'Long overdue' renovations to Westside Animal Shelter completed

May 24—Wood chips flew as Lizzy, a rust-colored canine at the Westside Animal Shelter, kicked her back paws in the newly renovated yard.

Lizzy seemed to enjoy the change, which doubled the facility's outdoor play space for dogs — there are 250 housed at the Westside shelter, right now.

"There's more space," volunteer Karen Miller said. "They can roam a little bit ... let out their energy."

The $4.5 million renovation, which included updated landscaping, privacy panels for the kennels, more shade structures and a more colorful interior, is the first piece of several planned improvements to the shelter.

The biggest investment, said Animal Welfare Director Carolyn Ortega, was switching the facility from a swamp cooler to central air and cooling.

"We've done a lot, and it was long overdue," Ortega said.

The first phase was financed through state and city dollars, general obligation bonds, capital funding and donations.

Up next is additional landscaping, replacing doors and the trough drain covers in the kennel buildings. Ortega said she'd also like to see a new clinic building — the one currently at the property was built as a temporary clinic in 2009.

The goal is to make the facility more inviting, Ortega said, and keep people at the shelter longer. Many people get overwhelmed with the number of animals in need, she added.

Ortega and Miller said volunteers are able to take the dogs out more. That gives them the chance to get to know the dogs better, train them to be more "adoptable," and be better equipped to match pets with potential adopters.

Ortega also said it's good for volunteers and staff to see investment in the facility.

"I have seen the energy change," Ortega said. "I've seen the morale change."

Miller has been volunteering at the Westside Animal Shelter for more than 20 years, since before there were dog runs and yards. But the expansion has been "wonderful," Miller said, and has allowed for bigger dogs to be taken out.

"As a volunteer, when we take them out, we look at things that are unique to this dog," Miller said. "Behaviors like sitting, can they shake, so people are aware of what they can do. A lot of these dogs are quite talented."

Miller saw one of her "project dogs," an Australian shepherd and border collie mix, get adopted Thursday. He was shy and scared when he first got to the shelter, but Miller worked with him and was happy to see him go to a new home, bittersweet as it was.

"You can't take out these dogs and not love them," Miller said.