Michigan Animal Rescue League unveils new shelter three times larger in Pontiac

PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - What's old is new again in Pontiac providing a bright spot in the middle of the pandemic at The Michigan Animal Rescue League. 

Animals that were left with nowhere to go, are getting VIP treatment as they prepare to head into a loving home. 

"Our dogs have 24-hour indoor, outdoor access, cat rooms have tons of perching and climbing capabilities and natural light just pouring in, which is beautiful and cool for them," said Magee Humes. "We have play yards in extra space for enrichment activities so our dogs and cats are benefiting daily from training and games and puzzles, aromatherapy and classical music, and a ball pit. We have a really awesome team of staff and volunteers that are here every day just making it happen. "

Magee Humes, Michigan Animal Rescue League

It is happening because of a makeover. The original shelter was built in 1953.  It was expanded to 5,000 square feet and was bursting at the seams.

"It did a great job and we saved a ton of animals and did great work there. but we were finally in a position where we could embark on this next step for our organization," Humes said. "And we went from 5,000 to 15,000 square feet and every square inch is just laser-focused on helping animals and being the right type of shelter for our community."

More room means they can help twice as many animals as before.  It was a year and a half in the making. A little anti-climactic.  After all, this debut with all of the dogs and cats should have been a big celebration.

"We just have not been able to debut this wonderful facility to the public the way we would like to," she said. "We have had to cancel some of the programs. Our focus right now is really on serving the animals and the community that needs us. We have not closed our doors once during the pandemic. The needs of the animals never went away so neither did the Michigan Animal Rescue League."

And remember, what you heard about pent up demand for these guys and gals-well, that's slowed down. 

"There was definitely across the nation a spike in households that were looking to foster and adopt," she said. "Most of that has tapered off at this point. There is still in need. There is still a lot of people that need to surrender, a lot of strays coming in so, we do a really good job of once we get the animals in, we get them ready for adoption unfortunately there's a lot of members of the community that are waiting to adopt."

TO LEARN MORE: Go to https://marleague.org/