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Maximum Bliss at the Pound
Abused, Neglected, Abandoned Pets Bask in Deluxe Comfort at Shelter
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 21, 2006; B01
Larry the yellow Lab sleeps on a memory foam mattress. Paddy the Irish wolfhound laps from an automatically refilling water dish. Olga and Oslo, two Rhodesian Ridgeback-mix puppies, sprawl on a radiant-heated floor in Zen-like bliss.
They are among 80 homeless hounds inhabiting a new animal shelter that is ritzier than many day spas. These mutts exude the contentment of society housewives detoxing at an ashram, soothed into near total silence under a glass skylight skimmed by cascading sheets of recirculated water, the room aglow with daylight streaming through glass walls and thrumming with piped-in harp music.
"Do you hear that? No barking. You barely hear a peep," enthused Scotlund Haisley, executive director of the Washington Animal Rescue League, which is officially unveiling its posh new animal shelter in Northwest Washington to the public this weekend.
Opulent kennels with first-class features are popping up across the country. One in Denver features international-themed rooms for cats, and one in Richmond has bronze lobby sculptures and a rubber-padded indoor track on which dogs can run.
"Slowly, what's happening is that Americans are no longer accepting the small, stinky, rusty-fence shelters as suitable places for animals," said John Snyder, vice president for companion animals at the Humane Society of the United States. "There is a renaissance of new construction of these facilities across the country, and we're seeing some very attractive facilities."
At the rescue league's 71 Oglethorpe St. NW facility, $4 million was spent on deluxe digs -- called "dens," "townhouses" or "condos," depending on size -- for 80 big dogs, 25 puppies and 100 cats.
The league, founded in 1914 to save abandoned and abused workhorses, is funded entirely by private donations. For this renovation, the largest single donation was $75,000. The group held an art auction and fundraiser last night to generate the remaining $2 million needed for building costs, and it plans a grand opening from noon to 3 p.m. tomorrow, complete with a pet psychic.
Pet lovers find the "holistic" shelter inspirational. Workers show no embarrassment over a place fancier than many of their homes. But Haisley knows he must defend it.
"Of course, people will say it's nicer than some shelters for people," Haisley said, stopping to scratch Tate, a Labrador retriever mix, between the ears. "I understand that, but I don't run a human shelter. And if I did, it would have all this.
"Though some of this may seem frivolous, it really is not. It's redefining what the needs of animals are."
What the District's abused, lost and neglected critters need, in Haisley's view, is a peaceful place to nurture their rehabilitation. To figure out what design would foster recovery, he interviewed animal psychologists and prison historians.
"I wanted to understand what fosters aggression and violence and eliminate that," he said.
Once he had an idea of what he wanted, he eschewed specialists in the growing niche of animal shelter design and went for a firm that planned solely with two-legged mammals in mind. They found Damon Ward, 33, an architect who designed such hip, urban projects as artists' lofts and skylit cafes. Ward was killed by an unknown gunman outside a U Street NW jazz club in February.
"All of this -- the care, the concern -- it's Damon's legacy," Haisley said, sweeping his hand toward the ceiling of the cat room, with whimsical paw prints embedded in the acoustic tiles.
The shelter borrows ideas from human institutions. Each doggy den has a purifier circulating fresh air every seven minutes.
The dens are made of stainless steel and tempered glass, opaque on the bottom so dogs see shadows, but clear on top so humans can see inside. Potential adopters can open the top half of the Dutch door for a pat and a lick.
Feline condos are made of sandstone Corian with beech accents. Each space has a separate toilet area. The carpet climbing structures are shaped like bonsai trees. A giant waterfall on one wall has terraced ledges, where cats perch and lap oxygenated water straight from the fountain.
Haisley leads a dozen tours of the facility a week, mostly for animal experts, veterinarians, psychologists and prison specialists.
Staff members say they have noticed a distinct improvement in the animals' behavior and health.
Gary Weitzman, the shelter's medical director, said that because of the calming music, fresh water and heated floors, abused and diseased animals heal faster. And kennel cough -- a highly contagious illness in dogs -- has dropped nearly 90 percent with fresh air being circulated into individual dens, he said.
The facility also seems to affect people who come looking for pets. Adoptions are up, said adoption manager Shelley Petrasek, who credits the visible amenities with making people feel good about adopting animals.
It worked for Aimee Coogan of Montgomery County, who steeled herself for noisy and depressing metal cages yesterday when she brought her son, Rory, to the league's space to look for a cat.
"This is a really beautiful place, and the animals seem so happy," she said, watching a herd of cats race past her feet.
Return visits from rescued pets and their owners are common enough. But, rare for a pound, it's becoming a popular spot for children's birthday parties.
The community room is open for cake and ice cream. After decorating doggie biscuits, the kids give their treats to the dogs.
Perhaps the best testament to the benefits of an extreme makeover is the story of Christiano, an ungainly terrier mix who was rescued from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina but languished in the shelter for a full year -- unfriendly, reclusive and undesirable.
