Tour

Yesterday I had the pleasure of touring a new animal rescue/rehab center in our county.  It was open to the public.

The facility used to be a no-kill shelter that went bankrupt nearly 5 years ago and was abandoned since then.  The Brandywine Valley SPCA which operates our local animal shelter purchased the facility at auction a few months ago and plans to open it as a rescue/rehab facility.

Dogs and cats picked up as strays, surrendered by owners, or rescued from natural disasters and hoarding environments usually end up at shelters for adoption. But some of these animals need medical attention, nutrition therapy, and behavioral modification to become adoptable.  This process can takes several weeks to several months.  So that's what this new rescue/rehab center will be used for; to bring these animals back to healthy, adoptable pets which will then be adopted from the regular shelter.  It will not be an adoption center nor will it be open to the public, so this was pretty much the only opportunity to get a look at it in person.

Here's a photo of the facility as well as an aerial shot.

Its quite a distinctive-looking building.  But since it was designed to be a shelter, the tour guide said they really don't need to do any retrofitting of the building to accommodate their use of it.

There's even a central courtyard which will likely become a play or training area.

The interior is kind of industrial looking, with exposed HVAC ducts and concrete floors.

These siblings were present for the tour, although the facility is not yet operating.  They were so cute and friendly I wanted to take all 3 home with me.

Then there was this adorable Chihuahua mix named Johnny Pickles.  He'd recently been adopted from the main shelter.  I wanted to take him home too.

This rescue/rehab facility plans to partner with other shelters to accept animals from outside the local area (other states, etc) when there is a special need like hurricanes, floods, and extreme hoarding environments to help get them healthy and adoptable.  This facility should be able to do what many regular shelters can't, so I am really excited its located near me, and plan to donate to its success.

The Brandywine Valley SPCA still needs to raise more funds to bring the formerly abandoned building back to operational condition and support their other activities related to this, so if you feel inclined to donate CLICK HERE.  For larger donations you can even name areas of the facility after a beloved pet or person!