Crown Point plans to create nonprofit animal shelter

Crown Point doesn’t have a place to house its stray and unwanted dogs and cats, but some animal lovers are determined to see one in the city soon.

The new animal care facility will not be called a humane society or animal shelter, but will be called “New Leash for Life.”

Donna Burrell Pace recently founded New Leash on Life, a 501(c)3 corporation, with plans to build a pet facility in Crown Point that meets the high standards of the ASPCA, the Humane Society of the United States and Best Friends. Animal society. Pace has been in contact with all three organizations and visited several animal shelters across the country to come back with the best ideas possible.

Recently returning from a four-day Humane Society conference in San Antonio, Texas, she is now moving forward with a fundraising campaign, filled with charity events and moving toward an accelerated schedule that would allow for the inauguration work on the installation this fall. It also seeks to leverage corporate sponsorships and grant programs to fund construction and long-term operations.

Pace envisions a 14,000- to 15,000-square-foot structure, including a medical area for low-cost sterilization services. It would also feature a port of exit for delivery of animals outside of normal hours.

The lack of an animal shelter in Crown Point is a critical issue for residents and animals alike, as the city has no alternative but to turn them over to Lake County Animal Control – provided there is the place to accommodate them. Animals outside municipal jurisdictions have priority. on space, Pace said, so it’s possible a dog or cat found in Crown Point could be left on the street.

“Crown Point has a Facebook page of neighbors helping those trying to find homes for stray and lost animals,” she said. “New Leash on Life will also give us a place to take a pet if it is lost and can hopefully be returned to its owner.”

Pace noted that once New Leash on Life opens, Crown Point could rent space by accepting animals from neighboring communities that also use county services, like Lowell and Cedar Lake.

Supporting the pet store’s efforts, Crown Point Police Chief Ryan Patrick said he recently joined Pace on visits to shelters in Hamilton and Brown country and came away impressed through the success of their operation as non-profit organizations supported by donations and fundraising.

He noted that the city’s Department of General Services handles 18 to 25 stray animal calls per year.

“We will ask residents that if you manage to keep the animal, we will try to find the owner, and when we post it on social media, there is a good chance that we will eventually find the owner,” he said. -he declares.

Patrick hopes a parcel of land the city owns next to the dog park on Center Ross Road, across from Legacy Fields, will be large enough for the facility and that the city will then donate it. A land use planning study is underway and they will soon know to what extent this solution is feasible.

Whether the city would support the multimillion-dollar project beyond a land donation has not yet been the subject of public debate.

Crown Point Mayor Pete Land expressed support for the project.

“This project will bring enormous benefit to our city and our residents,” he said. “This is a desperately needed resource, and we are grateful to partner with the Pace family to make it a reality.”

Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.