Humane Society breaks ground on new chapter

Established in 1999, the Floyd County Humane Society (FCHS) is one step closer to having a proper facility that the public can visit when looking for a new family member.

Members of the FCHS Board of Directors, volunteers, and others gathered at the site off of Franklin Pike on Monday, April 13, for the groundbreaking ceremony. The new facility is planned to be a place where animals can start a new chapter.

Mary Weeks, FCHS president, said the new building was purposefully designed to not replicate areas that already exist in the current brick structure. She noted that the house, which is the result of a gift to the organization from the estate of Ted and Shirley Birkeland, will continue to serve as the administrative and storage hub for FCHS while the new structure will feature built-in kennels, a small area for the public to visit, meet-and-greet rooms, feeding and laundry rooms, and separate wings for dogs and cats.

Weeks noted that if all goes according to plan, the new building will be up and running by March 2027. “We hope to do a ribbon cutting by March of next year,” she said.

Longtime FCHS volunteer Sue Anne Boothe said that as a regular dog handler since 2018, she's excited for what the new facility will offer. “It'll be great. [The brick house] has been a good facility — it's been great, but you know it'll definitely be better with [the addition of the new building]. It's really designed to be a humane shelter.”

Another volunteer, Sandra Baker, works mainly with the feline charges of FCHS and handles a lot of the record keeping, moving from hands-on work with the cats to utilizing her past experience working with students at Radford University. “Previously I worked with the shelter cats, going in and feeding and cleaning,” she explained. “But as we got more and more volunteers and are seeing the need for other things at the shelter, I sort of moved more into doing some more administrative things.”

Omnibuild, which was founded by Matt Sebas in 2011, will be taking on the construction of the new building. Sebas said the project perfectly reflects the company’s community-oriented approach to jobs it takes on. Sebas said Omnibuild employs more than 50 people across the county. “We consider ourselves a community-based company,” Sebas explained. “We love working with the community and seeing everybody be a part of it. I mean, that's why we're in Floyd — because we love it.”

President Weeks noted that there are still spaces available for community members or organizations to sponsor or dedicate to a loved one's memory. Those interested in sponsoring an area of the new facility should reach out to FCHS volunteers, Weeks said, by calling (540) 745-7207 (leave a message if prompted) or emailing info@floydhumanesociety.org. FCHS is a volunteer-run organization. Assistance is not available 24/7 and may be slightly delayed.