Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Ground broken for new animal adoption center
WEST GROVE >> With the opening of a new animal adoption center, Julie Altman and Jack Merritt are planning to save more dogs from being euthanized.
Greenmore Farm Animal Rescue, which has been a no-kill dog center since it opened 10 years ago, broke ground Friday for a new adoption center. The 1,260 square-foot, $80,000 facility will be finished in a couple of weeks.
“This will enable us to place more dogs and increase the number of adoptions by enabling people to have a better adoption experience when they come here,” Altman said. “Right now, we have to do adoptions outside or in the barn. We are hoping to make it so more people will come up and help the dogs we are pulling from dog shelters.”
The new facility will have a treatment room and a special room where dogs can be deliv
ered. A family room will enable prospective pet owners to get a real-life experience on whether the dog is right for them.
“We made this so it’s designed around improving the adoption experience,” Merritt said. “People can see the dog in a family setting, sit on a couch and see what the dog would be like with them. It’s just great.”
Currently, Greenmore, which sits on six acres, houses 45 to 50 animals, which include a miniature horse, a donkey and a peacock, all up for adoption. About 7 to 10 dogs per week are adopted, and Altman said the new facility could increase that number to 15 to 20.
“That would be awesome,” she said. “It’s more lives saved.”
About twice a month, Merritt flies his single-engine, four-seater Mooney airplane out of New Garden Flying Field to shelters up and down the East Coast, gathering small dogs targeted for euthanasia. He brings most of them to Greenmore Farm where they are vetted, given shots and put up for adoption.
About seven to eight million companion animals are put to death in the United States every year, mostly because animal shelters are becoming overcrowded.
More than half of the money for the new facility was raised through grants. Donations can be made by visiting the facility at 246 Clonmell Upland Road in West Grove, or visiting https://greenmorerescue.org.