$8M in animal shelter grants awarded to city, nonprofit
Two animal shelters in Cook County are getting a combined $8 million to expand their facilities and ensure there is no overcrowding.
South Suburban Humane Society, a nonprofit located in Chicago Heights, was awarded $6 million, while the city of Evanston was given $2 million, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced at a news conference Thursday. The grants are part of the Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control’s “Housing Cook County’s Animals” program, announced in November to help revamp nonprofit and governmentrun shelters that may face overcrowding as long as they agree to house rescue animals.
Preckwinkle said the grants will help ensure that no animal will be turned away at the shelters.
“Over the last few decades, the way shelters care for our pets has evolved,” Preckwinkle said at the news conference. “Many of their facilities have not . ... And they do not provide an optimal environment that helps them engage successfully with potential adopters.”
The Evanston and Chicago Heights shelters won the grants because they proved they had a “robust and visionary plan” to care for homeless and abused pets while they await new owners, said interim CCARC administrator Dr. Tom Wake, a veterinarian. The grants are funded from fees charged to dog and cat owners who get rabies vaccines for their pets in Cook County.
The need for more space is crucial given that on Wednesday night, the Cook County sheriff’s office rescued 43 dogs from a dangerous situation, Wake said. South Suburban Humane Society is now looking after all of them.
Wake said the COVID-19 pandemic has increased demand for pet adoptions, but usually shelters like South Suburban Humane Society would be strained for resources after taking in so many dogs.
“We are fortunate that in a time of COVID-19, so many residents have stepped up to adopt and foster pets, that there was room,” Wake said. “Usually South Suburban and so many other shelters across our area would have struggled to find space to take in so many animals at one time.”
At Evanston, the $2 million will help construct a new building for animal admission and demolish an old facility that was built in the 1970s and only intended for dogs, and at South Suburban Humane Society the $6 million will build a new campus to take in pets, Wake said.
Emily Klehm, CEO of South Suburban Humane Society, said the money is a “game changer.”
“We were fortunate that so many of our supporters have fostered and adopted pets during this pandemic,” Klehm said. “But while fortunately this pandemic will end, that also means that our need for space will once again be acute.”
Also attending the news conference was local rescue dog Mr. Belvedere, who quietly rested in the arms of his owner, Mark Rosenthal, deputy director of CCARC.
“It’s also wonderful to have Mr. Belvedere here,” Wake said. “He represents the kind of life we all want our shelter animals to have, a great reminder of what brought us here today.”