Kent Animal Shelter renovations will expand space for dogs

Piece by piece, the concrete kennel at Kent Animal Shelter in Calverton is coming apart. The crash of an excavator can be heard from Pam Green's office, but Green, the executive director, is happy to finally hear it.

The demolition site will soon be a modern accommodation, a decade in the making, for dogs awaiting adoption at the nonprofit founded in 1968.

Kent is building a new $4.3 million kennel to replace the original facility that officials said was antiquated and lacked space for rescued animals. Green said the project will take six to eight months and maximize space within the existing footprint.

“It’ll be an inviting place for potential adopters to meet these animals, and 1,000% better for the dogs, too,” Green said. “It gives us more opportunity to rescue more animals and place more in their forever homes.”

The 3,000-square-foot building will include 32 kennels, up from 25; meet-and-greet areas; puppy rooms; and a play area with agility equipment. The kennel will be climate-controlled and include sound walls to dim the noise of barking dogs.

An old cottage also was demolished and will be replaced with a quarantine facility for incoming dogs, a first for the shelter.

There, new animals can be screened for tick-borne diseases and heartworm disease, and receive vaccinations before joining the population.

Another new feature will be designated rooms for meeting prospective pets — something the old facility lacked.

“It’ll be a little easier,” kennel worker Judy Prianti said. On cold or rainy days, meetings were held in offices or hallways. “That’s hard, because then all the other dogs are going nuts,” she said. 

Kent has tried to update the facility for more than a decade, first attempting to build a larger adoption center on the River Road property. Expansion plans drew criticism from the Long Island Pine Barrens Society because the site is in an ecologically sensitive area on the Peconic River.

Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, said Friday those plans at the time were “excessive” but did not comment on the current project.

The project got approval from the Riverhead Planning Board last September.

Construction is funded with a $200,000 state grant and private donations. On May 24, Assemb. Jodi Giglio (R-Riverhead) presented Kent with a $75,000 state grant for a nitrogen-reducing sanitary system to stop pollution. The Suffolk County Legislature on Tuesday approved a $75,000 grant for the project.

While the new shelter is built, Kent’s dogs will be temporarily relocated to Bideawee in Westhampton and are still eligible for adoption, Green said. The cat shelter remains open in Calverton, and both are open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.