Kimoto Tech board approves land donation to Cedartown Humane Society for new adoption facility

Through the generosity of Kimoto Tech, the Cedartown Humane Society is moving on to step two in building a new animal shelter in the county.

Step one, securing land to build the shelter, was completed last week when Humane Society president Charlotte Harrison announced that the Board of Directors of Kimoto Tech, Inc., has approved the donation of three acres of land near the intersection of Canal Street and Second Street to be used for an animal shelter.

The total cost of the shelter is expected to be about $3.5 million. Harrison expects the project to attract the financial support of local and regional foundations and agencies as well as local individuals and businesses. She expects raising funding, designing the facility, and completing construction to take about three years.

“We are delighted to accept this very generous gift from the Kimoto Tech Corporation and we especially appreciate the vision and support of Miguel Leal, President of Kimoto Tech Cedartown,” said Harrison. “This is the first solid step toward our goal of providing a facility to promote animal adoptions, encourage spaying and neutering pets, and reducing the need for euthanasia.”

Leal told the group at a CHS meeting on Aug. 23, that he had put the land donation proposal to Kimoto senior management in June at a conference in Shinjuku, Japan.

The Kimoto board approved the donation at its Sept. 9, board of directors meeting.

Leal said the animal shelter project would be approached in three phases.

“The first is securing the land. The second is securing strong funding through foundations and grants. The third is a full-fledged effort to garner more money through donations by local industries and our community. Once these three key elements are in place, the project can actually move to the construction and operations phases,” continued Leal.

Leal praised the leadership of CHS. “Our Cedartown Humane Society has an allstar board of director group,” Leal said. “If anyone can get the job done, they can.”

Harrison said the planned shelter would encompass approximately 10,000 square feet under roof and accommodate 75 dogs and 50 cats at any one time. In addition to kennel areas, facilities will include a clinic, bathing areas, an area for pets and potential adopters to meet, and offices.

Harrison characterized 2015 as a year of growth and learning for the organization and its volunteers.

“When we began, our immediate goals were to increase adoption rates of animals at the Polk County Animal Control Facility and to educate the public on the importance of spaying and neutering pets,” she said.

At the Society’s annual WAG event in August, Harrison cited data from Polk County Animal Control reports indicating that the group is well on its way to achieving both goals.

“There were 321 animals adopted in 2013. This increased to 367 in 2014 and in 2015 adop- tions for the first seven months are already at 387. “

Harrison said perhaps the most important statistic is the one citing the number of animals taken in to the shelter by Animal Control.

After 18 months of public education and financial support for spay and neuter, the numbers are in decline, Harrison said.

“In 2013, a total of 2,680 animals were brought into the shelter. In 2014, intake dropped to 2,186 and our rate for 2015 so far is 1,784,” said Harrison.

“The Cedartown Humane Society has been in business only a short while,” said Harrison.

“2014 was a year of learning for us. 2015 has been a year of expanding our base of support and crafting a vision for a better future. I expect 2016 to be the year we begin patiently building toward that vision,” she continued.

“Our pets are important parts of our families,” said Harrison. “The job of the Cedartown Humane Society is to improve the quality of life of our animal friends and help them find homes.”