North Little Rock aims to let every dog and cat have its day as the city broke ground on a new expansion of its animal shelter Wednesday morning.
The expansion adds 900 square feet to the facility, includes separate entrances for adoptions and animal services, more office space, and a new party room for families to celebrate birthdays and other big events.
Adam Tindall, North Little Rock’s Director of Animal Services, says the building has not had a significant renovation since 1987, and it was overdue for an update.
“It's going to have a new cat adoption area, we're also going to have some more office space, we will have a party room that you can actually rent and come out and have birthday parties, events, things like that." Tindall added, "It's going to be a small room, but it will be able to facilitate small events and things of that nature.”
The renovations allow different aspects of the shelter services to have their own space.
"We'll have a animal services entrance and a adoption services entrance, where adoption can happen just in that one facility, so we're not having animal control mixed in with adoptions and things of that nature," said Tindall. "So it's going to help clean that up a little bit, and at the same time give a pleasant experience when somebody is coming in to adopt an animal.”
The idea for the party room came from North Little Rock Mayor Terry Hartwick, who envisions an opportunity for families to add a new friend to a special day.
“Kids love animals," said Hartwick. "What better way to have a place for kids to come have a party, birthday party, whatever? Then what will they do later? Get with the dogs and cats, and take some of them home."
Hartwick told the crowd every dog he ever owned came from the city’s animal shelter. The expansion is estimated to be completed in November of this year.
