Here's how you can help some homeless animals in the Blue Water Area

CLYDE TWP. — The Blue Water Humane Society needs to raise between $150,000 and $200,000 to complete a building expansion project.

Work for the project started last summer and so far, new walls have been erected inside the building. Blue Water Humane Society Director Katie Phelan said the shelter has a long waiting list for animals coming through its doors, so more space is needed. She said the shelter is focusing on not only gaining more space, but also improving the space it already has for the animals housed there.

"There are a lot of homeless animals in this community, and we need space for them," she said. "We'll be adding to our building and redoing some areas as well."

Phelan said the estimated cost of the project is between $250,000 and $300,000. She said Blue Water Humane Society has money saved for the expansion, but that the shelter also needs donations to cover the remaining cost.

People can send donations to the shelter's address. Donations will go into a separate account purely for the project.

Blue Water Humane Society is located at 6266 Lapeer Road in Clyde Township.

Phelan said the timeline is dependent on the builder and available material, so the end date is yet to be determined. She said she hopes it gets done sooner rather than later.

The expansion will allow the shelter to add to its dog and cat areas, while also moving those spaces further apart from each other to reduce stress for the animals. The shelter will increase its dog kennel runs to 20 runs, add a new kitten nursery, add storage space, gain a new free-range kitten room and gain a better caging system in its cat isolation ward.

"The important thing for me was to have more separation between the dogs and cats," Phelan said. "Again, we're not only creating new space, but improving what we already have."

Additionally, the expansion project will allow for a new "meet and greet" room where prospective owners can privately meet with potential pets in a comfortable, stress-free environment.

The shelter will also be adding a washer, dryer and fridge specifically for the dog spaces.

Phelan said Blue Water Humane Society is hoping to reuse as many things already at the shelter as possible, such as fences and cages.

Contact McKenna Golat at [email protected].

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This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Blue Water Humane Society taking donations for expansion project