Table Mountain Animal Center is changing its name to Foothills Animal Shelter and moving to new digs.
The new $9.7 million facility, on the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, will more than double the center’s current square footage, improve efficiency, and reduce stress on lost and surrendered animals, officials said.
The current shelter, one of the largest in the Denver metro area, takes in nearly 10,000 animals annually. It also serves as the hub for Jefferson County’s municipal animal-control officers.
To prepare for the move to the 30,000-square-foot building, the shelter is holding an adopt-a-thon to thin the ranks of surrendered animals waiting for homes.
Through Aug. 8 — when Table Mountain closes for good — adoption fees are trimmed 50 percent.
Because moves can be stressful for animals, shelter spokeswoman Jennifer Strickland said, the goal of the adopt-a-thon is to prevent the more than 300 critters from being moved twice.
Shelter executive director Heather Cameron said the Aug. 9 transfer to the new kennels has been carefully planned to minimize the impact on the animals.
Staffers, volunteers and animal control officers from several of the nine Jefferson County municipalities are lined up to move the cats, dogs, gerbils, hamsters, rats, ferrets, guinea pigs, birds and reptiles.
Cameron likened the move to Noah’s Ark. “We’ve got over 60 volunteers helping with the move, and many are bringing their SUVs and trucks,” she said. “It’s going to be like a quasi-parade to their new homes.”
Foothills Animal Shelter, which opens Aug. 11, will be more people-friendly than its predecessor, with a lobby where visitors can see animals interacting in their environment, Cameron said.
Among the new facility’s amenities are cat “colonies,” visible from the main entrance.
Cameron said the current shelter was designed as a dog pound. The new building has plenty of designated space for cats, many of which will be housed in the colonies.
“There will be lots for them to climb on and huge windows so people will be able to see the animals interacting right when they walk in,” Strickland said.
A “special critters” room — featuring temperature-controlled spaces for rats, snakes and iguanas, as well as an area for bird cages — is also near the lobby. “People forget they end up in shelters too, so we wanted to make them visible when you walk in,” Strickland said.
Foothills Animal Shelter will have six yards for working and playing with dogs, compared with one at their current facility.
“This will allow us to be more efficient,” Strickland said. “More people will be able to work with more dogs at a time.”
An on-site surgery suite for spaying and neutering will replace the recreational vehicle currently used.
“Overall, the new place is more inviting and the space will allow us to operate more efficiently,” Strickland said. “The amount of space per animal will increase a lot, but the number of spaces we have won’t really increase much.”
Bianca Davis: 303-954-1698 or bsmith-davis@denverpost.com
