Homeless pets move into new Mansfield animal shelter

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

Homeless dogs, cats and bunnies moved into their new digs in Mansfield this week, and the city invited the whole town to celebrate Saturday morning.

Approximately 250 showed up for the ribbon cutting to officially open the new Mansfield Animal Care & Control facility at 612 S. Wisteria St., and more roamed through throughout the afternoon, checking out the new lobby, operation room, indoor/outdoor kennels, three cat rooms and the wild thing room (which currently hosts a pair of bunnies – in separate cages).

“I’m very proud of our city for having a facility like this,” said city council member Jim Vaszauskas, who stepped in for Mayor Michael Evan who was called away to a funeral.

The 25,000-square-foot building is a huge improvement over the 10,000-square-foot facility at 407 Industrial Boulevard that had been using since 1996. The new operation, which cost $25,580,000, can hold 130 dogs and 135 cats, compared to the 66 dogs and 36 cats the old building could handle.

“It’s like a dream come true,” said Veronica Munoz, animal care & control manager, whose staff moved the animals into the new building Friday. “All the hard work we have done, all the new programs we will have.

“The future is so bright,” she said. “You’d be surprised what we’re going to come up with. We’re home.”

Before the animal shelter ribbon-cutting, the city unveiled a 16-foot-tall metal sculpture of a dog and cat in front of the building. Paw in Paw is the first large-scale installation under the Mansfield Public Art Program selected by the Mansfield Public Art Advisory Committee and created by artist Vito Di Bari. The sculpture cost $80,000, half paid for with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and half from the Mansfield Commission for the Arts.

“Today marks a new beginning for animal services in Mansfield,” said Nicolette Ricciuti, director of regulatory compliance.