Officials Help Missoula Animal Control Break Ground on New Home

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - It’s not often that dogs, and even a reluctant cat, don hard hats to help break ground on a new building project, but that was the case on Friday afternoon as city and county officials were on hand to turn the first shovels full of dirt on the new home of Missoula County Animal Control.

I spoke to Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis and County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier after the groundbreaking ceremony for the $3.5 million dollar project out on Butler Creek Road.

City and County Officials Were on Hand for the Groundbreaking Ceremony

“We are breaking ground on a new animal control facility,” began Mayor Andrea Davis. “Plans have been drawn up and the Jackson Contracting Group has been retained. We’re moving forward with the project. The city and the county, through the City-County Health Department, are partnering to finance the new animal shelter."

Both Davis and Strohmaier said the project has been waiting in the wings for several years, delayed by the COVID pandemic.

“This is a project that has been long overdue,” she said. “We have a situation where sheltering animals are not in the best living situations, and we have staff members that are working under very constrained and stressful situations. In addition, people who come to adopt an animal find themselves in very tight quarters, so this will be so much better for everyone involved.”

Commissioner Strohmaier also stressed the time factor in getting the project underway.

Davis and Strohmaier Said the Project is Long Overdue

“This has been literally years in the making as we had a pandemic intervene in our planning process,” said Strohmaier. “I am just delighted to see us finally breaking ground on this important part of the community. This is something that I think that a lot of folks may not realize is a function of both city and county government, but it is, and it’s an important one.”

Strohmaier took the opportunity to invite the public to come and tour the current undersized facility.

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The Public is Invited to Donate Directly to the Program

“I would invite members of the public to come out and take a tour,” he said. “This is not any sort of an extravagant project that we’re proposing here. We have a facility right now that is overburned and stressed, and this new facility will meet our current and future needs.”

The public is encouraged to donate directly to Missoula Animal Control at 6700 Butler Creek Road, Missoula, Montana 59808, or get more information here.