STROUDSBURG, Pa. — While resident dogs wait at AWSOM Animal Shelter near Stroudsburg for their forever homes, they will soon get a major upgrade to their space.
The shelter is renovating its inside kennel house area for the first time since taking it over from the SPCA decades ago.
"We really haven't had a big renovation at all in the building since we took it over, so this will be very helpful for the safety of the volunteers and the safety of the animals. We had a dog a couple of months ago that actually broke its head through the chain link overnight. Luckily he wasn't hurt or anything, so this is very much needed," said Brandon Overbeck, AWSOM's vice president of operations.
The renovation will replace the shelter's 18 dog runs with cage-free kennels that feature tempered glass doors and noise-reducing technology. The flooring is also being upgraded.
The project is named in honor of Frank Lanterman, a volunteer and longtime member of AWSOM, who wished for years to get the dogs at the shelter the safest, cleanest, cage-free environment possible.
"It's going to be more of a homey feeling for the dogs instead of being in a cage which will hopefully help with the anxiety and the cage behavior," Overbeck said.
Next week, all the kennels will be ripped out, and all the dogs currently at the shelter will be boarded out to another facility for the length of construction.
"We're trying to get some dogs into foster, so that's why they're actually in homes instead of boarding. Even if you can't do that, anything can help because, like I said, the boardings are $30 a day," Overbeck said. "Even food right now because we still need to feed all of the dogs even though they're not here."
The total cost of the renovation is just under $200,000. A grant is helping pay for a portion of it, but the shelter is looking for kennel sponsorships to help the animals.
Construction is expected to start next week and be completed at the end of April or early May.
For information on how to donate to the Frank Lanterman Memorial Kennel House, click here.
For AWSOM's wishlist or to donate money, click here.
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