Improvements at Flagler Humane Society are for the dogs, and the cats

Newly renovated and expanded services will allow animals to be more relaxed, and for people to have a place to interact.

By Jacque Estes
| 8:35 p.m. January 17, 2017

Photos courtesy of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce

Rosealee, 34092355, is a 3-year-old female domestic short hair cat. Courtesy photos Flagler Humane Society

Titan, 28532135, is a 6-year-old male terrier/boxer mix.

Palm Coast Observer
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A ribbon cutting ceremony at the Flagler Humane society officially opened new cat rooms and two “real life rooms” in the dog kennels.

A lot of community involvement went into both projects.

“We got a PetCo Foundation grant for $15,000,” FHS Director Amy Carotenuto said. “The cat room needed new cages in the two stray rooms.”

The “stray rooms” are where the cats are kept after arriving at the shelter.

“The old cages were getting beaten up,” Carotenuto said. “The new cages are larger and more comfortable, and will help the stressed-out cats to relax.”

The public doesn’t generally see the stray room area, and unless they were at the ribbon cutting, will never see the improvements designed and built by Masterpiece Cabinets, but that doesn’t bother Carotento.

“We didn’t do this for the public. We did this for the stray kitties,” she said. “Basically we have the same number of cages (storage shelves were removed to make this happen), but we now have double wide cages so that the cats that come in together can stay together. We also went vertical, and added shelves inside the cages so they have more headroom.”

The two glassed in rooms in the dog kennel area are now what Carotenuto has always envisioned they should look like. They are called the “Real Life Rooms” decorated to look like a living room.

“Thanks to our friends at Palm Coast and The Beaches Real Estate, the rooms, that have sat ugly and empty since the building was built in 2004, now look like living rooms. Patty and the group at Palm Coast and The Beaches Real Estate took the project and ran with it,” Carotenuto said.

Carotenuto said the Real Life Rooms have multiple uses now, including allowing a well-behaved dog to live there instead of a cage, and for prospective adopters to have some time to get acquainted with the dog they are considering adopting, in a home environment.