A History of Our Building Campaign

A Long and Winding Road

March 5, 2026

A Long and Winding Road – to the New McDonough County Animal Shelter With All Its Bumps and Curves (A Condensed Version) Where the Road Began . . . In 2017 the County and HSMC each received a directed estate bequest ($59,378 each; total of $118,755) from Richard Yeast of St. Charles MO. This…

Past Fundraisers and Initiatives

Vankan Match Results

$10,000 match from Gloria and Edwin Vankan in Honor of Ernest and Helen Caldwell (Gloria Caldwell Vankan’s parents from Macomb) Spring through Labor Day 2025: over $63,000

$10,000 match from Gloria and Edwin Vankan in Memory of Sparky and to Celebrate All Animals Adopted from the McDonough County Animal Shelter 12/15/25-2/28/26: over $59,000

Double the Money Match

$10,000 match from Patti and Allen Nemec, 6/1/23–8/1/23: $25,396

$10,000 match from Bob and Donna Quesal, Spring 2021: $54,000+

The Suzie Q, Jesse, and Maggie May Tribute Challenge

Other Fundraisers

The Wine Sellers Play It Forward September event (2021-2025) raising on average $5,000/per event
Dr. Karen Blakeley’s Have a Heart, Build a Dream Campaign: over $30,000 and ongoing

Casino Night

2023: $40,000
2024: $60,000
2025: $30,000

WHY DO WE NEED A NEW SHELTER? Let's take a tour!'

laudryCS — Current laundry situation at the McDonough County Animal Shelter

Where to begin? Let's start with LAUNDRY!!! Who doesn't love laundry?! The left is our current laundry area. Nestled between a run, the bathroom, and some duct work is our laundry area. Yikes! The new shelter plans have an actual laundry room!!

(Full disclosure... we're going to show you non-enhanced REAL pictures of the current shelter. But then we are going to show you AI generated concepts that fit our goals. We need donations to move from what we have to what we want.)

laundry AI — What we hope to see when we build our new shelter.

CATS, CATS, CATS! The garage at the current shelter has become a cluttered space that has to serve multiple functions. (The garage has been taken over by cat housing, storage, the vet/treatment area, and the bath tub.) We take in so many cats (about 300 a year) that we've had to take over the garage. The new building plans have actual cat rooms, including a community cat room, and separate cat isolation areas.

Speaking of cat isolation, let's get this out of the way. SNOT! Cat respiratory illness is very common for many reasons (sick, non-vaccinated cats coming into the shelter, asymptomatic carrier cats, stress, etc.). These illnesses are airborne and easily spread. The same thing happens in many species--think about sending your kid to school after Christmas break and the booger fest that results a week later. With recent hoarding cases in addition to our normal intake we have NO ROOM FOR ISOLATING SICK CATS OR DOGS! This is one of many reasons it is so so so important to move forward with our new shelter.

Next stop on the tour---it's dog time! The largest area of our current building is the DOG KENNEL. They are dark, damp, and dated.

The video and picture on the right are our current kennels. They have seen a lot of dogs over the years. (We average about 200 dogs per year.) The peeling paint, peeling floors, and chain link doors need to go. The new plans have runs of various sizes to accommodate the littlest pups and the largest dogs in town, are made of modern materials that are easier to clean, and have an improved drainage system. If you've been in the current shelter you understand the need for these improvements. It's dark and stinky in there. Upgrading the kennels and drainage will make a world of difference! The picture below the video is our plan for the new shelter.

Our current shelter only has OUTDOOR ACCESS for 1/4 of the runs in the kennel. Thus 3/4 of the dogs are stuck in their pen all day unless a fabulous volunteer takes them for a walk. On the left is a picture of the drop door access to outside. They don't all function, the walls are dry rotting, the fixes that have been attempted are sharp and rusting. In the winter this is a major source of heat loss. The new shelter plans have outdoor access for all of the runs and will be constructed with modern, energy efficient and safe materials.

Outdoor access for all our dogs is not only better for the dogs, it keeps the indoor runs cleaner. Cleaner indoor runs means a cleaner and healthier building overall. A facility that is easier to clean allows staff to focus on other duties.

FEELING HUNGRY?

On the left is one of the spaces we have to get food and water ready for all of our animals and to clean the bowls! Unfortunately it is also where we scrub litter boxes...and wash our hands...and clean other things... EWWWW! So, the new shelter plans actually have a separate FOOD PREP ROOM!

Next stop on the tour... the DROP OFF KENNELS. On the left is the current situation. The after hours/emergency drop off pens are not attached to the building. We've had dogs dumped in them that were so scared we could not get them out for a few days. The new plans have pens that are attached to the building and will at least allow for the dogs to go inside.

Moving on with our tour...on the top is one of two enclosed OUTDOOR PLAY AREAS for the dogs at the shelter. Not bad! It is one of the newest things the shelter has--and one of the things we hate to give up if we end up at a different location. However, we have big dreams and would love to have a bigger, better exercise area for the dogs we care for. In fact, one of the plans has TWO grassy exercise areas!!

Imagine a place that isn't just pea gravel and some wooden agility platforms. Imagine a green space that's beautiful and clean. These pens aren't just to exercise shelter dogs. They can serve as a secondary meet and greet area for potential adoptions.

Last stop...FRONT OF HOUSE

On the left is the current shelter space that serves as the office, the adoption area, the drop off area, the reception area, and the meet and greet space. So many things happen here you can barely get in the door. The floor plan for the new shelter offer separate spaces for reception and offices.

When you come to potentially adopt and want to spend a little time with the pet you are considering you need to either go out side, crawl around in the pen or in the aisle of the kennel, or squeeze in the floor space in the office. Obviously, this is not ideal to be able to interact with the animals. Thus, the new shelter plans have an actual MEET AND GREET ROOM.

The front office currently holds three desks for four employees. We love our animal control and think they deserve a more efficient space. They take such good care of the animals imagine how much more they could do with a bigger office and separate reception.

NEW ADDITION

No before picture for this one because the current shelter doesn't have anything even close to this--A MULTI-PURPOSE ROOM.

The animal shelter is for the community. So what better way is there to make sure we have space to welcome and serve the community? We envision this space for things like staff meetings, Humane Society meetings, volunteer training, seminars (did you know we did a dog care seminar last October?), fund raising events and more.

Building Campaign