Build a Shelter for Homeless Animals like Bailey

A big change has happened with Dixie Adoptables! After a lot of discussion and number crunching, we realized that it was no longer feasible for us to continue running the city's animal shelter. Because of this, we decided not to renew our contract with the city. This wasn’t an easy decision to make, but it had gotten to the point that the number of animals that we were obligated to take in along with the ever-increasing costs of operating the shelter were becoming unworkable. When the city was unable to increase our funding to offset some of these growing expenses, we had no other viable option available. 

As a result, over the month of September, 2023 we moved all of our animals and equipment to a new location on private land outside of the city which was generously provided by one of our board members. While the move is now complete and the animals are in a much better place, we still have a lot of work to do. The generous donations from this project made the initial setup of the new shelter possible, but we also had to incur some debts that we need to repay before we make any additional improvements. 

The really great thing about this move is that the animals are in a place where they will be much happier, safer, and healthier. Unlike the city shelter, the new shelter is fully heated and air conditioned and out of the weather and is located in a rural area without the constant jarring noise of trains speeding by at all hours of the day and night. At the old location, we had no way to secure the facility since it was on the railroad right-of-way and we had many cases of trespassing, breaking and entering, and even had multiple animals stolen in the middle of the night. The new location is fully secure and monitored around the clock. Unlike the city shelter, the new one does not have shared open kennel drains that spread germs between kennels and we have a proper quarantine area that has its own HVAC unit and can be isolated from the rest of the building.

Once our outstanding debts are paid, the next improvement we plan to make is to build multiple shaded play yards for the dogs so they can get out of their kennels and play each day. We also have several improvements planned that will make cleaning and maintenance more efficient and easier such as installing additional sinks in the kennel area and the quarantine room.

We have also had to make more repairs to our transport bus which is our main way of getting adopted animals to their new homes in other parts of the country. It is back in service, but we currently don’t have an emergency repair fund to use if we have additional mechanical problems.

All of these things cost money that we don’t currently have, but we are heartened by the great responses and support that we have already gotten from this project. If you have not yet donated or want to help us with this transition, please consider making a donation during the holiday season. Every donation makes a difference for our animals and goes directly to making their lives better during their stay with us.