Hidden along Punch Brook Road next to the city’s transfer station, Franklin Animal Shelter has occupied just one, 40 foot-long building at the end of a dirt drive for over a decade.
For years, not many people knew where the shelter was, or that it even existed. Director Jeffrey Brewer, who oversees daily operations, said that in 2012, the non-profit almost had to shut down, since the city wasn’t planning to renew its lease for the property.
But then more people got on board to help.
“We did a lot of begging,” Brewer said. “The citizens also did a lot of lobbying. We pulled ourselves up by the bootstraps and spent the last three years building an image and becoming a better organization.”
He added, “We gained everybody’s confidence back.”
That was illustrated Saturday when dozens of people, chihuahuas in baby strollers, smiling English bulldogs, and even a Pomeranian-Chihuahua taking a ride on her owner’s shoulders turned out for “Paws in the Park,” a shelter fundraiser in Odell Park. The second annual event was held to collect donations for the $67,000 operating budget for 2016.
Board of directors member Donna Cohen stood among the streaming people and wagging tails Saturday and said she was one of the people to join in the cause three years ago.
“They needed help,” Cohen said. “It’s hard to keep it going.” But in return for the work and fundraising, she said adopters always voice their pleasure about the shelter’s operations.
“It’s very gratifying,” she said.
Also at the event was Franklin Fire Chief Kevin LaChapelle, who noted that the shelter is now part of the city’s emergency planning in the case of a large-scale disaster.
“Just as a resource for animals,” LaChapelle said Saturday. Standing next to “Sparky” – the fire department’s dalmatian mascot – LaChapelle said Franklin Animal Shelter is generally better integrated into the city as of late.
“The shelter is really embedded in the community now,” he said. “Clearly, there’s a need for it.”
Accordingly, the shelter has been used more and more in recent years. In 2015, 165 cats and dogs were taken in.
“That was a huge increase from the year before,” Brewer said.
Shelter data shows intakes were at 119 in 2014, and 126 in 2013. As of Aug. 31, 136 animals have already come in for this year.
Adoptions have grown, too. About 60 animals were adopted each year in 2013 and 2014, though that number nearly doubled to 116 last year. In the first eight months of 2016, 120 cats and dogs have been adopted.
“It gets busier and busier,” Brewer said.
To help keep up with all the animals, the shelter has bumped up its paid employees to four, with one full-time manager. More volunteers are there to help care for the cats and dogs, too.
In 2014, Franklin Animal Shelter also began a capital campaign to expand its space, which, Brewer said, has largely gone untouched since city police donated an old garage and the shelter opened inside it years ago.
“Shelter capacity is limited,” Brewer said. Currently, it can take up to 12 cats and eight dogs.
“They’re not filled up all the time, but they do get full,” Brewer said.
The expansion project aims to make room for more cats needing quarantining as well as 10 total dogs. An office, lobby, and indoor bathroom are all part of the plan too. The current restroom is housed in plastic outside.
“That’s fun in February,” said board president Tom Seymour.
At present, Brewer said about $40,000 has been raised for the $105,000 project, and the old dog kennels and cat crating systems have been replaced.
Beyond this renovation project, Seymour said the shelter is doing what it can to educate the community about pet care.
“Education takes place one adoption, one surrender at a time,” he said.
All other efforts go toward keeping the shelter running, taking good care of the animals, and fundraising for operating costs through events like “Paws in the Park.”
“We’ve worked very hard to change the image of the shelter,” Brewer said. “We don’t intend to squander that.”
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)