Construction of new animal shelter in Daphne begins

DAPHNE, Ala. (WALA) - Daphne Animal Shelter is one step closer to having a new facility. But, officials say it will be a while before it’s officially open to the public.

With the swing of a shovel, Daphne officials celebrated the start of building a new animal shelter.

“It’s a long time coming. Our animal shelter is old and it’s been around for a long time and it served his purpose. It’s been great for what we were when we were a small town. We’re a city now. And we need to move forward in the future,” said Daphne Mayor Robin LeJune.

The move to build a new shelter comes after Daphne City Council approved funding for it. The previous shelter closed two days ago and is not set to be demolished until next Thursday.

After closing, the animal shelter has one dog left for adoption. His name is Dice and he’s a 1 year old Lab Mix.

In the meantime, the animal shelter will operate out of the city’s Sports Complex on Park Drive. That temporary location is equipped with a kennel trailer, an office trailer and a play yard.

“Now that is primarily to hold animals that have owners that have just gotten out. It’s not going to be for animals that we’re going to keep long term,” said Mayor LeJune.

He adds this new facility will be much bigger, with more space for more animals, “It’s going to be a lot more better for the animals with air filtration, water filtration, different things of that nature.”

This new building will be located at the same place – 7145 Johnson Road. Construction of the new facility is expected to take a year. Anyone interested in adopting the one dog left can contact the shelter at 251-620-2800.

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