Monday began a new era for the Emporia Animal Shelter as Prairie Paws officially took over operations.
Friday, Prairie Paws leadership and staff joined members of the Emporia community, shelter supporters and the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce to make the new era official with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the shelter at 1216 Hatcher. Long known simply as the Emporia Animal Shelter, the facility will now be known as the Emporia Prairie Paws Animal Shelter.
Upon seeing the turnout for Friday’s ceremony, Executive Director Vanessa Cowie stated it was a perfect way to cap off an exciting yet hectic week.
Since being awarded the operations contract for the shelter earlier this year, Cowie and her staff have been busy implementing several changes including adjusted hours of 9 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday. Additionally, Prairie Paws has been busy connecting with the local community to grow familiarity and name recognition locally, something Cowie says is vital to meeting one of their most crucial goals, increased pet adoptions.
Speaking of which, Cowie says there have already been several adoptions over the past week, however, there has also been a sizeable number of new intakes in the same time frame. The steady flow of intakes came as staff were in the middle of training and familiarizing themselves with the new location which led to a “balancing act of learning opportunities” throughout the week according to Shelter Director Bailey Estes.
Estes adds the entire Prairie Paws network, which includes shelters in Ottawa and Manhattan, was a tremendous help to the Emporia shelter over the past week.
The first week of work is not over just yet for Prairie Paws as the Emporia shelter is hosting a free microchip and vaccine event from 11 am to 1 pm. For more information on upcoming events or Prairie Paws in general, visit Prairie Paws Animal Shelter – Emporia KS on Facebook.
