New Town Of Babylon Animal Shelter Sees More Visitors, Adoptions

Amityville, NY —Over a year after the opening of the brand new Town of Babylon shelter, the director of the shelter Chris Elton reports that the new facility has contributed to increased visitors, adoptions and quality of care for the town's rescued animals. A brand new building at 80 New Highway in Amityville replaced the previous, antiquated shelter that was constructed in the mid 1980s and that wasn't equipped to deal with the modern demands of a shelter designed for adoptions and long-term housing, rather than euthenasia.

Elton told Patch that the new facility has encouraged increased visitation by the public, leading to "a marked increase" in adoptions. "There is more interest overall," he said. "Usually shelters are scary, loud places." Because the Babylon shelter was designed with latest best practices in mind, like reducing the number of dogs in each kennel, and having dogs not face each other, there is less stress on the animals and less barking.

Elton estimates the shelter took in approximately 600 dogs and 600 cats last year, and although he doesn't use the term "no-kill," the shelter could qualify for that designation from their high save rates of animals.

The new building, financed from Babylon town taxes, is a radical improvement over the previous facility, Elton reports. "The building is working fantastically. It's a thousand percent better than the old building which was designed for a time before mass adoptions and medical care." The new facility incorporates soundproofing to reduce stress on the animals. The cats have their own area where "they don't even know dogs are here."

Visitors to the facility can view adoptable animals from behind one-way glass. Numerous outdoor areas and a walking path were built so dogs can be taken on walks. Some animals have now been at the shelter for years, including the shelter's official mascot named Trigger.

The shelter has recently expanded their hours on Thursdays until 6 p.m. and Elton says Saturday mornings see a lot of visitors. School and community groups can come for tours and volunteers and donations are always welcome. An upcoming volunteer orientation will be held on February 5th at 6:30 p.m.