Event marks completion of County’s new animal care facility
PIMA COUNTY – In 2014, Pima County voters approved Proposition 415 to upgrade Pima Animal Care Center’s facility. On Sunday, Dec. 2, officials will unveil the improvements those tax dollars made possible at a community-wide completion celebration, Party with the Pets, featuring entertainment for all ages, music, food trucks, tours of PACC’s new facility, a dedication ceremony, pet adoptions, and an opportunity to learn more about shelter programs and services.
The free, family-friendly event will take place at Pima Animal Care Center, 4000 N. Silverbell Road, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities include behind-the-scenes tours of PACC’s non-public areas, including the veterinary clinic and surgical suite; hands-on activities to benefit PACC pets, such as making treats and enrichment toys; a petting zoo featuring PACC pups and kittens; and an opportunity for kids and adults to read to cats.
In addition to showcasing the facility, Party with the Pets aims to celebrate PACC’s role in saving the community’s homeless pets. Learn more about PACC programs, such as Cat Clicker Training, which teaches cats how to perform tricks and in turn become more adoptable, and Canine Fun Camp and Playgroup, which allows dogs to unwind in a natural setting and show their true personality.
Attendees also can answer some PACC trivia for a chance to win prizes and meet several PACC alumni saved thanks to PACC and its non-profit partner, the Friends of PACC.
Several County departments also will be onsite doing fun demonstrations. Tour the Pima County Public Library Bookmobile to get a free book, see the Pima County Department of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation’s Urban Wildlife Exhibit and visit with the Sheriff Department’s Crisis Canines.
A dedication ceremony will take place from noon to 1 p.m. to commemorate the completion of the facility and thank the community for its investment.
PACC is the only open-admission shelter that never turns away a pet in need. Every year the facility takes in about 17,000 pets and saves about 90 percent of them thanks to adopters, fosters and rescue partners who help place them into loving new homes.
Before voters approved Proposition 415, the shelter operated from a 60-year-old facility built when PACC served as the Rabies Control “pound.” Now, thanks to the $22 million in improvements, PACC operates from a modern care animal facility equipped to save lives.
The new building includes a state-of-the-art veterinary clinic for routine and emergency care, indoor/outdoor dog housing, group cat housing, isolation spaces for optimized disease control, 11 play yards, a community meeting room and more. In addition, all animal housing areas are equipped with natural lighting and fresh air flow, well-designed plumbing and cleaning systems and separation of species from arrival to adoption.
For more completion celebration details, visit the Party with the Pets webpage and like the Facebook event. To learn more about PACC’s new facility and programs, visit pima.gov/animalcare.