Environmental group backs animal shelter

WILLIMANTIC — Sustainable CT, a statewide program that supports voluntary municipal initiatives to protect the environment and improve the quality of life for Connecticut residents, has announced its support for the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter.

This municipal animal shelter and animal control department serves Branford, North Branford and Northford. The shelter is known statewide for organizing programming for both children and adults, including those with special needs, to encourage socialization and early bonding with animals, according to a press release.

Sustainable CT, through its Community Match Fund program, is supporting the shelter’s goal of becoming the first net-zero animal shelter in the country, the organization said. The shelter is raising money to build a permanent facility that will incorporate solar, thermal and high-performance building standards to achieve net-zero energy consumption.

In collaboration with the Branford Engineering Department, Office of Sustainability, and local green building experts, the shelter has designed a building that will utilize natural resources in a sustainable manner to reduce human — and animal — impact on the environment, the news release said.

“We have been working diligently for the last 18 months, during the pandemic, to raise money for our new building,” shelter director Laura Burban said in a prepared statement, “and are excited to make energy efficiency a defining component of our unique ‘state-ofthe-animal’ building.”

The Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter has been helping homeless animals along the Connecticut Shoreline and vicinity since April 2003. Its mission includes protecting the public, providing excellent animal care, finding good homes for animal guests and promoting responsible pet guardianship, the statement said.

Hundreds of displaced animals come through the shelter’s doors each year. In addition to dogs and cats, Branford’s animal shelter serves as the temporary home for less common animals, including guinea pigs, chinchillas, rabbits, and even the occasional owl and deer.

For information, email funding@sustainablect.org.

Ed Stannard / Hearst Connecticut Media Laura Burban, director of the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter in Branford, holds a baby guinea pig that was born June 12.