Animals move into new shelter in Virginia Beach

VIRGINIA BEACH

Bama was more than a little excited to move into her new home Tuesday.

Just after sunrise, it was her turn to make the seven-mile trek from the city's 37-year-old shelter on Leroy Road to its sparkling new one on South Birdneck Road. She sprinted from the building - dragging volunteer Levi Hankins behind her - and leapt into the back of an Animal Control vehicle.

"Good puppy!" Hankins said, closing the truck's caged door behind the 3-year-old Lab mix. "That was a good leap! I wish you all would do that."

Bama was one of 107 dogs, 97 cats and 13 other animals that moved into the city's new Animal Care and Adoption Center.

The $12.5 million shelter was more than three years in the making and took about a year to build. It features extra room to house the city's troubled, lost or homeless pets, a full veterinary clinic, a grooming salon and space for horses, chickens and other livestock. More important, the shelter is designed to encourage adoptions and prevent the spread of disease, such as a 2009 parvo outbreak that killed at least 30 dogs.

"We just want to get over there bad," said animal caretaker Ally Lowe. "We're going from 7,000 square feet of dark, decrepitness to 38,000 square feet of shiny, pristine, state-of-the-art awesomeness."

Not all the animals were as excited for moving day, which dawned early with about two dozen volunteers and staff clutching coffee mugs amid a cacophony of barks and meows. Soon, they were busy coaxing cats into crates and boxes and loading them into trucks and vans outside.

"I know, PeeWee, I'm sorry," Lowe cooed, stroking the brown tabby's ears before loading him butt-first into a crate.

The day was months in the making for shelter operations supervisor Jessica Hewes, who designed the careful system for moving and tracking each animal, along with its paperwork.

"It's almost surreal in a way," she said, overseeing the loading process Tuesday. "It's moving day and it's happening."

Meanwhile, at the new shelter, another team waited to receive the new tenants.

Out back, animal caretaker Jim Jennings opened one of the trucks to find a surprise: Three cats had engineered an escape, chewing through their cardboard boxes.

But he soon wrangled them into plastic carriers and hustled them inside.

There, staff and volunteers sorted the animals by size and adoption status, filled their stainless steel water bowls and piled paper shreds into the smaller cages for bedding.

Some animals were quick to break in their new surroundings.

"Where are the mops?!" asked Animal Control Officer Mary Humphrey, circling a yellow puddle.

"They're already pooping in their cages," sighed volunteer Tom Zuk, scooping a fresh pile. "I know how stressful moving is."

By noon, everyone, including Bama and PeeWee, was settled in.

The shelter opens to the public Thursday. Adoptions will resume this weekend.

The new facility is meant to encourage adoptions, with odor-control systems, meet-and-greet rooms and large windows designed to display the city's most eligible four-legged and - in the case of Milky the albino rat snake and Kaa the ball python - no-legged bachelors and bachelorettes.

Its also designed to be healthier, said shelter spokesman Wayne Gilbert.

The previous shelter was so old that staff struggled to disinfect its cracked and porous surfaces, making it easy for viruses like parvo to spread. But the new shelter features scratch-resistant walls and flooring, isolation rooms for sick animals, 20 separate ventilation systems to prevent the spread of airborne bacteria and built-in hose hookups for pressure washing.

"Oh, it's awesome," volunteer Rhonda Burkett said. "The animals are going to be so much healthier and happier."

The building is also designed to be good for the environment, said project manager Rick Martinec. It's equipped with a rainwater collection system, geothermal heating and cooling, automatic light switches and solar hot water.

"I never ever thought I'd see something like this," said Gilbert, who's been with the shelter for about two decades. "I'd hoped we'd build a new shelter before I retired, but I never thought we'd have anything of this caliber."

Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com