CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — Clay County is getting a new animal shelter.
County officials announced plans to build a new facility at the beginning of 2025.
"Operations have outgrown the current shelter, which is located in Green Cove Springs, and that shelter is also in danger of flooding during large storms," a county spokesperson wrote in a press release Thursday.
Officials have been planning the project for years.
The current shelter, located off State Road 16, has space for 65 cat cages and 76 dog kennels and pens. Officials believe the new shelter will offer a larger space to increase capacity and opportunities to help more animals.
The new location will also include a larger medical suite to accommodate additional veterinarians, which will in turn increase availability for more surgeries, officials said.
"Clay County Animal Services staff works hard every day to maintain the county's no-kill status, and this new shelter will allow for even more opportunities to help our county's animals," the spokesperson wrote.
The new facility will be built in what officials said is a more "centralized location" on Sleepy Hollow Road to improve access to the location and promote community engagement.
The Orange Park-based contractor E. Vaughan Rivers, Inc. will build the new facility.
Officials said construction will start in early 2025 and is estimated to be completed in 18 months.
