Midcoast Humane is hosting a summer event this Saturday in an effort to raise funds for a new facility and support animal welfare causes.
The Dog Days of Summer will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 28 at 190 Pleasant St. in Brunswick and will include raffles, face painting, a photo booth, food and grooming demonstrations.
Midcoast Humane is an animal shelter and adoption agency with in Brunswick and Edgecomb. In 2020, the organization announced it would expand to a new location on Industrial Parkway in Brunswick.
While there is no specific fundraising goal, proceeds from The Dog Days of Summer will help pay for renovations at that facility, which Midcoast Humane hopes to finish by the first quarter of 2022.
According to Midcoast Humane Interim Director of Shelter Operations Dante Granatiero, the funds will help pay for facility needs including dog kennels and cat rooms, painting, dog yards and walking trails.
“It will really help to just bring the project in for the home stretch,” Granatiero said. “This building really represents what the animals need and what the animals deserve in the eyes of a progressive animal welfare model, but it’s also going to be a community resource.”
According to Grantiero, the state-of-the-art Industrial Parkway facility will go beyond certain ASPCA standards to offer improved sanitation and minimize fear and stress in animals.
Midcoast Humane officials plan to convert a former call center at 5 Industrial Parkway into a new shelter and office space. Hannah LaClaire / The Times Record
In August 2020, The Times Record reported that the $2.2 million, 24,000-square-foot facility covers about 4,000 more square feet than the current location including a larger play yard and agility yard.
Brunswick resident and Midcoast Humane volunteer Jasmin Satchwell played a large role in coordinating The Dog Days of Summer.
“It’s important for us to have a new building, it helps the animal too, they have a better home then,” Satchwell said.
Ellis, a 3-year-old mastiff, is a gentle giant hoping to find his forever home at Midcoast Humane. Kathleen O’Brien / The Times Record
Satchwell said she learned to love animals after adopting a 15-year-old cat named Morris from her neighbor and caring for him for nine months before he died.
The event will also include representatives from other animal welfare groups, including the Maine chapter of Love on a Leash. Love on a Leash is a national group centered around pet therapy.
Between Feb. 1 and Aug. 24 2021, 840 animals were adopted from Midcoast Humane. Data including January was not available Tuesday.
In 2020, 1,466 animals were adopted through Midcoast Humane, according a report in March by The Times Record. In 2019, 2,488 were adopted.
Admission for the event is free and open to the public. Masks are encouraged.
For more information, visit midcoasthumane.org.
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