Once the new shelter opened and the chimes played in his dog run and the water fountain trickled, Christiano started to unwind. He relaxed, wagged his tail and started approaching families looking for a pet. He found his match within days.
Happy in his new home, Christiano and his owner still return to the shelter for visits and a tiny dose of canine Zen.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
The Washington Animal Rescue League Sets New Global Standard
Unique Innovations Enhance Animals' Wellbeing, Facilitate Recovery, Increase Adoptions
WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Washington Animal Rescue League (WARL) today officially unveiled its newly renovated facility, which incorporates the best design concepts from shelters around the world, and takes them a step further to set a new global standard for the humane care of homeless and abused animals. Every detail of the doggie dens, cat condos, and puppy pads were designed from the animal's point of view to promote healing and maximally enhance the animal's physical and emotional wellbeing as he or she recovers from past traumas and awaits adoption.
In addition, the shelter now houses nearly 400 animals (a 66% increase). That fact, coupled with a design that allows for greater interaction among potential adopters and prospective pet companions, is expected to result in rapid gains in the number of animals adopted.
Scotlund Haisley, Executive Director of The Washington Animal Rescue League met with numerous experts and visited dozens of animal shelters, pet day care centers, veterinary hospitals, and even human prisons as part of WARL's extensive research that went into planning the re-design. "Life for an animal in a typical shelter can be filled with stress, anxiety, and depression," he explains. "The traditional concrete, cinder block, and steel bar shelters simply do not meet the animal's basic physical and psychological needs, much less facilitate a recovery from whatever traumatic situation brought them to the shelter in the first place. As a result, many of these animals get sick and develop behavioral problems. People, even many in the animal welfare field, have gotten so used to this that they see it as inevitable. But we thought that if we painstakingly designed a new concept in animal sheltering, considering even the smallest detail from the animals' point of view, we could build a facility that actually encourages recovery and adoption."
Some of the shelter's new features, many unique to WARL, include separate ventilation systems for each living unit, skylights and glass apartments to maximize natural lighting, privacy nooks, elevated beds, heated flooring, and flowing water and music to create a calm, soothing environment. Dutch doors allow the dogs to interact freely with visitors. Mounted dog beds fold up or down to accommodate either a dog who wants a raised bed or one who prefers the floor. Cats have access to special exercise rooms where they can climb cat "trees" and play with other cats. Since cats loves to watch, play with, and drink moving water, the cat area also includes a central waterfall with perches on either side.
The Washington Animal Rescue League's caretakers have noticed an almost immediate change in the animals. Although the dog area now holds more dogs, noise level (the single largest cause of stress in shelter dogs according to several recent studies) is reduced to an occasional bark. Respiratory infections, widespread among cats and dogs in most shelters, have been nearly eliminated. The animals get more rest, seem more secure, and are noticeably less fearful of people and each other.
And visitors hoping to adopt are also impressed. According to Adoptions Manager Shelley Petrasek, "The adopters spend more time visiting with the animals. On Saturdays, our new acquaintance rooms are in high demand, and in general, the bright, calm atmosphere of the shelter offers adopters a great experience. It's still too early to tell how significantly this will increase the adoption numbers, but all the signs are very encouraging."
A number of animal shelters in the U.S. and from around the world have visited WARL to see the newly renovated facility. "Word travels quickly in this field," adds Haisley. "I've been doing at least six tours a week for other animal welfare professionals. That's what I hoped would happen. Our dream has been to make this shelter a model and a tangible resource for any group that houses and rehabilitates animals. We're proud to be the first to build such a shelter, but we do not want it be the only one of its kind. If more animal rescue agencies build facilities that actively enhance recovery and adoptions, the animal rescue option -- and not pet stores, puppy mills, or breeders -- will become the standard, most attractive, most reliable way to choose an animal companion."
The renovation also features new intake and holding rooms, an expanded Medical Center, a new community room, and additional office space. The Washington, D.C.-based architectural firm Stoiber and Associates worked on the design and HBW Group did the construction.
Founded in 1914, The Washington Animal Rescue League (WARL) provides care and compassion for the homeless and abused animals of the nation's capital, while working to place them in loving adoptive homes. A private, not-for- profit organization that operates solely on private donations and volunteer efforts, WARL created the city's first animal shelter. In 1996, a modern, state-of-the-art medical center was created to provide full-service, low-cost veterinary care to pets of low-income residents of the Washington metropolitan area. WARL is also focused on education and serves as a valuable resource for individuals and groups with an interest in animal welfare. Efforts include, free spay and neuter services, weekend adoption events, a humane education program, and the Shelter Animal Relief Effort (ShARE), that brings together regional animal welfare organizations to help alleviate the effects of the animal overpopulation crisis. For more information please call WARL at (202) 726-2536, visit our shelter at 71 Oglethorpe Street, N.W., or log onto our website at http://www.warl.org/. |
