The Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County is serving and sheltering more animals than ever in recent years.
While the nonprofit organization wants to assist every animal that enters its facility, these extra animals have resulted in one problem at the HAWS facility.
"We're cramped right now," said Lynn Olenik, HAWS' executive director.
So to properly serve these animals and its programs, HAWS — celebrating its 50th year in 2015 — is in the process of a major expansion for its animal shelter, 701 Northview Road, Waukesha.
Olenik said a facility expansion is seven years in the making.
"Due to the recession in 2007-08, we scaled back our previous expansion," Olenik said. "We are now in a position to complete our original goals."
HAWS' expansion calls for additional procedure areas in the spay/neuter clinic to accommodate the more than 3,000 annual surgeries. This will help regulate animal overpopulation in the county, specifically among the county's outdoor cats, Olenik said.
Olenik said the clinic is needed because HAWS is operating at capacity and is already stretching its limits. HAWS has increased its spay/neuter surgeries by 27 percent over the last eight years.
"Outdoor cats continue to breed at an alarming rate," Olenik said.
New behavior rooms
That's why, Olenik said, the expansion will help HAWS look to achieve its goal of ending the cat overpopulation in Waukesha County over the next 10 years.
New training and rehabilitation areas for HAWS' behavior department is also part of the expansion. A behavior department was added to HAWS in 2009, a year after its most recent expansion. The behavior department has provided an area for animals to work with staff so they are more family-ready before adoption.
The new behavior department work room will also free up other rooms for children's education programs and other animal socialization activities.
There will also be animal care and rescue areas added to house the growing list of species needing shelter and also to better accommodate all resident animals. These include dogs that are staying at the facility longer as they get nursed back to health as well chickens, sheep and other livestock. Olenik said HAWS is housing more livestock in recent years with more communities allowing chickens and hens.
Olenik said another reason for the expansion is to address the aging population across the community. She said a new holding area will be made for HAWS to house animals if their owners require a temporary stay in the hospital.
Hoarding cases
The expansion will also allow HAWS more flexible safe-keep areas when the shelter has to take in a large amount of animals during hoarding cases.
Olenik said this need was highlighted by the largest hoarding case ever faced by HAWS when more than 300 chinchillas needed housing at the shelter this spring. HAWS took in the chinchillas after a Waukesha family was housing hundreds of living and deceased chinchillas at their home.
Fifty of the chinchillas remain at HAWS while the court case proceeds. While HAWS was happy to help in this case, Olenik said it put a strain on the organization's resources and the shelter had to use every last bit of space to house the small animals.
"We needed more space to house all those cages," Olenik said.
Donors helping effort
To make these building upgrades happen, HAWS is in the process of a capital campaign. The organization has raised $750,000 of the $1.2 million needed for the project. Olenik said the money has been raised over the last 18 months and HAWS received a substantial bump from two large donors.
Olenik said if all the funds are raised, she hopes that construction will begin in spring 2016. The facility expansion is expected to take about six to seven months.
The building will be expanded by about 4,800 square feet and about 1,140 square feet of its existing building will be remodeled. The parking lot will also be expanded with 22 stalls, curb, landscaping and a retaining wall. The extra parking space will help accommodate the four vehicles that are now used at the facility during rescues. Its current building accommodates only two interior parking spaces.
To learn more about the expansion and to donate see HAWS' website.