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PAWS Chicago Opens New Adoption & Humane Center

September 01, 2007, 9:49PM MT

By Susan Robinson

A New Home, A New Way for Chicago's Homeless Pets

A New Home, A New Way for Chicago's Homeless Pets

Posted by Susan A. Robinson, Best Friends Network

PAWS Chicago is about to transform animal sheltering in Chicago with a 13,000 square foot Adoption and Humane Center, set to open in Lincoln Park on September 9. The cageless facility will be the first of its kind in the Midwest with every aspect of its design aimed to enhance the physical health and behavior of its homeless animal guests, while ensuring that new families are prepared for a lifelong commitment.

No longer will homeless animals pace in confining cages, lonely and
stressed by echoes of barking. Instead, they will live in suites with doors, windows, natural light and piped in classical music, comforted by beds, special toys for mental stimulation, frequent exercise, and human socialization. The Cat Pavilion will have designated rooms for senior cats, adult cats, and kittens, and separate condos for felines who prefer only human companionship. Dogs will visit the enrichment area for daily exercise, agility, and training to prevent the development of depression and behavioral problems.

“This Adoption Center will be an inviting place for adopters, where families will be counseled around a large fireplace and coffee bar after completing interactive training in the computer gallery,” said Paula Fasseas, founder and chair of PAWS Chicago. “The Center will increase adoptions and adoption retention by offering lifelong support.”

The PAWS Center will be welcoming place for volunteers, adopters and members of the community to help save animals lives.

The computer gallery will offer interactive learning for adopters to help with the counseling process.

The PAWS Chicago Adoption and Humane Center is located at 1997 N. Clybourn Avenue, where Armitage meets Racine, in the heart of the vibrant Lincoln Park neighborhood. “This location will be a base of operations for the more than 3,000 dedicated PAWS volunteers,” said William Smithburg, PAWS Chicago Board member. “It will also bring the pet overpopulation crisis to public attention by integrating homeless animals into the surrounding community.” Special volunteer quarters will enable dedicated PAWS volunteers to assist with the serious and extensive work of sheltering and adoption, exhibit rooms will educate visitors on current animal welfare issues, and youth education and leadership activities and programs will engage and involve children from the community.

The new PAWS Center will also have hospital quarters to provide medical attention for sick, injured, and abused homeless animals and keep them comfortable while they recuperate. The state-of-the-art ventilation system will virtually eliminate disease transmission. As a no-kill shelter, all PAWS dogs and cats are treated and guaranteed life. The PAWS Center will also welcome local no-kill shelters and rescue groups every weekend, inviting them to showcase their homeless pets available for adoption. The PAWS Chicago Adoption and Humane Center is designed by Holabird & Root.

The Latest Science Incorporated in Shelter Design and Practices

PAWS Chicago has sought out sheltering and behavior experts from around the country to consult on the design and operation of the Adoption and Humane Center with the goal of making animals more adoptable while in PAWS Chicago’s care:

Emily Weiss, PH.D.
Nationally renowned Animal Behavior Consultant, Dr. Emily Weiss, has worked with the PAWS Chicago adoption program for three years, implementing the Safer test to assess temperament of animals. Now, with the new Adoption and Humane Center, Dr. Weiss is incorporating her scientific studies and expertise in the field of animal behavior into the design of the PAWS Chicago Center. Dr. Weiss’s match-maker program will match the pets’ needs with prospective adoptive family lifestyles, and she is designing special features to incorporate in the shelter, geared to decrease stress, increase positive stimulation, enhance animal well-being, and improve visitor interaction.

No Free Lunch
Based on the Open Paw behavior method developed by veterinarian, behaviorist, and author Dr. Ian Dunbar, and implemented in a pilot program at Berkeley East Bay Humane Society in California, PAWS Chicago will incorporate the No Free Lunch program to give animals the emotional stability and stimulation needed to withstand the stresses of an animal shelter. Homeless animal guests will be trained everyday through the hand-feeding program, in which good behavior is learned and incentivized with meals, provided by trained volunteers. Through this positive reinforcement, animals learn appropriate behavior and manners and become well-trained companions in their adoptive homes.

There will be age-specific cat rooms for cats and kittens, as well as condos for cats that seek only-human companionship.

Dogs will live in suites -not cages- where volunteers can socialize one-on-one, or take them to the agility and training room for exercise.

ARQ Architects
ARQ Architects, based in Maine, began the trend of progressive no-kill sheltering in 1990 with the San Francisco Humane Society. The PAWS Chicago Humane Center will be the fourth shelter of its kind in the nation, and ARQ has contributed their knowledge on design, construction, building materials, and operations to ensure the PAWS Center will be at the forefront of animal welfare engineering and design.

Renderings produced by Holabird & Root

What You Can Do:
Join us for the Open House on Saturday September 8 from Noon to 5:00PM.

For more information go to www.pawschicago.org

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