Broward animal shelter will close for six months
The county-run animal shelter that serves as the temporary home to thousands of cats and dogs will close to the public for six months on Sunday.
Five days later, the $16.5 million shelter will be transformed into an open construction site through the summer to fix problems with the shelter’s ventilation system that cause foul odors to waft through the building.
Animals will remain in the shelter during construction, but officials are trying to find another spot for as many as possible to get them out of the shelter while construction is underway, said Jeff Halsey, acting director.
They’re looking for help from rescue groups, foster volunteers and even the Humane Society of Broward County and shelters in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, Halsey said.
As of Monday, the shelter was tending to 37 cats and 83 dogs, but that number is always changing.
The county’s Animal Care Adoption Center, at 2400 SW 42nd St. in Fort Lauderdale, will keep on operating, but will switch to online services and appointments.
Those wanting to surrender a pet or stray or pick up a lost dog or cat will need to make an appointment at admissions@broward.org.
Those wanting to adopt or foster an animal can submit an online application. Pet license tags can be purchased online.
Prospective adopters or foster parents can view pictures of the pets on the shelter’s website. If they see a pet they are interested in, they can submit an adoption or foster application.
Some animal activists are questioning why the work wasn’t done when the shelter was closed during the pandemic-related shutdown.
“They had all summer to do this,” said Michele Lazarow, a Hallandale Beach commissioner and animal advocate. “Why are they waiting until January 2021?”
Halsey, who’s been on the job since mid-October, said he wasn’t sure.
In an email to county commissioners on Jan. 5, he said the shutdown is required due to “safety concerns, parking impacts, construction supplies and equipment throughout the site, and the need for staff to routinely relocate pets to avoid their being impacted by construction activities.”
The project, approved by commissioners last fall, will cost taxpayers $760,060. The work will begin on Jan. 22.
Ana Campos, an animal activist from Fort Lauderdale, worried about the animals being subjected to a barrage of hammering and banging.
“That is terrifying to an animal,” Campos said. “It’s going to sound like a war zone. You can’t just traumatize an animal like that. They’re going to bite and bark and freak out.”
Halsey said animals would be moved as far from the noise as possible if they start showing signs of distress.
“We’ve never done this before,” he said. “If we notice behavioral issues with the dogs we will increase the buffer between where the work is and where the dogs are.”
The work will require a total of 10 openings in the roof throughout the building.
Right now, the air intake equipment on the roof that pulls air into the shelter is too close to the air output equipment, Halsey said.
“Air coming from the shelter is circulated outside and then pulled directly back into the shelter,” he said. “That contributes to the poor air quality.”
Part of the work involves installing seven large plume fans that will expel the air at a higher elevation so it is not pulled back into the shelter.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @Susannah_Bryan
