4 Long Island animal shelters to each receive $200,000 state grants for improvements

Since its inception in 1968, Kent Animal Shelter in Calverton has housed thousands of dogs awaiting their forever homes.

Through critical medical care and adoptions, their lives have changed for the better. But the cement-block kennels they once lived in have not.

Kent, which coordinates an average of 650 dog and cat adoptions each year, is one of four Long Island shelters set to receive $200,000 through the state’s Companion Animal Capital Fund to help improve facilities and enhance care, the governor’s office announced.

Pam Green, the shelter’s executive director, plans to use the funding to begin a $2.5 million overhaul of the deteriorating, 55-year-old facility.

“It will be a very updated, state-of-the-art building — completely opposite of what we have now,” Green said.

The upgraded Kent facility is to include a separate quarantine area for incoming animals and modern kennel with puppy rooms, a meet-and-greet area for prospective pet parents, quiet rooms for anxious dogs, a new bathing station and large outdoor enrichment area with agility equipment.

“It’s more welcoming to the public and certainly more beneficial to the animals as far as their comfort and health,” Green said.

Veterinarian and Kent board president Dr. Charles Timpone said the dedicated isolation area is crucial. “The animals we get in, a lot of them are not well. They have heartworm disease, dermatologic diseases,” he said. “We want to make sure that before these animals are mixed in with the general population, contagions are addressed.”

Since first proposing the renovations over a decade ago, Kent has faced backlash — and the threat of litigation — by the Long Island Pine Barrens Society due to its proximity to the ecologically sensitive area and location on the banks of the Peconic River.

Though earlier iterations called for a larger 10,000-square-foot building, the shelter now plans to demolish and rebuild two buildings within the existing footprint. An advanced wastewater system will also be installed to remove nitrogen before it pollutes the groundwater.

The shelter has obtained approvals from the state Department of Environmental Conservation and has an application pending before the Riverhead Planning Board.

Green hopes to break ground on the project this summer and said that during construction, the animals will temporarily move to the Bideawee facility in Westhampton.

Other Long Island grant recipients include Pioneers for Animal Welfare Society in Hicksville and the towns of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead, which were each awarded $200,000.

In North Hempstead, the funds will be used to replace an outdated HVAC system at its shelter.

“The grant will help ensure a healthier and more comfortable environment for our furry residents while they await their forever homes,” said town spokesperson Gordon Tepper, adding that the town has pledged to match the grant funding. The town’s Department of Public Works has estimated the overall cost will be approximately $500,000.

Statewide, 21 animal shelters and humane societies received $7.6 million through the first-in-the-nation program to help offset costs associated with capital improvements to animal shelters and humane societies.