Butler animal shelter to start plans today

Jennifer Baker reports:

The director of Butler County’s animal shelter said he meets at 3 p.m. today with county officials to “move full steam ahead” on building a new, larger animal shelter.

“It is a really good day for Butler County animals and people,” said Leland Gordon, executive director of the county’s animal shelter in Trenton, which has grown outdated, overcrowded and unsanitary. “It is just so gross there it’s unbelievable.”

In one of the more emotional campaigns of the election, animal lovers pushed a one-mill, 0.5-mill levy to raise about $3 million for a new animal shelter.

The owner of a $100,000 home will pay about $15 for the one-time levy.

The animal shelter, operated by the non-profit Butler County Humane Society, is the county’s only open-admission shelter, meaning it takes all animals, even aggressive and sick ones.

The society occupies a 54-year-old, 6,000 square-foot building on seven acres.
Gordon said he hopes the new shelter will be twice the size of the current one.

Money from the levy won’t start coming in until the spring. In the meantime, the shelter has to hire an architect, draw up design plans and find a place to build the new shelter, he said. It either will go on land the county owns or a four-acre parcel the Humane Society owns next to the existing shelter, Gordon said.

A new facility could be built by the end of next year, he said.

But passing the levy won’t stop the need for fundraising to operate the shelter, he stressed. In fact, it will elevate it.

The county will own the new facility, but Butler County Humane Society still will have to raise proceeds to run it.

The agency’s current $660,000 budget includes about $200,000 from county dog license fees and other government money, Gordon said. The rest comes from donations.

“It is so important the community continues to donate to us,” he said. “I don’t want the public to say, ‘Oh they got a fancy new building.’ Without the Humane Society running it, it will be an empty building.”

How to help: Donations can be sent to: Animal Friends Humane Society, 5225 Trenton Road, Trenton, OH 45067. For information, visit www.animalfriendshs.org or call Leland Gordon at 513-867-5005.