St. Louis group wins $1 million animal shelter makeover

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A St. Louis animal rescue group wins a national competition for a $1 million animal shelter makeover.

Stray Rescue of St. Louis, founded by Randy Grim 10 years ago, was selected Wednesday from three finalists, and 1,000 original entries.

The competition was sponsored by zootoo.com, a privately funded Web site started last fall by Richard Thompson, former chief executive of Secaucus, N.J.-based Meow Mix.

Stray Rescue operates two small no-kill shelters. Grim and a network of volunteers humanely trap abandoned dogs, socialize them and make them available for adoption.

Grim says the money will be used to create a state-of-the-art shelter from a building donated by A.G. Edwards before its merger with Wachovia.