PARADISE — The groundbreaking event for Paradise’s new animal shelter expansion brought out a crowd of volunteers and stakeholders, along with some wagging tails. In 2015, the Butte County Grand Jury determined that the Paradise Animal Shelter was inadequate in holding the number of critters it had. Cats and dogs live in the same general area, and space is limited.
Shelter staff, volunteers and community members came together to form a plan to expand the shelter to allow more room for future pets and additional facilities. Art Collier, a volunteer with the Paradise Animal Shelter Helpers and retired veterinarian who worked in Paradise for 35 years, said there is considerable work that needs to be done to raise the standard for the shelter. “The main thing is that we have cats and dogs basically in the shelter together,” Collier said.
“They’re not separated. Sick animals aren’t separated by quarantine areas. THe staff is compressed into a tiny, little room, and that’s where people have to go in to get adoptions and so forth.
” Unfortunately, planning was hindered by the Camp Fire in 2018 and briefly pushed aside in the wake of the disaster. Collier said plans reignited in 2022 when fundraisers were launched to build the expansion. “At that point, we had $250,000,” Collier said.
“We went before the Town Council with a floor plan that had been put together by an architectural firm, and they wanted it refined and have plans fully developed.” Initial bids came in too high for the project, and the plans were fine-tuned more as PASH continued to raise money, eventually raising $650,000. The town of Paradise then provided $2 million to go toward the expansion.
Modern Construction was ultimately chosen to build the expansion. With the project funded and a construction company on board, the town was finally able to host a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday. When speaking before the crowd of spectators at the event, Paradise Mayor Ron Lassonde thanked the many people and groups that donated to the project.
“Think about what we’re doing here, this is for the animals, folks, but it’s for all of our community that we’re doing this,” Lassonde said. “Thank you for being here today and thank you for your ongoing support to the town of Paradise’s animal shelter.” The expansion’s floor plan adds a new area for housing cats as well as a group area for the cats to socialize among one another.
There will also be an area for potential adopters to meet the animals. “It’s a meet and greet area where people can, indoors, take an animal and sit with them to get to know them for adoption,” Collier said. The expansion also makes room for exterior growth to allow for playing and other outdoor activities.
“We’re going to have a beautiful campus here,” Collier said. “As a veterinarian who has worked in this community for most of my adult life, this community cares deeply for its animal population and now we’re going to have them — the temporarily homeless ones — in a really comfortable place that’s well-suited for them and they can stay here as long as they need to. We keep animals until they find a home.
” Paradise Animal Control Supervisor Molly St. John said her department will also benefit from the expansion. Related Articles Pets and Animals | The dreaded foxtail | Casey’s Corner Pets and Animals | Families end summer with ice cream and nature Pets and Animals | Undercover staffers, burial pits and a five-ton mess: How Fremont scrambled to respond to 1,000 dead fish Pets and Animals | Another scorching summer | Casey’s Corner Pets and Animals | Wild West Horse Rescue provides home to retired horses “It’s going to give our officers more space when we’re working cases and we’re going to have adequate space to store our evidence and process cases,” St.
John said. “We’re going to have a full exam room so we’ll be able to bathe and groom our animals that come into the shelter that need that attention.” St.
John said there will also be space for examining animals, adding that animals are currently examined at the front desk. “We were built in 1985, almost 40 years ago, so we were not built to house the number of animals that we house now. We weren’t built to house cats at all.
We weren’t built to care for animals long-term as a no-kill shelter. We have dogs here for up to 10 years now, so being able to adequately house and care for them is really important to us.”.
