What: The Humane Society is preparing to construct a new quarantine building with an approximate size of 40’ x 55’. This building will have 6 dog kennels and a separate area with 12-18 cat cages. A laundry facility will also be housed in the new building as well as a large 17’ x 40’ garage.

Why: FAHS is in need of additional space to provide a safer environment for many sick animals that we care for. Our current shelter has a quarantine room with 8 cat cages and is also our laundry room. The quarantine room also houses the bathroom and makeshift break room. The setup is not the best situation for our cats who are trying to overcome upper respiratory problems, or any other various ailments! The dog kennel area has 17 kennels, with all of them being accessible to the public. This setup causes major problems when trying to control deadly diseases such as parvo. Puppies and other dogs who have not been vaccinated are at high risk from this easily spread virus. Having these animals in a public viewing area is currently unavoidable, and impossible to prevent the unintentional exposure to disease. The addition of a separate quarantine building will eliminate the unnecessary exposure of unvaccinated animals to these possible health risks and aid in the recovery of sick animals that we already care for. The new quarantine building will also have a large garage that may be used for large scale animal cruelty cases. Such cases have occurred as recently as November 2010 when we removed 100 cats from a single home!

Where: We are looking to build the new quarantine building behind our current shelter. Our shelter, located at 1721 Granville Pike in Lancaster, sits on county owned property. FAHS is currently seeking permission from the Fairfield County Commissioners to amend our current lease. This amendment would protect any permanent improvements made by FAHS to the property.

How: “Project Quarantine” will only become a reality with support from the community! The Abuse Prevention Fund, through the Fairfield County Foundation, has graciously pledged $15,000 to the project which has been matched by current assets of FAHS. The new building plans and layout have been kindly donated by Kaiser Design Group, Inc. The remainder of the project budget, currently estimated at $150,000, will come from corporate sponsors, community fund raisers and private donors such as you. Please join FAHS in our efforts to better serve our animals and the community that loves them! Thank you for your time and consideration of this proposal.

Sincerely,

Corey Schoonover
Executive Director