Redmond’s Brightside Animal Center will expand its hours of operation to Sundays from 10am to 5:30pm, starting on June 7.
The change in hours comes after a year of deliberation between staff members who say community members are more available and willing to adopt or pick up lost pets on weekends.
BAC Shelter Director Hannah Loftis says she believes the shelter has been operating from Tuesday through Saturday since its undertaking. The change will allow staff members to connect lost and adoptable pets to new homes while also giving some staff members more work hours.
“We want to limit the amount of time that animals have to spend in shelters. We want to make sure they either get back home quicker, or they get into their new homes as quickly as possible,” BAC Executive Director Kristen Davidson told the Source.
BAC will host a kickoff event on June 7 at the shelter to ring in the new hours, which Davidson says has staff feeling “thrilled.” Community members can mingle and meet adoptable furry friends while perusing vendors with pet-friendly items.
In addition to the expansion, BAC has been equipped with new insulation that helps the shelter stay warm and cool in more extreme weather. Staff members have also started a trap and release program that provides stray cat populations with spay and neuter procedures before releasing them.
In the coming months, community members seeking to make a change for animals in the shelter will be able to participate in an adventure day. BAC staff will connect responsible community members with an appropriate furry match. Thereafter, matches are permitted to participate in activities like hiking, walking or car rides. The program is likely to begin with a soft-launch, only available on weekdays at certain hours of the day. Hours are liable to change once staff understand their capabilities.
“I think they would be excited to know that we love them so much that we want to be able to help them find that forever home and be able to make sure that they get home in a timely manner and don’t have to be scared and spend unnecessary time in the shelter,” Loftis says when asked how she thinks the animals would respond if they knew about the expansion. “I think they would see it as more love that we have for them.”
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