Parma Animal Shelter gets new kennels with some help from friends of the animals
Community comes together to raise money, then puts them up when the contractor doesn’t
PARMA, Ohio (WOIO) - Friends of Parma Animal Shelter raised almost $40,000 for 12 new kennels, but then had to put them up when the contractor didn’t.
“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster, but we’re here now, we made it,” said Kimmie DiBenedetto, Vice President of Parma Animal Shelter.
The new kennels sat unbuilt until volunteers stepped in to put them up, and then cared for the dogs for the month it took to build them.
“We’ve had people step up, they brought in crates, they put dogs in fosters,” remembered DiBenedetto.
The old kennels at the facility located at 6260 State Road in Parma were primitive and almost three decades old.
“Our old kennels were made out of fencing with them being in for twenty-nine years, but now we have these nice fencing that is made for dog kennels not fencing that is not for dog kennels,” explained DiBenedetto.
Smaller doors for food to be able to feed the dogs without opening the main kennel door and not made of the abrasive fencing that injured the animals.
New kennels are safer, cleaner, and better for the animals and have been in place for two weeks now. But there’s still plenty more to do in twenty-twenty-six, according to DiBenedetto.
“Some of our cages for the cats. Some of them are starting to get a little bit older, so we do want to do some of the repairs of replacing them down the line, too.”
Parma Animal Shelter has as many as a dozen dogs at a time -- strays, abandoneds, and animals looking for forever homes -- and as many as four dozen cats, needing shelter anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Shelters throughout the area are often at capacity. But Parma is always looking ahead.
“Who knows what the future might hold?” asks DiBenedetto. “I think if we all had our choice, they would be in a big shelter down the road but for right now, we just want to focus on what we have and making it the best that we can.”
Parma Animal Shelter has a couple of fundraisers coming up, a bake sale this Sunday at Marginal Hall (6637 Ridge Road) from 10 to 2 and Claus for the Paws, Pictures with Santa on December 3rd from 6 to 8:00 p.m. at Slim and Chubby’s, 12492 Prospect Road in Strongsville.
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