The Olympic Peninsula Humane Society opens up animal adoptions and regular operations at its new digs starting Monday, May 2.
On April 12, shelter staff closed down their old facility at 2105 W. U.S. Highway 101 to move to the complex at 1743 Old Olympic Highway.
Mary Beth Wegener, executive director of the shelter, said they have some cleanup left, driveway work and a few projects inside the shelters to finish. They still are evaluating staff operations, too.
“It’s like moving to a new place and living out of boxes,” she said.
Volunteers and staff raised about $1.4 million for the property that includes 8,500 square feet of buildings on 9.5 acres, Wegener said.
They won’t have any debt on it moving in either, she said.
The shelter’s previous 2,900-square-foot building closed its sale in January but they’ve been working out of the facility rent-free up to the move, Wegener said.
At the new complex, “The Bark House” holds 38 kennels with a green row for adoptable dogs and multiple separate spaces for dogs being evaluated for possible adoption due to issues such as bites.
Kennels connect to the outside with multiple community spaces for dogs to play together.
Walking trails surround the property for volunteers to walk dogs, too.
“Kitty City,” a converted home, holds five community rooms, a room for senior cats, a room for various “little critters,” and a room for pregnant cats and undersized cats.
Wegener encourages visitors to check in first at the administration building, also a converted home to office, on the east side of the property as you enter the driveway.
As the reopening date approaches, Wegener said she’s glad the move happened.
“Even if people say staff are unorganized to start, at least the animals are in a great spot,” she said.
A grand opening for the facility is planned this summer, she said and that tickets still are available for the shelter’s annual benefit the Meowgaritas and Mutts benefit on Saturday, April 30, at the Vern Burton Center in Port Angeles.
The Olympic Peninsula Humane Society, a private, non-profit that doesn’t turn away animals, is open 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday.
For more information on services, benefits or volunteering, call the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society at 457-8206 or visit www.ophumanesociety.org.
