Quincy animal shelter helps record number of critters in 2014

QUINCY - It was a busy year last year at the Quincy Animal Shelter.

Staff and volunteers moved office equipment and all the animals and their supplies across town to a larger facility in the fall - a process that actually started in February when the Quincy City Council approved plans for the brand-new shelter.

They also helped find new homes for a record number of cats and dogs last year, said shelter director Rachel Lewis. She said 564 animals moved through the shelter in 2014, a 35-percent increase from the previous year.

In 2013, about 390 animals came through the shelter.

Lewis said when animals leave the shelter it's either through adoptions or transfers to other shelters, specialized pet rescue groups or foster homes. The groups they are transferred to facilitate finding the animals homes on their end, she said.

Some of the groups they work with include Grant County Animal Outreach, Kitsap Humane Society, Wenatchee Humane Society and Spokanimal.

In some cases, animals at the Quincy shelter also get to leave because staff was successful in tracking down the pets' owners.

Lewis said December was the shelter's busiest month.

"We had 81 animals come in that month, and of those only two are still here with us," she said. Of the 79 animals that did leave the shelter, 29 were adopted while the rest were transferred or returned to owners, said Lewis.

Their second busiest month last year was in June, when 56 animals were brought to the shelter. That month, 12 got adopted. In November, 51 animals came in and 20 were adopted.

And it's not just Grant County families who are coming in to adopt pets, said Lewis.

"People come from the West side all the time, I've even had people come from southern Oregon who drive seven to eight hours just to get their pets," she said. Lewis said they even helped with an international adoption last year.

A couple from British Columbia drove to Quincy to pick up their new pet in June, she said.

Lewis said she thinks the shelter's online presence has a lot to do with their increase in adoptions.

Lewis said one of the benefits of the new shelter is that it offers potential owners plenty of space to play with their future pet. The new facility has two play rooms - one for cats and one for dogs - which can be used for families to get to know their new pet, she said.

The new shelter also benefits the animals, as is there is more room both inside and outside for them to roam. Cats have large cat condos and dogs have kennels with inside and outside access at the new facility.

The new shelter is about 2,500 square feet - almost twice the size of the old facility, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald article. It can house 20-40 dogs and 24 cats, an improvement over the old capacity of 10-14 dogs and seven to 10 cats.

Lewis said the shelter currently has 11 dogs and four cats up for adoption. She runs the shelter with a part-time assistant, but said she hopes to hire a new full-time assistant in the coming month.

Volunteers also help them manage and care for all their animals throughout the year, she said.

The Quincy Animal Shelter is located at 213 6th Ave. NE in Quincy. For more information, call 509-787-8010.