A New Home
Oldham County Humane Society
is on the move
Society breaks ground on a new facility in La Grange
LA GRANGE, Ky. (January 2021) – Approximately 350-400 animals are adopted annually from the Humane Society of Oldham County. Even during the COIVD-19 pandemic, its doors have been open and volunteers hard at work as they gear up for a move to a larger facility in 2021.
This past year has seen “dog adoptions down considerably due to our having to pull our dogs from Kentucky State Reformatory because of the COVID outbreak in the prison,” said Michele Culp, president of the Humane Society of Oldham County. But, despite COVID-19, “cat intakes and adoptions are up,” as they have been for many facilities across the country during the pandemic.
The Humane Society prepares rescued dogs for adoption in partnership with the Kentucky State Reformatory through Camp K9, which is their dog training program. “Our Dog Program, which focuses on unwanted and homeless dogs, has not stopped because of COVID. The intake numbers have just been reduced due to the limitations of our current building.”
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Photo provided Pictured above is a rendition of the future home of the Oldham County Humane Society. It is to be constructed on Commerce Parkway in La Grange, Ky. |
The Humane Society has great expectations for 2021. On Nov. 14, it broke ground on the first phase of a $900,000 project.
The organization has outgrown the small rental building on Hwy. 53 that they have been in for the past 13 years. A new 5,000-square-foot facility will be built off of Commerce Parkway in La Grange. Costing $1.3 million, it will house their spay and neuter clinic and animal shelter.
By the end of 2020, “we will just be shy of having performed 22,000 spay and neuter surgeries,” said Culp. Within Oldham County “we have seen a reduction in the number of unwanted puppies being born. The cat situation seems to stay status quo, never slowing down, but I think we can say with confidence the situation would be dreadful without our spay and neuter program.”
Culp said she expects Camp K9 will resume as soon as COVID-19 is “under control and we get the go ahead from management to bring our dogs back in. We will continue this program after we are in the new building. The new building will allow us to expand the number of dog intakes.”
Culp said, “COVID has not held up our expansion plans. Luckily, we were almost there when COVID hit.”
The Humane Society staff members learned in 2017 that they would be losing their current building and needed to make plans for a new space. The nonprofit, no-kill shelter immediately began searching for a new home.
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Photo provided Employees take care of pets at the Oldham County Humane Society. The society will soon have a larger facility for its work. |
“The land and half of the building cost was donated to the Humane Society six years ago by a very generous donor, Rollo Fox and his wife, Peabody Kohler Fox,” said Laura Yates, one of six directors for the society. The couple saw something in the newspaper about the society seeking 10 acres of land, and they donated 7.4 acres, which was close to what the society sought.
“A lot of research, planning and eventually fundraising have happily brought us to the completion of our first Phase 1 goal of $900, 000,” said Yates. This first and most expensive phase allowed the Humane Society to break ground and will pay for the cost of the building construction to completion.
She said, “we have entered Phase 2, which will allow us to furnish the inside of the facility, including equipment for the expanded spay and neuter clinic, signage, fencing, additional storage and very importantly to add to the Michele Culp fund, which will help us secure a beginning salary for a new director.” They are still gathering information on current pricing for the needed items, but expect to raise around $100,000 for Phase 2.
“While our main area of concentration is Oldham County,” said Culp, “our services are open to anyone outside of Oldham County – especially the rural counties that surround Oldham.”
She said that “we currently rent an older ranch style house, which we have converted to meet our needs. It functions relatively well for our spay and neuter clinics. But it is not sufficient for sheltering animals, which keeps our intake and adoptions numbers lower than we would like, especially this year with the shutdown of the prison program.”
Culp went on to say that while the building itself is not efficient for either clinics or for housing animals, “we have made it work the best we could and are grateful to Cherry House Furniture for letting us rent their building located on their complex.”
The Humane Society began in 1986. “We are 90 percent volunteer driven,” she said.
In an effort to raise money exclusively for their building, “we are constantly applying for grants and we will receive donations from memorial and naming opportunities at the new building,” said Yates. “It is a way for the community to be a part of the building project in a meaningful way.”
Affordable options include Tribute Bricks priced at $110 with clip art, which will be laid as a pathway through a memorial garden. A Tree of Life was handmade by local artist Stephen Winter, with engraved leaves for contributors that will hang in the new lobby. As a third option, there will be naming opportunities throughout the new building for those who would like to make larger donations.
The Humane Society holds several fundraisers throughout the year, many of which were canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19. These annual events for 2021 will include Fashion & FURiends on April 24, Paws in the Park on Oct. 2, and Picture Your Pet with Santa on the first two weekends in December.
Online days of giving events like Giving Tuesday and Give Local Lou has contributed to fundraising as well. “A large portion of the proceeds from these events will go toward Phase 2,” said Yates, and some of it to general operating expenses.
So far, no building supplies have been donated, except for a desk for the office. “That may be a way for people to help out once our list for Phase 2 is completed,” Yates said. Walter Builders is the design and build company.
Culp said, “Completion of the building itself is targeted for some time in April provided the weather cooperates.”