Williamson County Animal Center now open, provides 20% capacity increase – Tennessean

Developers have built hundreds of new houses during Williamson County’s population boom — its human population boom, that is. As the county’s pet population grows, the county is ready to better serve dogs, cats and their owners through a new animal center.
The Williamson County Animal Shelter held a grand opening event on Feb. 28 at its new location at 1006 Grigsby-Hayes Court in Franklin. The new facility will house dogs and cats for adoption and will host community events aimed at helping pet owners take the best care of their furry friends.
It’s a new direction for the animal center, which formerly operated out of a building built in 1994.
“The county looked a lot different then, but also, animal sheltering looked a lot different then,” director Ondrea Johnson said. “As sheltering has evolved, it’s been less about housing animals and more about programming.”
The new 35,000-square-foot animal center has room for 88 dogs and 164 cats, a 20% capacity increase compared to the former building. All of the kennels have natural light, and most give the pets access to enclosed outdoor areas they can access at their leisure.
There’s also room for increased community engagement through a 100-seat education room. Programming will focus on teaching pet owners how to overcome common challenges like pet separation anxiety or house training so they can keep their pets. That helps keep the animal center’s population at a healthy, low level since fewer pet owners will return their pets.
“I want to be a partner to the community and a resource,” Johnson said. “I want them to think of the center if they have any problem with their animal.”
Employees are also much more comfortable at the new center, Johnson said. The former building near Joel Cheek Park was not built to function as an animal shelter or an office space, and Johnson said two employees formerly shared office space in a converted bathroom.
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“We are all here because we love animals. We love what we do. Everyone here is called to be here,” Johnson said. “We loved our job back at the old building, but we’ve had to go back over to the old building to get a few things this week. All of us have said, ‘How did we work there?'”
Johnson thanked community donors for their contributions to the new center’s construction. Donations will also fund up to 8,000 spay and neuter surgeries annually, Johnson said.
“When I say it was a community effort, there were a lot of people who really were very generous,” Johnson said. “It’s a dream come true for me.”
The new animal center is located at 1006 Grigsby-Hayes Court in Franklin near Franklin Christian Academy. The center’s street address had not been added to navigation apps such as Google Maps at press time, and the center has turn-by-turn driving directions available at adoptwcac.org.
Cole Villena covers Williamson County at The Tennessean, part of the USA Today Network — Tennessee. Reach Cole at [email protected] or 615-925-0493. Follow Cole on Twitter at @ColeVillena and on Instagram at @CVinTennessee.

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