You might say that Collierville Animal Services Director Nina Wingfield is as happy as a flea at a dog show. Why? Because now she has more room at the Town’s animal shelter and can accommodate not only whatever dogs and cats drop by, but all the things she needs to make their hopefully brief stay as comfortable as possible.
The new additions to the shelter make life less scary for the displaced animals by keeping them safe in areas customized for their needs. The best example of this is the new cat area in the west wing of the building. The room is large enough to accommodate several large two level cages and yet leaves ample floor space for the cats to roam when it’s their turn to do so. There’s also a storage room and a small office for volunteers in the new space.
The west side of the building also houses Wingfield’s new office, a room large enough for her to comfortably address operational issues with staff or talk to visitors about possible adoptions.
The large open room in the middle of the building used to be filled with cages, but because of the expansion, the area is now designated for office use. There is one of the shelter’s “real life rooms” here, and a storage cabinet which was built and donated by a local Eagle Scout troop. The new reception area at the front of the building used to be part of this bigger room. Now when visitors enter the shelter, they are in an area specifically designated for reception. They are greeted through a window by someone in the office, and connected with the correct staff member or volunteer for their particular need.
On the east side of the building, the expanded area includes a new cat intake room, a small dog intake room, two laundry rooms, an additional restroom, a surgery prep area and the new surgery room (pictured), which can hold two tables and some storage cabinets.
The outside of the shelter has entrances to two new isolation areas for animals requiring quarantine. There is still a bit of tweaking to be done, but overall, the expansions at the shelter are allowing the CAS staff to do a more efficient job of serving Collierville residents, both the two-legged and four-legged varieties. Director Nina Wingfield is excited about the possibilities and is thankful to all who contributed to the finished product. A full 75 percent of the cost of construction was funded by donations from the public.
