus pandemic, officials indicated they will pay for short-term repairs and consider a new facility at a later date.

“I think this really is an urgent situation, not just because of the animals, but because of the people,” board Chair Wendy Jacobs said. “It really impacts the health of people.”

The Animal Protection Society of Durham’s lobby and public spaces at the shelter are “cramped and crowded,” said Heather Lewis, a principal architect of Animal Arts.

“They make it difficult to provide good customer service and safety to the people who are working there,” she said.

The APS of Durham cared for over 4,500 animals in 2018, according to its most recent report. It reunited nearly 600 stray pets with their owners and found homes for nearly 1,800 animals.

Lewis said the shelter is “not friendly to adoption,” and one reason is because it sits next to a waste disposal and recycling center. Visitors complain of the smell, she said.

The building also needs its lighting, painting, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning system repaired or re-installed.

Half of the shelter’s dog runs, 64 in total, need to be replaced.

Other needs categorized as a way to “improve animal health” include buying new cat cages and creating outdoor play areas.

Animal shelters have “radically changed” across the nation and become more public-facing in recent years, Lewis said.

“We think of animal shelters as a health-care space, and that really is what it is for animals,” she said.

Costs for a short-term response

The short-term repairs will cost about $2.4 million, which commissioners showed interest in funding.

“We toured the facility, and it really did look terrible,” Commissioner Ellen Reckhow said.

She suggested county staff return to the board with its recommendations on how to address the repairs.

Commissioner Brenda Howerton wants to address the shelter’s poor conditions but said the county needs to be careful with how it spends its money this year.

“If we’re going to do anything, it would be great for staff to do an analysis, to come back and give us some suggestions,” she said. “Not just spend money on the fly right now.”

Jacobs said the shelter’s staff do great work, despite “how terrible the condition is.”

“That’s actually what’s most astounding, is how functioning things are,” she said.

The cost of a new facility may reach $30 million because it would require purchasing new land, Reckhow said.

A new facility would need the capacity to hold 95 dogs, 27 puppies, 82 cats, and 102 kittens, according to Animal Arts’ assessment of the shelter’s intake trends.

Lewis said the shelter should expect a 50% increase in kittens, partly because of climate change.

“As our seasons get longer and our winters get a little bit less cold, cats are having two reproduction cycles within a single summer,” she said. “We’re seeing some dramatic increases right now.”