STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS BY CAROL WALLER AND KAREN BOSSICK

Jo-Anne Dixon has performed nearly 8,000 spay and neuters in an operating room that used to serve as a janitorial closet.

Needless to say, she's looking forward to the new surgical wing she'll be operating from when the new Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley is completed this coming December.

But she is also looking forward to the new leap that the new 30,000-square foot facility will allow Idaho's most progressive animal shelter to take in teaching other shelters how to be more humane.

Her goal: To rebrand the Gem State "No Kill Idaho" by 2025.

"Right now Idaho is ranked 47th in the nation in animal welfare--animal activists rate our state as one of the five worst," said Brooke Bonner, the shelter's associate director.  "We want to decrease by 100 percent the euthanasia of healthy, adoptable animals."

That vision and others are being touted during the Wag the Future tours that shelter representatives are offering for the public every Thursday evening. The gatherings are offered from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursdays at the Animal Shelter office at 130 Airport Circle just south of St. Luke’s Hailey Clinic.

Attendees will get to see the progress being made on the 20-acre animal campus via weekly drone flyovers and they will learn about the shelter's vision for the future. Though free, attendees are encouraged to reserve a space by calling 208-788-4351, extension 212, or by emailing  http://www.wagthefuture.org/join-tour/ so shelter representatives can arrange seating and refreshments.

The Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley saved 892 animals last year, spaying and neutering 720 in its 30-plus-year-old shelter that has survived fire and mud. It saved 382 from shelters that were in crisis due to flooding and other calamities.

With their expanded facility, staff members figure they can triple the number of adoptions in just three years and enable adoptions to happen more quickly. Already, the shelter has become a destination for people from across the country, just as Sun Valley became America's destination ski resort 82 years ago.

"Thirty-three percent of our animals are adopted to homes outside the valley. Some of those come here for that purpose, having adopted an animal from us previously or having heard about us by word of mouth—we’ve had Canadians come back to us multiple times," said Dixon, the shelter’s executive director and medical director. "So, we're benefitting the economy when they come because they stay in hotels and eat at restaurants."

Indeed, the Animal Shelter provides an economic impact of $4.4 million annually, thanks to the visitors it brings here, the living it provides its staff of 35 and more.

The money it puts into the economy is double what it asks in contributions to feed its $2.5 million annual budget, said Bonner.

The fundraising for the new shelter is heading into the home stretch with $14 million of $16 million raised. Donations of $5 are as welcome as donations of $500,000 as the shelter seeks to leave behind its 36-year-old facility held together by zip ties and duct tape.

There are still opportunities for donors to put their names on different aspects of the campus, including a Café Cat Room where two-legged humans can socialize with cats over a cup of coffee and a book, a  giant Cat Climbing Tree, Bark Avenue where dog kennels will be, a Catwalk of cat condos, cat sun rooms   and a splash park, which shelter employees expect to be full of children come summer.

Donors can also be honored by pavers and charms.

The new shelter will redefine what a shelter is as valley residents will be invited to all kinds of activities, including school field trips, which last year involved 993 students.

“It’ll be more than just a place where you adopt pets. It’s a happy hub—the happiest place you can imagine,” said Bonner.

The new facility will include a radiology room, laboratory and pharmacy, a cat recovery ward, a pocket pet nook for rabbits, guinea pigs and turtles, a Paws-itive Training and Temperaturement Test Room where staff can process new adoptable dogs and conduct temperament tests.

Training facilities will include areas of shelter from inclement weather, and a patio will provide a venue for the Dog Days of Summer Annual Benefit Dinner and Auction and events for other organizations.

The Education Barn will include a humane education classroom for school and youth groups, while the main floor will be able to seat up to 150 for workshops, training seminars and other public events. There’ll be a more private adoption area and a comfort room for those needing euthanasia.

The animal welfare campus is being built with durable materials which should endure for the next 30 years. And it includes drains and other features designed to reduce the spread of disease.

It’s designed in a way to reduce noise and stress among its residents. And it will utilize low-water landscaping, solar panels and geothermal heat, reducing its carbon footprint.

The new shelter will offer free weekly spay and neuter clinics for any Blaine County animal to keep the stray population down. Those adopting pets will get a free voucher for a pet visit to a local veterinarian, as well as post adoption support.

And it will continue operating its innovative Pets for Life program, in which a mobile clinic travels to rural communities like Shoshone where staff go door to door offering spays and neuters and other services.

 “They said that sometimes they feel like the stepchild of this community. So, they were so moved that this community cared about their community, that someone cared about their pets,” said Dixon.

Dixon also hopes to bring in representatives of other shelters for training on such things as how to  perform euthanasia humanely when an animal does have to be put down due to terminal illness. At least 8,000 dogs and cats are euthanized annually in Idaho, but the Twin Falls shelter recently reduced its euthanasia rate by 62 percent.

“It can be heartbreaking to have to euthanize an animal,” said Dixon. “To know you’re not in it alone can make a difference.”

The new shelter may also provide space for new kinds of programs.

For instance, Dixon said, there is a juvenile detention center in Washington State where young residents are assigned a dog to live with and train for eight weeks. The young handlers even interview people they adopt the dogs out to so they feel a sense of control in determining the animals’ future.

“In addition to adopting out pets, we’re always looking for dogs that might be good at sniffing out gas leaks and other tasks,” Dixon added.  “Not every animal is meant to be a traditional household pet. Those who are obsessed with going after balls, for instance, can be annoying, but they’re perfect for drug detection or bed bug detection. One of our former residents is even a conservation dog in Africa.”

For more information, visit www.WagtheFuture.org. Or, contact Tawni Baker, Capital Campaign Assistant, at tawni@animalshelterwrv.org or 208-788-4351, extension 208.