Carbon animal shelter getting a makeover

Homeless dogs in Carbon County will have a brighter new year, thanks to kind hearts who have donated money that is being used to refurbish the Carbon County Animal Shelter.

The shelter, on Broad Mountain in Nesquehoning, is getting a makeover.

Alternative Concrete, of Drums, Luzerne County, has already begun work on the kennel floors.

“The company sanded down the cement floors, washed them, and will coat them with epoxy so they’re easy to clean and better for the dogs,” said Weatherly mayor and shelter Director Tom Connors.

All of the 32 old, rusty kennel gates will be replaced, and new lighting and ventilation systems will be installed.

While the work is being done, the 10 dogs that live in the kennels are being housed at St. Francis Animal Hospital in South Tamaqua.

“We miss them, but here we didn’t want them in the dust,” Connors said. “We go every day to walk them and spend time with them.”

They’ll be back within a week or so, he said.

The donations for the refurbishment project range from memorials and bequeathments.

“All this is possible through the generosity of the people who remembered us in their wills. One left $12,000, another left $98,000, and we just got a donation of $30,000,” Connors said.

“People are kind. People in the county are unbelievable. All our food and supplies are donated. People are just kind in the county, that’s for sure,” he said.

Connors is dedicated to the hapless canines who land at the shelter. There, they are warm, well-fed, and socialized.

He is thrilled that Samson, a 2-year-old pit bull, was just adopted.

“It’s all about not giving up on them,” he said. “It’s tough for them, being in a shelter.”

The refurbishment project “will make the shelter cleaner and brighter for them. It really needed it,” Connors said.

“We were blessed, and we certainly appreciate it.”