Humane Society opens new care unit for ill animals

Thanks to volunteer and professional efforts, animals at the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau have a new care unit for specialized treatment of illnesses, according to officials.

The main Humane Society building at 2536 Boutin Drive in Cape Girardeau still will house the animal population, Humane Society board president Charlotte Craig said, but the care unit has been needed for a long time.

The main Humane Society building was acquired in the early 1980s and had been a grooming facility, Craig said.

Staff added kennels and made accommodations where they could, but the need for more space remained, she said.

"The kennels are open-air exchange," Craig said, meaning if an animal is brought in with an airborne illness, it can spread.

Charlotte Craig, board president of the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri, points to the new isolation care unit Tuesday next to the main building in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

Parvo or upper respiratory infections are especially problematic, she said.

"We have known for years that we needed a separate place," Craig said.

A couple of years ago, an acquaintance of Humane Society board members built a tiny home for a relative to live in and brought in the engineering department at Southeast Missouri State University to build the structure, Craig said.

The acquaintance paid for the building, and it got the board members to thinking: If a small, separate care unit could be built for a reasonable cost, a significant benefit would be realized when an animal would become ill.

"It just sounded like the best idea," Craig said.

In 2015, Southeast students in instructor John Dudley's course on building and materials processes worked out costs for materials and a building plan, and students in Bryan Bowers' residential architectural design course designed the structure, Dudley said by phone Tuesday.

The structure was built to be portable and was constructed in the lab at Southeast, Dudley said.

"It was a really good experience for the students," Dudley added.

Craig said one of the Humane Society volunteers, Lori Goodmanson, is married to Jeff Goodmanson, factory manager at Purina in Bloomfield, Missouri.

Craig said he said the care-unit might be a good project for the Purina Foundation, and he asked for a proposal for the three segments of the project: concrete pad, electrical and plumbing and HVAC, and the building. Each segment cost about $10,000, for a total of $30,000, Craig said.

"He thought for sure they'd fund one, but they called and said they wanted to fund it all," Craig said.

The care unit, adjacent to the existing Humane Society building, is 12 by 30 feet, according to a news release.

The logistics of getting the assembled building from the university to the prepared site was a challenge, Craig said, but community members pulled together to make it happen.

Craig said she called former Cape Girardeau police chief Rick Hetzel and asked him what she should do, citing his construction experience. Craig said he "became kind of the project manager in the middle of doing everything else he does."

Other community members also pitched in, Craig said, including architect Phillip Smith, engineer Willie Sandin, Wesbecher Construction, Dutch Enterprises, Fronabarger Concreters and Powers Electric.

"It took a while from start to finish," Craig said, "but here we are today, getting ready to open."

Craig said volunteers and staff at the Humane Society had to put its main fundraising campaign for a new facility on the shelf until this project was completed, but she said, "I think this is clearing a way for the future.

"We think it's going to save lives," Craig said.

miederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

2536 Boutin Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.