OLEAN, NY - For years, the Cattaraugus County SPCA has made the most of every donation. Now, thanks to hard work and a grant from the state, the animals and their care-givers can breathe a lot easier - literally.
Jenn Casselman started as a volunteer at the SPCA in Cattaraugus County close to ten years ago. Today, as shelter manager, she knows firsthand the challenges of running this private, non-profit shelter just outside Olean.
"When you have stagnant air just sitting in a room, and one dog or one cat gets sick...they all get sick," she says.
It was those conditions in the thirty-year-old building that prompted the shelter's Board of Directors to look for some help.
"Being the only humane society covering 1,300 miles of territory to bring services to the community in terms of animals that are miss-treated, crudity situations or neglect situations...they do a tremendous amount here with very little resources, financial and otherwise."
In a first-of-its-kind, New York State has set aside $5 million in a Companion Animal Capital Fund, and the SPCA in Cattaraugus County was awarded close to $165,000 for improvements.
"In applying for this grant, this money is going to help us put in a state-of-the-art gas fired, HVAC ventilation system, replace some of the suspended ceilings, and get some really nice lighting, some ambient lighting, which I think will improve the lives of the animals," says Casselman.
And for her, the hard working staff, and all the countless volunteers, these improvements for the animals in their care can't come soon enough.