Lake County Animal Shelter moves into new building

TAVARES, Fla. - The Lake County Animal Shelter is finally in its new, nearly 25,000 square foot building, which is 70 percent bigger than its old one.

"The old shelter was very old, cluttered, not very friendly," Lake County Animal Shelter Supervisor Melanie Brown said.

The building opened to the public last week, it was originally supposed to be finished during the fall.

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"We did have a couple months delay," Whitney Boylston, Director of the Office of Animal Services for Lake County, said. "Of course there was a pandemic and construction and things like that."

It can hold 165 dogs and more than 100 hundred cats. One of the biggest differences is that there is more outdoor space for dogs, like areas where they can have recess and can meet potential owners. The dogs also have space to go outside while they are in their kennels.

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"The leading causes of illness in animal shelters are overcrowding and stress and if we’re able to remove those obstacles from our pets," Boylston said. "They’re going to have experience, a shorter length of stay and we’ll be able to move them into their homes more quickly."

The goal is to make the shelter feel more inviting for people looking to adopt, which seems to be working. The shelter placed about 90 pets in the past couple of days.