Young-Williams Animal Center completes space-doubling renovation thanks to PetSmart Charities and community support for dog ‘sleepovers’
This week, Young-Williams Animal Center completed much-needed space additions to the dog holding areas, thanks to a $16,740 grant from PetSmart Charities.
Dogs at Young-Williams Animal Center are enjoying twice the kennel space thanks to a grant from PetSmart Charities to install special doors.The renovations added sliding vertical doors between kennels, connecting each space and doubling or even tripling kennel size to create higher quality of life and capacity for care. Dogs are placed in these holding areas before being moved to the adoption floor.
“These doors give us the ability to better accommodate all sizes of dogs,” says Janet Testerman, CEO of Young-Williams Animal Center. “Not only do they give the large dogs more space, they also allow us to be flexible during times of high intake to save more dogs’ lives.”
Support, such as grants from PetSmart Charities, is crucial to help the shelter care for Knoxville’s homeless animals, as is support from the community, according to Testerman.
Chloe enjoys her doubled kennel space, made possible thanks to a grant from PetSmart Charities to install special doors. Many dogs like Chloe are available for adoption at Young-Williams Animal Center.
“We are so thankful to PetSmart Charities for its continued support of local shelters,” Testerman says. “We also want to thank everyone who answered our call for foster families and ‘doggie sleepovers’ so that our dogs had a place to stay during the renovations. We appreciate all of the support to take the best possible care of our animals and, ultimately, find a home for every pet.”
PetSmart Charities is a leading funder of animal welfare in North America. Grant funding to support shelter operations and improvements can be challenging to acquire in animal welfare. PetSmart Charities created a stream of funding that supports an animal welfare organization’s core sheltering operations and practices with a focus on programs that are both innovative and sustainable.
Shelter Operations is one of PetSmart Charities’ seven grant categories designed to support nonprofits that share a commitment to finding lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets closer together.