by Tyler Greene
Monday, September 19th 2022

ABILENE, Texas — Abilene City Council could approve the funding for the design and engineering phase of the project at their upcoming meeting. This is the next step towards having the new animal shelter become a reality.

The design and engineering phase is estimated to cost about $690,000 and is expected to take a few months to complete.

This is all part of the 4-million-dollar investment the city will make to help with the project.

All Kind Animal Initiative, a non-profit organization, is covering the majority of the funding with fundraising and Tim Yandell, who is in charge of the collection efforts, gave us an update how it’s going,

“We’ve approached local foundations, the community foundation and now we’re just starting at a point we’re asking individuals. I’ve been fundraising for 35 years and from my standpoint this is really going well. We’re really pleased where we are right now.”

Yandell said they need to raise $9.5 million but their personal goal is $10 million so they can add an additional building.

The current animal shelter in Abilene is old and overcrowded and Shelby Lawrence, who volunteers at All Kind and the shelter, explains how this new project is going to help all of Abilene.

“I’ve been a long time volunteer at the shelter, over 5 years now and I think anyone that goes out there just knows that it’s not up to par anymore. That’s not what we want to do, it’s not a holding facility. We want to be able to take care of these animals and make sure they’re getting the best medical care, So we’ll have a happier team and animals overall, but I think the community can be proud of this facility.”