It is an exciting time at the Animal Protective Foundation! Last week, we signed an agreement with F.H. Alexander Construction Company to build the Burton and Violet Delack Feline Care Center at the APF. The project is a combination of renovation and new construction and once underway, will take 3 months to complete, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Currently, we are awaiting approval of our building permit from the Town of Glenville. We anticipate a construction start date prior to the end of October.
The Burton and Violet Delack Feline Care Center includes a cage-less adoption space that uses multi-cat living spaces, which we call “cabanas”. The new adoption space will include three medium-sized and one large cabana with windows, natural light, and improved HVAC systems to reduce the spread of contagious diseases. The second room of the Delack Center will be a new and improved feline evaluation room. When completed, this room will have an improved HVAC system, larger cages, and natural light to reduce stress and improve overall health of the cats in our care.
To gain this wonderful new feline housing space, we need to adjust normal operations before and during construction due to the loss of feline housing spaces. Beginning this week, we will begin reducing our current population of cats through transfers to other humane organizations and through discounted adoptions. Additionally, we will begin limiting our intake of cats and will continue to do so through the planned construction period as it will significantly impact our existing feline evaluation room. Our limited intake may also extend to small animals (rabbits, ferrets, chinchillas, etc.) as we may need the small animal room to house cats.
We do not anticipate that the construction will impact our intake and housing of dogs.
To those looking to surrender a feline, we will be providing a list of other humane organizations which may be able to assist community members with placement of lost, stray or surrendered cats during the construction period. We apologize in advance for this short-term inconvenience, but are excited about the improved housing we will offer for cats in need once the project is complete.
Please know our ultimate goal provide the best care possible during the construction period. We are pleased with the commitment of our general contractor to work as quickly and with as little disruption as possible. However, the reality of a construction project is that there will be dust, noise and vibration even with the best efforts for mitigation. Our goal is to do the best we can for the pets in our care during the construction and to return to normal operations as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your cooperation, assistance and understanding.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Deb Balliet, Executive Director at 518-374-3944 x110 or balliet@animalprotective.org or Amy Duskiewicz, Shelter Director at 518-374-3944 x112 or duskiewicz@animalprotective.org.
