Published: May 24, 2007 09:47 pm      

Mercer County’s adoptable animals on the move

PRINCETON — Today staff and volunteers at the Mercer County Animal Shelter are moving dogs and cats to the shelter’s new location, so they are asking area residents to not bring new animals to the shelter if possible.

An after-hours drop off should be available approximately 7 p.m. today, but the shelter is asking that the public try not to bring animals to the new facility until Tuesday.

“We’re going to be closed on Friday and Saturday,” said Director Stephanie Barker. “We’re closed on Sundays anyway, and we’ll be closed Monday for Memorial Day.”

The animals’ new home is located on Shelter Road in Green Valley, just past the Mercer County 911 Center, Barker said.

“It’s going to be much bigger,” said Vicky Reed, coordinator for the Mercer County Commission. “It’s going to give us more room to take care of more animals.”

“We have 42 dog runs instead of the 22 here,” Barker said at the old facility. “We have three more puppy runs, and a cat atrium where we can let the vaccinated and altered cats run loose.”

The former shelter was built in 1963, so the new facility will offer more, Barker said.

“We’re really proud it,” she said. “Hopefully, it will help us get more animals adopted.”

Animals are now being moved.

“We need volunteers to help move the animals, people to walk dogs from the old shelter to the new one,” Reed said.

Attorney Harold Brewster has been conducting a fund drive to pay for the new shelter.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com